PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

U Balottin

Publications and source records attributed to U Balottin.

49 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Benign paroxysmal vertigo in childhood. Diagnostic significance of vestibular examination and headache provocation tests.

Sixteen children with benign paroxysmal vertigo (BPV) are presented. The great majority had a family history of migraine, neurological and autonomic signs associated with vertiginous attacks, and headache or other sign of the periodic syndrome (motion sickness, cyclic vomiting, abdominal pain) unrelated to the attacks. Vestibular examination, including bithermal caloric and rotational testing with ENG recording, showed normal or transiently decreased vestibular function. Headache provocation tests with nitroglycerin, histamine and fenfluramine were positive in 9 of the 13 patients examined, and in 4 cases induced a typical vertiginous attack instead of headache. BPV can be considered a migraine precursor or a migraine equivalent, attributable to the same vascular and/or biochemical disturbances responsible for migraine.

Child↗
PubMed1983

Cyclic vomiting and recurrent abdominal pains as migraine or epileptic equivalents.

A retrospective method was used to estimate the incidence of recurring motion-sickness, cyclic vomiting and abdominal pain considered as different manifestations of a so-called periodic syndrome in 100 migraine sufferers, 100 epileptics and 100 control subjects in the pediatric age group. Such recurrent symptoms are significantly more frequent in those suffering from migraine than in the other two groups. Examination of subgroups of patients affected by particular forms of migraine (classical and common) and of epilepsy (generalized seizures, simple partial seizures, complex partial seizures) contributed little new to our understanding of the nature of periodic syndrome. It is concluded that the above symptoms of periodic syndrome should generally be considered as manifestations of a migrainous rather than of an epileptic disorder.

Abdomen↗
PubMed1983

The periodic syndrome in pediatric migraine sufferers.

The present study takes into consideration some of the symptoms comprised in the Periodic Syndrome. These include motion-sickness, cyclic vomiting, recurrent abdominal pains and paroxysmal vertigo. Particular consideration is given to the chronological and long-term aspects of such symptoms. Among 247 migraine sufferers in the pediatric age group, 173 subjects who complained of at least one of these symptoms were chosen. Results of the data show that motion-sickness is the first to manifest itself (mean age of onset 2 years), and has a tendency to continue into the headache period; cyclic vomiting appears in the third year of life, and terminates sooner than the other symptoms. At the mean age of five years abdominal pains start, and at seven, paroxysmal vertigo. Headache is the final symptom in this group. The sequentiality of such disturbances in each subject leads to the assumption that the Periodic Syndrome is the expression of a single disorder which manifests itself polymorphously as a rather precisely timed process.

Abdomen↗
PubMed1983

Psychological aspects of migraine in childhood.

Experimental data indicate that certain unconscious emotions cause modifications of the brain stem neurotransmitters, inducing neurohumoral and vascular changes which underlie the migraine attack in biologically predisposed subjects. The present study investigates, with patient interviews, psychodiagnostic tests (Rorschach, Blacky pictures, Thematic Apperception test, drawings, Wechsler) and parental interviews in 20 pediatric migraine subjects. In 85% of the cases, a condition of repressed anger preceding the attack is seen. In 40% of the subjects, events such as a death in the family, separations, angry quarrels among parents, and scholastic problems, are seen just before onset of the disease. In conclusion, migraine may be considered a psychosomatic disorder, with the phenomenon of pain as a somatic extrinsication of psychological distress.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Computerized cranial tomography in Wilson disease: report of a case before and after penicillamine therapy.

A patient with Wilson Disease presenting neurologic signs was treated with d-Penicillamine. Computerized cranial tomography (CT) performed before therapy showed symmetrical areas of low density in the region of the basal ganglia, enlargement of ventricles and bilateral increased density of the medial nuclei of the thalamus. This abnormality of the thalamus had not been reported previously in Wilson disease. After two years therapy there was an evident clinical improvement and at the same time a reduction of CT abnormalities. The reports on CT scanning in Wilson disease are reviewed.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Brothers of children with a neurological disease: difficulties and affective needs. Study of a clinical sample].

INTRODUCTION: Feelings of envy and jealousy among brothers belonging to families with a child affected by a chronic neuromotor impairment have rarely been studied and literature on this subject is sparce. The interest of this work arises in particular from our experience with families and children suffering from this kind of disability. AIMS OF THE STUDY: The individuation of frequency and characteristics of overt or "hidden" emotional problems in brothers of handicapped children. Needs of the handicapped child lead to the partial disinvestment of the "healthy" one. We therefore focused our attention on the defensive mechanisms involved. METHOD: The work was carried out in the Rehabilitation Unit of our Department of Child Neuropsychiatry. We selected all the families in which a son exhibited severe neuromotor impairment, and we proposed some sessions with the parents and the healthy children. Only 10 families with 11 children accepted these sessions. We asked the other families to fill-in the Achenbach checklist (CBCL). Assessment of the 11 children seen was made with talks, drawing and playing sessions, and with an interview of the parents at the beginning and at the end of the sessions. RESULTS: We present the data of 33 CBCL filled-in and returned and of 11 psychodiagnostic observations. The CBCL showed 6 pathological and 5 borderline (with high psychopathological risk) total T scores. Among the 11 clinically observed children, 4 revealed a relevant psychopathological profile, so an individual psychotherapeutic therapy was proposed. These children expressed their emotional problems by difficult peer relationships, attention and concentration deficits and failure at school. Moreover, we found a significant correlation between a relevant child psychopathology, the fragile personality structure of the parents, and problems in the parental couple. CONCLUSIONS: These data stress the importance that must be given to emotional problems of handicapped children's brothers. Very often these children aren't able to express these problems, because either the parents' mental space is full of fears for the sick child's prognosis and care, and their "free" time is filled with hospitalisations, check-ups and rehabilitation. Our experience shows that giving attention and space for thoughts encourages emotional and relational movements, with a transforming value that leads to enhanced integration of emotional experiences.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Learning disturbances in developmental ages. Consideration of some clinical cases studied with a neuropsychiatric approach].

The psychoanalytic and neuropsychiatric literature on learning disturbances has been reviewed. Relations between learning disturbances, psycho-affective, cognitive and neurological development are examined. Particular attention is paid to Klein's theory of intellectual inhibition and the integrative approach described by Rothstein. Four clinical cases, which seem to exemplify the infantile neuropsychiatric integrative approach are then presented. Finally, stress is laid on the pathogenetic interrelations between psychopathological and organic aspects of the children considered and the similarities between learning disturbances and pseudo mental deficiency.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Personality characteristics in juvenile tension headache and migraine.

The authors report the personality characteristics of 30 subjects, 16 males and 14 females, average age 13.7 years: 13 suffered from migraine without aura, 8 from migraine with aura and 9 from chronic tension-type headache. The study was based on a detailed clinical assessment (psychodynamically-oriented interviews with the child and its parents) and evaluation by tests. A blind test of the clinical personality characteristics was then carried out. The results of these investigations indicated that 13/30 of the subjects had a neurotic personality organization, 12/30 were borderline and 5/30 had a "white relation". Given the subjects' youth, these conditions are probably to be considered transient. From the data collected it seems that migrainous subjects are distributed along a continuum that ranges from one end characterized by more evolved and adaptive mental organization and defence mechanisms and the opposite end, where mental organization is less evolved and adaptive and at a greater risk of somatization.

Achievement↗