Biomedical subjects

Yuh-Cherng Guo

Publications and source records attributed to Yuh-Cherng Guo.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Quantitative assessment of efficacy of dysport (botulinum toxin type A) in the treatment of idiopathic blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm.

This study was a Phase IV, prospective, one arm, non-comparative open trial, to investigate the efficacy and safety of Dysport (Botulinum toxin type A) in patients with idiopathic blepharospasm or hemifacial spasm. During the treatment period, patients were evaluated at baseline (week 0), week 6, and week 8, 10, or 12. Thirty two women and 16 men completed the whole course of the study. The therapeutic efficacy of Dysport became evident from 1.5 to 15 days (mean+/- SD, 6.1 +/- 2.9 days). The maximal effect appeared 12.2+/-5.0 days later. Injection of Dysport achieved 72.9 (13.0% amelioration in the spasm symptom. Dysport significantly improved the following functions, such as reading, watching TV, house work, working, driving and outing alone. At the twelfth week after Dysport injection, it was still effective in relieving blepharospasm or hemifacial spasm. The most frequent adverse event was ptosis, which was noted in 9 cases and represented 18.7% of total patients. Other adverse events were very mild, although lagophthalmos and dry eyes occurred in some patients, but none manifested any corneal complications. In conclusion, Dysport injection appears to be a safe, and effective procedure - accompanied only by minor, and transit adverse events.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis in Taiwan: a morphometric and genetic study.

Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA) is characterized by insensitivity to pain, anhidrosis, recurrent hyperpyrexia, mild mental retardation, and self-mutilating behavior. We report 2 brothers, aged 20 and 18 years, who suffered from phenotypes of CIPA. Both brothers had a branch site mutation in intron 7 (IVS7-33 T-->A) of the neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor type 1 gene. The electrophysiological studies showed no significant abnormal findings in sensory evoked potentials, motor evoked potentials to transcranial magnetic stimulation, or heart rate variations; sympathetic skin responses were absent. Morphometric study of their sural nerve histopathology revealed normal myelinated fiber density, 8,082 fibers/mm2 and 5,637 fibers/mm2 (normal 6,141 +/- 421); decreased unmyelinated fiber density, 2,537 fibers/mm2 and 2,211 fibers/mm2 (normal 28,578 +/- 8,669); increased axon size, 4.41 +/- 1.59 microm and 5.33 +/- 1.48 microm (normal 3.73 +/- 1.45), and increased axon diameter (A)/myelin thickness (M) ratio (A/M), 3.47 +/- 1.42 and 2.70 +/- 1.07 (normal 2.49 +/- 0.93). Scatterplot analysis of the G ratio (axon diameter:fiber diameter) did not show consistent results in the relationship between axon size and myelin thickness. In conclusion, the neuropathy of our CIPA patients included a marked reduction of small myelinated and unmyelinated fibers and a relatively increased axon size. This is the first CIPA family encountered in Taiwan.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Multiple sclerosis in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: There is only 1 report about multiple sclerosis (MS) prevalence in Taiwan, and this was published in 1976 and involved only 25 patients. The clinical features and prevalence of MS in Taiwan still remain to be clarified. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and delineate the clinical features of MS in Taiwanese patients. METHODS: We retrospectively identified 43 ethnic Chinese multiple sclerosis (MS) patients over a 14-year period. The MS prevalence in Taiwan was estimated based on Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI) data. The clinical data (gender, family history, age at onset, initial symptoms, clinical course, disability and laboratory findings, evoked response and neuroimaging) were recorded, collected and analyzed. RESULTS: The MS prevalence in Taiwan was as low as 1.9 per 100,000. The distribution of most of the clinical features of our patients, like those in other Asian series, was different from Western series except for the percentage of the conventional form and sensory disturbances. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis for IgG index and OCB seemed to be less sensitive in the diagnosis of MS in our series. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of MS in Taiwan, as in other Asian countries, was low; the optic-spinal form occurred very often, but predominant spinal cord involvement was not unusual, as well as there being less functional disability. A larger, prospective study is needed to provide more conclusive information.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Olfactory auras in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.

PURPOSE: To investigate olfactory auras in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). METHODS: We reviewed medical records of 217 Chinese patients who underwent temporal lobectomy for medically intractable TLE between 1987 and 1998 in Taiwan. Patients with olfactory auras asked for detailed characteristics of their auras. RESULTS: In all, 12 (5.5%) patients had olfactory auras, seven men and five women. All patients except one described and characterized the unpleasant olfactory auras. Olfactory auras were usually combined with other auras, most frequently sensations of epigastric rising, nausea, and fear. Association with gustatory hallucination was uncommon, in only one patient. On neuroimaging study, 11 patients had structural lesions involving the mesial temporal structures, two exclusively involving the amygdala. Histologic diagnosis included gliosis of the mesial temporal regions in seven (58.3%) patients, neoplasm in four (33.3%) patients, and arteriovenous malformation in one patient. Postoperatively, eight patients were seizure free. Three patients had rare seizures; however, none reported residual olfactory auras. CONCLUSIONS: Olfactory auras are infrequent in TLE. In this study, mesial temporal sclerosis is the most common etiology rather than tumors. Mesial temporal structures, especially the amygdala, may play important roles in the genesis of olfactory auras.

Adolescent↗