Acta clinica Croatica
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Acta clinica Croatica · Sep 2009
Clinical TrialGabapentin in the prophylaxis of cluster headache: an observational open label study.
Cluster headache is an extremely painful syndrome that occurs more frequently in men. Although periodic in most cases, cluster headache has a considerable impact on the patient quality of life. Acute therapy is usually not sufficient and most patients warrant prophylactic treatment. ⋯ Adverse events were reported in 8/14 (57.14%) patients and were generally of mild to moderate severity. The most frequently reported adverse events were drowsiness, dizziness, slowness and constipation. There were no drop-outs due to adverse events.
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Acta clinica Croatica · Sep 2009
The contralateral carotid disease in patients with internal carotid artery occlusion.
The one-year incidence of carotid occlusion is 6/100 000 inhabitants in general population. Stroke incidence and mortality rate in these patients vary. Patients that underwent carotid endarterectomy (CES) are at a higher risk of progression of contralateral carotid stenosis. ⋯ In 21 (30%) patients the disease progressed to subtotal stenosis and 18 patients underwent carotid surgery. Accordingly, contralateral carotid disease progression was observed in one third of patients with carotid occlusion. Additional studies on the issue are needed.
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The aim of the study was to determine whether an acute loss of consciousness, mental status change or related symptoms correlated with the presence of epileptiform abnormalities on urgent EEG. We analyzed 228 consecutive patients admitted to Emergency Room during the past 12 months and referred for urgent EEG evaluation. All patients had either a brief loss of consciousness or acute brain disorder, with a clinical diagnosis of epilepsy, syncope, head trauma, headache, transient ischemic attack (TIA) or vertigo. ⋯ In conclusion, epilepsy was the most common clinical diagnosis in patients referred for urgent EEG. There was a significant correlation between the diagnosis and specific EEG abnormalities, however, the diagnosis of epilepsy failed to predict epileptiform activity on EEG. Study results suggested urgent EEG to have a high yield in patients with epilepsy.