1,721,083 research outputs found
Quantitative evaluation of smooth pursuit eye movements by personal computer. I) Normative data and effect of aging
No full textWe recorded the smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEM) of 52 healthy subjects by binocular electrooculographic technique. The 52 subjects were homogeneously distributed from the 2nd to the 6th decade. The target moved over 60 deg of amplitude at constant velocity (ramp); different target velocities were used ranging from 10 to 50 deg/sec. All subjects were tested with the same 58 pseudo-random ramp sequence under the control of a Personal Computer (PC). The quantitative analysis of SPEM was carried out by an interactive program implemented on the same PC. Different equations were tested by a multiple regression analysis in order to describe the relationship between SPEM gain values and target velocities; two of these equations were chosen and used in order to find out if SPEM gain was influenced by target direction (the direction effect) and/or by subject age (the age effect). The statistical analyses we performed, demonstrated that SPEM gain values were influenced by aging but not by target direction: SPEM gain decreased as age increased
Quantitative analysis of smooth pursuit eye movements by personal computer. II. Evaluation of individual performance and clinical applicability
No full textIn a previous report on quantitative analysis of smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEM) we assessed two equations in order to describe the SPEM gain/target velocity relationship, and we demonstrated that this relationship is age-related. This report presents a method to evaluate normality of a single subject SPEM performance. Three points have been considered: 1) The control of gain asymmetries depending on target direction (leftward vs rightward SPEM) 2) The definition of age-related control values 3) The subject vs control values comparison An example to explain how our method actually works and its clinical applicability is shown. Finally, the reasons why no choice has been made between the two equations are discussed
Vestibular migraine
No full textVestibular migraine is a chameleon among the episodic vertigo syndromes because considerable variation characterizes its clinical manifestation. The attacks may last from seconds to days. About one-third of patients presents with monosymptomatic attacks of vertigo or dizziness without headache or other migrainous symptoms. During attacks most patients show spontaneous or positional nystagmus and in the attack-free interval minor ocular motor and vestibular deficits. Women are significantly more often affected than men. Symptoms may begin at any time in life, with the highest prevalence in young adults and between the ages of 60 and 70. Over the last 10 years vestibular migraine has evolved into a medical entity in dizziness units. It is the most common cause of spontaneous recurrent episodic vertigo and accounts for approximately 10% of patients with vertigo and dizziness. Its broad spectrum poses a diagnostic problem of how to rule out Menière's disease or vestibular paroxysmia. Vestibular migraine should be included in the International Headache Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD) as a subcategory of migraine. It should, however, be kept separate and distinct from basilar-type migraine and benign paroxysmal vertigo of childhood. We prefer the term " vestibular migraine" to " migrainous vertigo," because the latter may also refer to various vestibular and non-vestibular symptoms. Antimigrainous medication to treat the single attack and to prevent recurring attacks appears to be effective, but the published evidence is weak. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study is required to evaluate medical treatment of this condition. © 2011 Elsevier B.V
Correction: Transient acute-onset tetraparesis in a COVID-19 patient (Spinal Cord, (2020), 58, 9, (1042-1044), 10.1038/s41393-020-0493-8)
No full textIn the original version of this article, one affiliation was inadvertently omitted. The affiliation “Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Medical Humanities, Center of Research in Medical Pharmacology, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy” has now been added to the article in association with the author Lucia Princiotta Cariddi. This has been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article
The reliability of eye movement quantitative evaluation. I. Saccadic eye movements
No full textWe adopted the estimate of the intraclass coefficient of reliability, R, to evaluate the reliability of saccadic eye movements quantitative analysis. At a one-week interval we recorded refixative saccadic eye movements twice from fifteen healthy subjects by means of the binocular electrooculographic technique. R was computed for the constants and the slopes of the amplitude/duration and the amplitude/peak velocity relationships, for the mean precision values and for the mean latency values adjusted for subject's age. Our data demonstrated that the reliability of saccade parameters is fairly good for the amplitude/peak velocity relationship, good for the precision and very good for the amplitude/duration relationship. Finally, we believe that the normal variability values we obtained can be usefully employed in neurophysiological longitudinal studies not only in normal subjects, but also in pathological condition provided the more reliable parameters and the more adequate strategies to compute normal variability values are chosen
High-dose methylprednisolone infusions in relapsing and in chronic progressive multiple sclerosis patients. One year follow-up
No full textSixty Multiple Sclerosis patients hospitalized either in relapse (28) or in chronic progressive (32) phase of the disease were treated with high-dose methylprednisolone infusions (1 g/daily for 6 days). Clinical examinations, scored by Kurtzke's functional systems (FSs) and expanded disability status scale (EDSS), were performed before treatment, immediately after, and thereafter at 1,3,6 and 12 month intervals. In relapsing cases, 22 patients (78.6%) improved and EDSS mean value decreased by 1.39 points after the treatment; 8 patients had a new bout within one year. In chronic progressive cases, 18 patients (56.2%) improved and EDSS mean value decreased by 0.56 points after the treatment; 13 patients showed a new worsening throughout the follow-up period. The treatment proved to be safe and effective both in relapsing and in chronic progressive patients, determining rapid clinical improvement in most of the cases, and a slowing down of progression in some chronic patients
Dizziness and vertigo
No full textDizziness represents 10-15% of the causes of access to emergency and acceptance departments (on NEU Day 2018, the figure was 8%, with CI from 6% to 10%). The differential diagnosis of the patient with vertigo is of great importance in first aid evaluation: similar clinical presentations can be supported by very different causes (otological, neurological, or systemic) with very different prognoses, and, on the other hand, the same pathology can correspond to different syndromes
Visual evoked potentials in the white New Zealand rabbit: source localization and normative aspects
No full textNormative data of visual evoked potentials were obtained from occipital screw electrodes referenced to a nasal electrode in 10 white New Zealand rabbits. Two time-bases were used (200 and 400 ms) in order to reliably identify both early components (of retinal and cortical origin), as well as late components. The putative origin of the single components was established by simultaneous recording of ERG and by stereotaxic recordings from the lateral geniculate body. Test-retest variability was measured repeating the recordings after 24 hours
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