[Cervico-inguinal microbiology, vaginal pH, infections, and premature labor]. / Microbiologia cervico-vaginale, pH vaginale, infezioni e parto pretermine.

UNLABELLED: Preterm labor is the leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. There is increasing evidence that inflammation of the upper genital tract, deriviated by lower reproductive tract infections (cervicitis or vaginitis), may play a major role in the pathogenesis of preterm labor, premature rupture of membranes and preterm birth. These complications are potentially preventable with prompt diagnosis and treatment in pregnancy. Alterations of the vaginal ecosystem with change in vaginal pH, are presupposition for infections and their consequences. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between cervico-vaginal infections and related events such as expression of bacterial enzymes and change in vaginal pH with preterm labor. METHODS AND RESULTS: In our study we identified cervico-vaginal infections during gestation week 8-14 and 30-34, using three different diagnostic tools: 1) microbiological tests; 2) assessment of vaginal pH; 3) detection of bacterial enzymes. Then, we correlated these events to perinatal outcome. Among 200 pregnant women a pH greater than 4.6 was detected in 38% of all cases. Among microbiologically positive patients, vaginal fluid pH was positive, in particular, in 75% cases of Bacterial vaginosis. CONCLUSION: pH assessment along with symptoms and signs could be used as initial screening test to alert physician to vaginitis. When vaginal fluid pH is used to screen for Bacterial vaginosis, it has a greater sensitivity than when used to screen for all causes of vaginitis.

The effect of clozapine on aggressive behaviour in patients with chronic schizophrenia.

We studied the effect of 12 months' treatment with clozapine (150-400 mg/day) in 16 chronic schizophrenic patients with aggressive behaviour. The number of aggressive episodes, the time spent in seclusion and physical restraint, and the number of pharmacological interventions used as chemical restraint during the 12 months of clozapine treatment were calculated and compared to those for the previous 12-month period (during which treatment was with conventional antipsychotics). During clozapine therapy there was a statistically significant decrease (P<0.001) in all the parameters of aggressive behaviour which we investigated, as compared with the pre-clozapine period. The reduction in aggressive behaviour was more prominent within the first 6 months of clozapine administration. Clozapine treatment was also associated with a global improvement in psychosis, as measured by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Despite the limitations in sample size and study design, our results confirm that clozapine appears more effective than classical antipsychotics in reducing aggressive behaviour in chronic schizophrenic patients.

Epileptic seizures in subjects previously affected by disorders of arousal.

Six patients (3M, 3F, mean age 17.3 yrs) presenting different types of evolution from disorders of arousal to epilepsy are described. All subjects during their childhood had been diagnosed in a sleep center as affected by sleep-walking (three cases) and night terrors (the other three). Successively they developed nocturnal events different from those previously exhibited and consisting of clear epileptic seizures, generalized tonic-clonic in one case and complex partial in five cases. Nocturnal monitoring allowed recognition of clear interictal paroxysmal activity in three patients, while ictal events were recorded in the remaining three. Anticonvulsant treatment (carbamazepine in five patients, phenytoin in one patient) led to the resolution of the ictal events in all cases. The fact that both disorders of arousal and epilepsy are strictly related to sleep and often share common features such as age range of onset and precipitating factors, suggests the existence of common functional substrates identifiable in constitutional maturative and biologic factors. The possible occurrence of seizures in subjects exhibiting parasomnia during their childhood has to be considered in patients with familial history of epilepsy and in all doubtful cases.

Sleep features in Tourette's syndrome, neuroacanthocytosis and Huntington's chorea.

Twenty-one patients affected by extrapyramidal disorders were polygraphically recorded during spontaneous nocturnal sleep for two consecutive nights to assess their sleep and movement patterns. The patients (pts) sample included: Gilles de La Tourette syndrome (TS, nine pts), neuroacanthocytosis (NA, six pts) and Hungtington's chorea (HC, six pts). Sleep recording included C3/A2, 01/A2, ROC/LOC, submental EMG, EKG, nasal airflow thoracoabdominal respirogram, bilateral anterior tibialis and other EMGs, in relation to the individual distribution of the abnormal movements. According to our observations, abnormal movements always decreased but never ceased completely during sleep. Sleep efficiency (SE) was nearly always poor with a high percentage of wakefulness after sleep onset (WASO) and increased number of arousals. REM sleep was often reduced and in some cases (3 TS pts) incompletely defined as far as its microstructural aspects. Slow wave sleep (SWS) was reduced in HC, normal in NA, and increased in all TS patients with the exception of the two adult subjects more severely affected, while the percentage of stage 2 was not affected. Spindling was increased in NA, HC and in the two most severely affected adult TS patients.

Serotoninergic agents in the treatment of Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome.

A preliminary trial with fluoxetine, a 5-HT reuptake inhibitor, was carried out on two young male patients (21 and 32 years old) affected by Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. They both underwent a complete neurological evaluation also including neuroradiological, neurophysiological and neuropsychological assessment. Both patients had already been treated with benzodiazepines and amitriptyline; the older one was also given haloperidol and chlorimipramine with definite, but short-lasting improvement. During hospitalization a therapeutic trial with fluoxetine (20 mg/day in the younger patient and 40 mg/day in the older) in association with chlorimipramine (75 mg/day) was initiated, leading to a significant reduction (at least 50%) of abnormal movements and obsessive-compulsive behaviour. The older patient had no side effects while the 21 year old subject complained of insomnia, urinary retention and anorexia; despite the objective improvement, these side effects led us to modify the therapy after the first month. The favourable action of serotoninergic agents on TS symptoms supports the hypothesis that the multiple tics of the syndrome are motor compulsions.

Adjunctive fluoxetine in the treatment of negative symptoms in chronic schizophrenic patients.

The effect of adjunctive fluoxetine on negative schizophrenic symptoms was evaluated in 34 chronic schizophrenic in-patients on maintenance therapy with neuroleptics. They received randomly, on a double-blind basis, fluoxetine (20 mg/day) or placebo for 12 weeks. In the fluoxetine group, three patients dropped out because of side effects. Negative symptoms, as measured by change on the Scale for Assessment of Negative Symptoms at the end point compared to baseline values, were significantly improved in fluoxetine-treated patients (p < 0.001), but not in the placebo group. Fluoxetine treatment did not influence positive schizophrenic symptoms, while it induced a slight, but statistically significant, decrease (p < 0.05) in depressive symptoms, as measured by the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Unwanted effects were more common among patients receiving fluoxetine. These data suggest that the addition of fluoxetine to neuroleptic treatment may be beneficial in some schizophrenic patients with negative symptoms.

Prevalence of Parkinson's disease and other types of parkinsonism: a door-to-door survey in three Sicilian municipalities. The Sicilian Neuro-Epidemiologic Study (SNES) Group.

We investigated the prevalence of Parkinson's disease and other types of parkinsonism in a Sicilian population using a door-to-door two-phase approach. This design called for the administration of a brief screening instrument to all subjects who, on November 1, 1987, were residents of Terrasini (Palermo Province), Santa Teresa di Riva (Messina Province), and Riposto (Catania Province), Sicily (N = 24,496). Study neurologists using specified diagnostic criteria extensively investigated those subjects who screened positive. We found 63 subjects affected by Parkinson's disease, 21 with secondary parkinsonism, and seven with unspecified parkinsonism. The crude prevalence per 100,000 population was 371.5 for all types of parkinsonism and 257.2 for Parkinson's disease; for both entities, prevalence increased steeply with age and showed an inconsistent sex pattern. Our prevalence figures for Parkinson's disease are higher than those previously reported in Italy or elsewhere, which may be due, in part, to more complete case-ascertainment.

Epilepsy associated with hypocalcemia: description of a family.

The unusual occurrence of epilepsy and hypocalcemia in the same family is described. Epilepsy was present in three siblings (convulsive generalized in two females and partial in one male). All six family members had calcium ion, plasmatic phosphorus, plasmatic and erythrocytic potassium, urine calcium and phosphate concentration below the normal levels. Altered values of calcium-induced potassium membrane permeability were found in three subjects (two of them also affected by epilepsy). The assumption that alterations of membrane structure or function play an essential role in determining familial epilepsy and that the normal "set point" for calcium is genetically determined in familial hypocalcemia could explain the concomitance of both pathologies to some extent.

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome: description of two cases with prolonged clinical course.

Two cases of neuroleptic malignant syndrome presenting an unusual clinical course are reported. The first patient was untreated for the syndrome and recovered completely only after four months, while the other one was given dopaminergic and myorelaxing drugs only 10 days after the onset of the symptoms and died about six months later with an unmodified clinical picture. In both cases the treatment seemed to influence the clinical course, a delay or lack of drug intake worsening the prognosis.

Indole-3-pyruvic acid as a possible hypnotic agent in insomniac subjects.

In a single-blind study six male patients (mean age 39.5 years) with moderate insomnia were treated with placebo for three nights, 100 mg indole-3-pyruvic acid (IPA) for three nights, 200 mg IPA for three nights, 100 mg IPA for two nights and placebo for two nights. Polygraphic recordings were made and total sleep time, sleep efficiency, sleep latency, slow wave sleep latency, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep latency, number of arousals (greater than 1 min), percentage and duration of wakefulness after sleep onset, percentage and duration of wakefulness after sleep onset, percentage and duration of sleep stages 1, 2, 3, 4 and REM were recorded. At the end of 13 days, total sleep time, duration of stage 2 sleep and total non-REM were significantly increased when compared with baseline. Total sleep time and duration of stage 2 and total non-REM sleep on completion were significantly decreased when compared with after 200 mg IPA (night 9). Results suggest an action of IPA on human sleep similar to that of exogenous melatonin and L-tryptophan, thus confirming that IPA could be used to increase serotonin and melatonin turnover.

[Gilles de la Tourette disease: review of the literature]. / Malattia di Gilles de la Tourette: revisione della letteratura.

The authors reviewed recent literature reports on Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. Clinical aspects, etiopathogenetic theories and therapeutic trials were taken into account, to better define the disease and its rational therapeutic approach.

Narcolepsy and psychopathology. A case report.

The case of a 14-year-old girl presenting with the association of a clearcut narcoleptic syndrome and psychiatric disturbances is reported. Tricyclic anti-depressant drugs and hypnagogic hallucinations seem to play a precipitating role on delusional episodes in a predisposed subject with a positive psychiatric familial history.

Complex partial status epilepticus simulating an ischemic insult: case report.

A patient presenting complex partial status epilepticus (CPSE) had a clinical history and neurological picture on admission that mimicked a cerebrovascular insult. On admission she was confused and totally unresponsive to verbal stimuli. EEG showed high voltage paroxysmal activity on the left hemisphere, prominent on the temporoccipital leads and tending to spread to the opposite regions. Intravenous diazepam led to resolution of the clinical and EEG picture within 24 hours, only a medium voltage slow wave focus being present on the left temporal regions. CPSE should be considered whenever a prolonged impairment of consciousness is present. Only accurate EEG recordings permit correct diagnosis in doubtful cases.

Synergistic anticonvulsant effect of valproic acid and ethosuximide on pentylenetetrazole-induced epileptic phenomena in rats.

The possible synergistic effect of valproic acid and ethosuximide in combination on pentylenetetrazole-induced epilepsy was investigated in rats. Valproic acid and ethosuximide administered intraperitoneally both showed dose-dependent anti-epileptic activity towards pentylenetetrazole-induced myoclonias and tonic-clonic seizures. The valproic acid-ethosuximide combination had a synergistic pharmacological effect. Against myoclonias combined valproic acid-ethosuximide produced a non-significant decrease in the effective dose of both drugs compared with treatment with either drug alone. In the case of tonic-clonic seizures the protective effect against the seizures was significantly increased by combined treatment compared with treatment with either drug alone. Neither plasma concentrations nor any other pharmacokinetic parameters were significantly changed when the same doses of valproic acid and ethosuximide were given, singly or in combination.

Vascular compression from goiter as an unusual cause of cerebrovascular accident.

The unusual case of a patient with goiter and left faciobrachiocrural paresis due to right temporoparietal infarction is reported. Cerebral angioscintigram and arteriography showed a brachiocephalic and right subclavian stenosis secondary to compression by an extended thyroid nodule.

The effect of nocturnal physiological sleep on various movement disorders.

Thirty-one subjects affected by different movement disorders underwent polygraphic and videotape monitoring during nocturnal sleep, to assess movement patterns during the night. It was possible to distinguish two categories of disorders according to their pattern of movements. In the largest group (Meige's syndrome, blepharospasm, amyotrophic choreoacanthocytosis, Tourette syndrome, tonic foot, hemiballism) abnormal movements were still present during sleep, but decreased in frequency and amplitude in all stages. The second group presented three syndromes (nocturnal paroxysmal dystonia, nocturnal myoclonus, restless legs syndrome), in which light non-rapid-eye-movement sleep induced a strong activation of abnormal movements, whereas rapid-eye-movement sleep suppressed them.

Spontaneous bilateral anterior cerebral artery occlusion resulting in akinetic mutism. A case report.

An unusual case concerning a patient with akinetic mutism (AM) due to spontaneous bilateral anterior cerebral artery occlusion is reported. Brain CT scan revealed the presence of mild low density foci presenting an irregular enhancement, which followed the distribution of mesial frontal gyri and paracentral lobulus, bilaterally. Right and left carotid angiographies showed bilateral occlusion of the anterior cerebral artery. Our case is characterized by an exclusive localization of the infarction in the frontal cortex. This finding suggests that a limited damage involving the anterior cerebral arteries territory could be, on its own, responsible for the AM syndrome.