ISSN:0251-5350    

DOI:10.1159/000110275

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1991

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

The cluster of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) among Jews of Libyan origin is one of the largest in the world. A number of hypotheses have been proposed to account for this cluster, the most prevalent but unsubstantiated hypothesis being that a transmissible agent was ingested in the form of scrapie-infected sheep brains. It has, however, been shown that a modified host protein encoded by the gene specifying the scrapie amyloid precursor is critically involved in the pathogenesis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies such as CJD, Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker syndrome and Kuru. A mutation at codon 200 in the open reading frame of this gene has recently been linked to a cluster of CJD patients in Slovakia. We examined the prevalence of this mutation among CJD patients of Libyan descent in Israel. All patients were found to have the same codon 200 mutation. These findings implicate this mutation in the high prevalence of CJD among Libyan Jews and Sephardic Jews from other Mediterranean countries

ISSN:0251-5350    

DOI:10.1159/000110276

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1991

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

The intrafamilial epidemiology of multiple sclerosis was compared with the known intrafamilial epidemiology of infections with HTLV-I. Infections with this retrovirus most often have a subclinical course, but can cause leukemia or a neurological disease resembling multiple sclerosis. Through the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry, information was obtained on 79 parent-child cases of multiple sclerosis, and in 55 cases further information was obtained through questionnaires. The study did not reveal any common intrafamilial pattern of MS and HTLV-I infections. It can be concluded that if multiple sclerosis is associated with a specific ''MS virus'', it is hardly one with the same epidemiology as HTLV-I, maybe because MS could be a multifactorial disease only developing if various factors coincide in the same person.

ISSN:0251-5350    

DOI:10.1159/000110277

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1991

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

All acute Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) cases identified in the county of Uusi-maa in southern Finland from 1981–1985 were analyzed. The incidence varied from 0.5 to 2.1 per 100,000 population. An antecedent event of possible etiologic significance was reported in 10% of the cases. Plasma exchange therapy was introduced during these years. Less children than expected fell ill, perhaps because of vaccinations, but a rise in the incidence of GBS in 1985 occurred during a nation-wide oral poliovirus vaccination campaign. A total of 19.4% of the patients needed respirator treatment, and plasma exchange therapy was given to 27.4% of these patients, among whom the time in respirator was shortened compared to equally affected individuals not given plasma exchange. The mortality was lower in the recent compared to the earlier period. This may be due to plasma exchange thera

ISSN:0251-5350    

DOI:10.1159/000110278

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1991

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

A retrospective case-control study was conducted using 46 patients affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and 92 closely matched healthy controls. Cases were ascertained through typical clinical and instrumental findings. Putative risk factors (bone fractures or major trauma, exposure to domestic animals, surgical operations, disease among first degree relatives and others) were investigated anamnestically using a standard questionnaire. Using Mantel-Haenzsel estimates of the odds ratio, no association was found between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and the investigated variables.

ISSN:0251-5350    

DOI:10.1159/000110279

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1991

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

Cognitive function was assessed in 930 elderly Nigerians living in an urban community by trained medical students who were blinded to the educational status of the subjects. They used a pretested and validated questionnaire. The subjects were later evaluated for the presence of dementia according to DSM-IIIR criteria by neurologists who then determined the educational status of the subjects. There were 361 males and 569 females with a mean age of 58.5 years (SD = 14.8). One hundred and sixty-one subjects (17%) with at least 6 years of education performed better on all aspects of cognition assessed (p < 0.001). The differences in performance were statistically significant on assessment of general knowledge, intelligence, abstract thinking, depth of information and immediate recall (p < 0.001) but not for calculation, orientation, attention and language comprehension. Our findings confirm the confounding effect of education on cognitive assessment and suggest the possibility of developing a short culture-free and educationally unbiased instrument for assessing cognitive functions in Nigerians.

ISSN:0251-5350    

DOI:10.1159/000110280

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1991

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

Data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey was used to estimate the admission rate and in-hospital mortality for US stroke patients from 1970 to 1987. Over this period the hospital admission rate increased from 5.0 per 1,000 population to 5.5 per 1,000, while the in-hospital mortality fell from 18.6 to 10.0% of discharges. When patients experiencing general or late effects or transient ischemic attacks were excluded, the hospital admission rate increased from 2.8 to 4.8 per 1,000 and in-hospital mortality fell from 26 to 12% of discharges. Admission rates increased from 1970 to 1987 for both hemorrhagic strokes and cerebral infarctions, but fell for ill-defined cerebrovascular events, presumably reflecting increased use of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging during this period. Mortality for hemorrhagic strokes decreased from 45 to 30% of discharges, mortality for infarctions decreased from 24 to 13 % and mortality for ill-defined events fell from 24 to 17%. There are several limitations with the use of the National Hospital Discharge Survey data to estimate changes in hospital admission rates and in-hospital mortality. However, these data suggest a greater role for decreasing case fatality in explaining nationwide declines in stroke mortality rates than has generally been acknowledged.

ISSN:0251-5350    

DOI:10.1159/000110281

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1991

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

The effect of environmental temperature on stroke occurrence in a subtropical climate was studied over a 1-year period by documenting the number of strokes (subdivided into cerebral infarct and intracerebral hemorrhage) admitted into a district hospital in Hong Kong at different temperatures. There was no significant correlation between the number of strokes (or its subtypes) per day per temperature category and the environmental minimum or maximum temperature. However, an association was present between the occurrence of cerebral infarcts and maximum temperature on the day of onset in elderly patients aged 70 years and above. Environmental temperature is not a strong risk factor for the occurrence of stroke in a subtropical climate.

ISSN:0251-5350    

DOI:10.1159/000110282

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1991

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

The annual crude incidence rate of glossopharyngeal neuralgia per 100,000 population in Rochester, Minn., for 1945 through 1984, was 0.7 for both sexes combined, suggesting that glossopharyngeal neuralgia is a rare disease. There were no significant differences between the sexes (p > 0.10) in the overall age-adjusted (to the total 1980 US population) rates: 1.1 for men and 0.5 for women. Overall age-specific crude rates increased slightly with age. Our results and conclusions, achieved by comparing our data with a large referral study at Mayo Clinic, suggest that glossopharyngeal neuralgia is generally a mild disease, since mild attacks are not uncommon, the average annual recurrence rate for a second episode is low (3.6%), and only one fourth of the cases had to have surgery for relief of symptoms. Bilaterality is not uncommon; it was observed in one fourth of the patients, all of whom had mild disease.

ISSN:0251-5350    

DOI:10.1159/000110283

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1991

数据来源: Karger

摘要:

A comparison of epidemiological and clinical features of trigeminal neuralgia (TN) and glossopharyngeal neuralgia (GN) in Rochester, Minn., reveals several differences. The overall age- and sex-adjusted annual incidence rates were significantly higher for TN than for GN (4.7 vs. 0.8 per 100,000 population). The TN:GN ratio was increased for both men and women and was 5.9:1 for both sexes combined. This ratio is greater than reported in previous non-population-based studies. GN is a milder disease than TN, as indicated by the number of episodes, treatment, and characterization of pain. The right side is affected more often with TN than with GN. Bilaterality was noted less often in TN than in GN cases.

ISSN:0251-5350    

DOI:10.1159/000110284

出版商:S. Karger AG    

年代:1991

数据来源: Karger