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T Norregaard

Publications and source records attributed to T Norregaard.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

High-frequency unilateral thalamic stimulation in the treatment of essential and parkinsonian tremor.

Pharmacologic treatment for essential tremor and the tremor of Parkinson's disease is often inadequate. Stereotaxic surgery, such as thalamotomy, can effectively reduce tremors. We performed a multicenter trial of unilateral high-frequency stimulation of the ventral intermedius nucleus of the thalamus in 29 patients with essential tremor and 24 patients with Parkinson's disease, using a blinded assessment at 3 months after surgery to compare clinical rating of tremor with stimulation ON with stimulation OFF and baseline and a 1-year follow-up. Six patients were not implanted because of lack of intraoperative tremor suppression (2 patients), hemorrhage (2 patients), withdrawal of consent (1 patient), and persistent microthalamotomy effect (1 patient). A significant reduction in both essential and parkinsonian tremor occurred contralaterally with stimulation. Patients reported a significant reduction in disability. Measures of function were significantly improved in patients with essential tremor. Complications related to surgery in implanted patients were few. Stimulation was commonly associated with transient paresthesias. Other adverse effects were mild and well tolerated. Efficacy was not reduced at 1 year. Chronic high-frequency stimulation is safe and highly effective in ameliorating essential and parkinsonian tremor.

Aged↗

An embryonic origin for medulloblastoma.

Medulloblastoma is a common brain tumor of children. Three differentiated cell types are found in medulloblastomas: neurons, glia, and muscle cells. Because of the presence of multiple differentiated cell types these tumors were named after a postulated cerebellar stem cell, the medulloblast, that would give rise to the differentiated cells found in the tumors. We describe a cell line with the properties expected of the postulated medulloblast. The rat cerebellar cell line ST15A expresses an intermediate filament, nestin, that is characteristic of neuroepithelial stem cells. ST15A cells can differentiate, gaining either neuronal or glial properties. In this paper we show that the same clonal cell can also differentiate into muscle cells. This result suggests that a single neuroectodermal cell can give rise to the different cell types found in medulloblastoma. We also show expression of nestin in human medulloblastoma tissue and in a medulloblastoma-derived cell line. Both the properties of the ST15A cell line and the expression of nestin in medulloblastoma support a neuroectodermal stem cell origin for this childhood tumor.

Animals↗