Articles from Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry

J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Jan 2001

Release of biochemical markers of damage to neuronal and glial brain tissue is associated with short and long term neuropsychological outcome after traumatic brain injury.

The present study aimed at the analysis of release patterns of neurobiochemical markers of brain damage (neuron specific enolase (NSE) and protein S-100B) in patients with traumatic brain injury and their predictive value with respect to the short and long term neuropsychological outcome. ⋯ The analysis of post-traumatic release patterns of neurobiochemical markers of brain damage might help to identify patients with traumatic brain injury who run a risk of long term neuropsychological dysfunction.

Prevalence of cerebral white matter lesions in elderly people: a population based magnetic resonance imaging study. The Rotterdam Scan Study.

White matter lesions are often seen on MR scans of elderly non-demented and demented people. They are attributed to degenerative changes of small vessels and are implicated in the pathogenesis of cognitive decline and dementia. There is evidence that especially periventricular white matter lesions are related to cognitive decline, whereas subcortical white matter lesions may be related to late onset depression. The frequency distribution of subcortical and periventricular white matter lesions according to age and sex reported. ⋯ The prevalence and the degree of cerebral white matter lesions increased with age. Women tended to have a higher degree of white matter lesions than men. This may underlie the finding of a higher incidence of dementia in women than in men, particularly at later age.

Relative contributions of brain and cervical cord pathology to multiple sclerosis disability: a study with magnetisation transfer ratio histogram analysis.

To assess (a) the correlations between magnetisation transfer ratio (MTR) histogram derived measures of the brain and the cervical cord from patients with different multiple sclerosis phenotypes and (b) the correlation between these metrics and clinical disability. Magnetisation transfer imaging is sensitive to the most destructive aspects of multiple sclerosis pathology. Magnetisation transfer ratio histogram analysis encompasses the macroscopic and the microscopic lesion burdens. ⋯ This study shows that the extent and severity of tissue damage in the brain and cervical cord are both relevant to determine disability in multiple sclerosis and that the assessment of brain and cord pathology provides complementary information.