Tratamento cirúrgico da epilepsia do lobo temporal: análise de 43 casos consecutivos / Surgical treatment of temporal lobe epilepsy: a series of forty-three cases analysis

Quarenta e três pacientes com epilepsia refratária ao tratamento medicamentoso foram submetidos à cirurgia de epilepsia do lobo temporal no Instituto de Neurologia de Curitiba, entre os anos de 1998 a 2003. Trinta e nove (90,6 por cento) pacientes apresentavam esclerose mesial temporal, e quatro (9,4 por cento), tumores cerebrais. Dos trinta e sete pacientes que possuíam avaliação pós-operatória completa, 83,7 por cento apresentaram classificação I, segundo Engel (livres de crises incapacitantes). Complicações pós-operatórias ocorreram em 18,6 por cento: uma infecção da ferida operatória, um caso de hidrocefalia, um de fístula liquórica, dois casos de paralisia transitória do IV nervo craniano e um de hemiparesia transitória. Não houve nenhum óbito relacionado à cirurgia de epilepsia no presente estudo.

Serum cholesterol in healthy postmenopausal women.

Hypercholes erolaemia is a modifiable risk factor in atherosclerosis. Women lose their relative protection against coronory heart disease at menopause because of changed lipid profile due to oestrogen deficiency. Total serum cholesterol was estimated in 82 healthy postmenopausal women in the age group of 46-72 years (51.5 +/- 7.39). Thirty five healthy pre-menopausal women in the age group of 18-38 years (29.5 +/- 6.4) served as controls. The mean serum cholesterol concentration was significantly higher in the postmenopausal group compared to control group (178.5 +/- 39.8 Vs 155.4 +/- 24 mg/dl; P < 0.01). Serum cholesterol concentration in the study group was not related to social class, dietary habit and obesity.

Study on blood level of human placental lactogen in abnormal pregnancy.

The hormone human placental lactogen (HPL) was measured in 15 expectant mothers with pre-eclamptic toxaemia, 5 with postdated pregnancy and 2 mothers with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). These levels were compared with that of 43 expectant mothers without any complications. In preeclamptic toxaemia (PET), HPL showed higher or normal values but in severe cases of PET and in those with proteinuria, hormone level was depressed as compared to normal pregnancy. Also in younger mothers (22 years or less) with the complication, the hormone level was low, though no relation with parity was observed. In case of IUGR, the hormone level was within the normal range although one pregnancy ended in intra-uterine foetal death. Low level of the hormone was found in pregnancies ending in low birth weight babies and in postdated pregnancies with foetal postmaturity syndrome.

Protein synthesis in human foetal brain & liver.

Anthropometric measurements were carried out on 772 normal human foetuses in Medical Termination of Pregnancy Clinics in Calcutta. Foetal brain constituted 14 per cent of body weights from 9 to 24 wk of gestation. The protein content/g of the foetal livers increased during 9-24 wk of gestation whereas that of the brain decreased slightly during this period. The rate of incorporation of 14C-leucine into 16,000 x g supernatant fractions of human foetal liver increased with progress of gestation. In foetal cerebrum and midbrain, the incorporation rate increased from 13 to 20 wk of gestation and then decreased. 16,000 x g pellet fractions of human foetal liver showed an increase of leucine incorporation with progress of gestation. However, the rate of incorporation in the foetal cerebrum was nearly the same at different periods of gestation.