ABSTRACT
A case is presented of a young woman with a serious addiction to levodopa who over the years developed an extrapyramidal syndrome and chronic paranoid psychotic behaviour. The possible pathophysiological mechanism is discussed.
Subject(s)
Levodopa , Substance-Related Disorders/etiology , Adult , Dermatitis, Seborrheic/chemically induced , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Female , Humans , Levodopa/adverse effects , Muscle Rigidity/chemically induced , Paranoid Disorders/chemically induced , Parkinson Disease, Secondary/chemically induced , Psychoses, Substance-Induced/etiology , Risk Factors , Substance Withdrawal Syndrome/etiologyABSTRACT
The clinicopathological findings of a 50-year-old man, who developed cervicothoracic syringomyelia at the age of 25 are presented. He was given radiation therapy at the age of 33. At the age of 57 he developed a foramen jugulare syndrome on the left, caused by a low grade leiomyosarcoma. Etiologically, the most attractive hypothesis appears to be that the tumour was induced by radiation therapy administered 24 years previously.
Subject(s)
Brain Neoplasms/etiology , Leiomyosarcoma/etiology , Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced , Syringomyelia/complications , Adult , Brain Neoplasms/complications , Brain Neoplasms/pathology , Humans , Leiomyosarcoma/complications , Leiomyosarcoma/pathology , Male , Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced/complications , Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced/pathology , Radiotherapy/adverse effects , Time FactorsABSTRACT
In 1973 R.C. Lyneham and others warned against the possible epileptogenic effect of prostaglandins. We studied the influence of this substance on the electroencephalogram of 53 subject (31 non-epileptics and 22 epileptics) before and during the administration of PG E2. Forty-eight tracings remained unchanged, four showed a slight improvement and one showed some worsening during infusion of PG E2. One patient, suffering from daily psychomotor attacks had, accidentally a fit during the trial. It can be concluded that PG E2 does not alter the electroencephalogram in a significant way and that it does not induce epileptic seizures.
Subject(s)
Epilepsy/chemically induced , Prostaglandins E/pharmacology , Female , Humans , Male , PregnancyABSTRACT
Present study was prompted by the report from another center on the occasional occurrence of convulsions and abnormal electroencephalogram (E.E.G.) patterns in women aborted with intra-amniotic prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha). Fifty four subjects were investigated by means of an E.E.G. taken before and after initiation of PGE2 administration. They included pregnant and non-pregnant patients, nearly half (23) of whom were known epileptics. One seizure was observed during PG administration in a man with daily psychomotor attacks who had not taken his anticonvulsants on the day the test was performed. PGE2 caused no alteration of the E.E.G. in subjects with a normal control tracing; in those with an abnormal E.E.G., a deterioration was seen in one and an improvement in three. It is concluded that PGE2 is not epileptogenic at doses required for termination of pregnancy.
