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V Obach

Publications and source records attributed to V Obach.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Sympathetic skin response in patients with lateral medullary syndrome.

We have carried out a prospective study of the sympathetic skin response (SSR) in 21 patients with lateral medullary syndrome (LMS), with the aim of identifying the most common pattern of SSR abnormalities and its possible correlation with clinical and radiological findings. The amplitude of the SSR recorded in the ipsilateral hand to the infarct was abnormally reduced in the patients as a group. However, using different stimulation and recording sites, and considering only the presence or absence of the response, we identified 5 different patterns of SSR abnormalities: 1. Normal responses; 2. Bilaterally absent responses to stimulation of the ipsilateral supraorbital nerve but not to other stimulation sites; 3. Absent responses in the side ipsilateral to the stroke, with normal responses in the contralateral side; 4. A combination of patterns 2 and 3; and 5. Absent responses to all stimuli. All patients with ipsilateral facial sensory loss had absent SSR to ipsilateral supraorbital nerve stimulation, while there was only a positive correlation between abnormal contralateral facial sensation and preservation of the SSR (Fisher's exact test P=0.003). No correlation was found between the pattern of SSR abnormalities and the infarct topography, assessed with the MRI. Our findings suggest that the damage to the SSR circuits of patients with LMS is not uniform, and follows an heterogeneous distribution independent from the MRI findings, and poorly related to the clinical sensory manifestations.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Identification of Spanish familial Parkinson's disease and screening for the Ala53Thr mutation of the alpha-synuclein gene in early onset patients.

We initiated the present work in order to determine if the Ala53Thr mutation of the alpha-synuclein gene previously described by Polymeropoulos et al. [Science, 276 (1997) 2045-2047] could be detected in Spanish early onset Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Thirty-four PD patients were evaluated. Of these, 13 were considered early onset patients (six familial and seven sporadic) and were included in the genetic study. We detected the presence of genetic anticipation in four kindreds with early onset PD members. The Ala53Thr mutation of the alpha-synuclein gene was absent in all patients. The results do not support a role for this mutation in our patients with early onset PD and, in agreement with the results previously reported, indicate that the Ala53Thr mutation of the alpha-synuclein gene is a rare cause of PD.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Blink reflex in patients with Wallenberg's syndrome.

Knowledge of the neural circuits involved in Wallenberg's syndrome (WS) is incomplete. Study of the blink reflex (BR) in patients with WS can help in reaching a better understanding of the physiopathology underlying clinical symptoms and may help in the prediction of clinical outcome. We evaluated the BR in response to supraorbital nerve electrical stimuli in 20 patients with WS. All patients were studied within the 1st week after onset of symptoms, and 10 of them were also studied repeatedly during a follow-up period of 3-12 months. At the first examination the long latency bilateral responses (R2 and R2c) to stimulation of the supraorbital nerve of the affected side were absent in 11, delayed in 4, and normal in 5 patients. At follow-up, there was a normalization of the BR in all patients who had absent or delayed responses at the first examination except for one patient whose responses remained absent at the 9th month. Late responses elicited on the side of the lesion by stimulation of the non-affected supraorbital nerve were normal in all but one patient. This patient died from cardiorespiratory arrest within the 1st month of the illness. One patient with normal BR responses also died in the acute phase. The BR is abnormal in most patients with acute WS and tends to normalize in a mean period of 7 months. BR pattern is not a predictor of early fatal complications in patients with this syndrome.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

[Pyloric stenosis complicated by Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome].

The Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) is a picture of oculomotor alterations, ataxia and confusion presented in chronic alcoholics. It has more rarely been described in non alcoholic patients with malnutrition. The case of a patient with ulcerous peptic disease of long evolution who consulted for a picture compatible with WKS following clinical manifestations of repeated vomiting secondary to complete pyloric stenosis is presented. The peculiarity of the picture and the convenience of prevention in malnourished patients receiving intravenous glucose sera is discussed.

Alcohol Amnestic Disorder↗
PubMed1996

Brain stem reflexes in patients with Wallenberg's syndrome: correlation with clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings.

In spite of the general clinical uniformity of Wallenberg's syndrome (WS), individual patients present with a slightly different clinical picture, and detailed studies with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) show differences in the topography of the brain stem lesion. Neurophysiological characterization of the lesion in WS has been known for a long time, but there are no studies on the possible correlation between lesion topography and neurophysiological deficit. Assuming that afferents from the three branches of the trigeminal nerve reach different parts of the trigeminal nuclei, we examined the possible correlation between the lesion topography assessed by the MRI and the neurophysiological deficit, assessed by studying the brain stem reflexes in patients with WS within 2 weeks after stroke. Neurophysiological abnormalities were always located in the afferent branch of the reflexes examined, but not all patients exhibited abnormalities in all responses. The ophthalmic branch was involved in 92.8% of patients, and the mandibular branch in 57.1% of patients. The patients with MRI lesions located in the lower medulla had normal responses with infraorbital or mental nerve stimulation. The results of this neurophysiological study confirm the heterogeneity of WS. Whether the neurophysiological identification of different subgoups of patients is relevant for clinical outcome needs further studies.

Action Potentials↗