A new formulation of an occlusive dressing containing betamethasone valerate 0.1% in the treatment of mild to moderate psoriasis.

BACKGROUND: Betamethasone valerate (BMV) is a medium-potency corticosteroid commonly used for the treatment of chronic psoriasis. Although occlusion has been shown to enhance the efficacy of BMV treatment, no ready-to-use occlusive BMV formulation is currently approved for the market. METHODS: Forty-two patients with mild to moderate psoriasis and with symmetrical lesions were treated with BMV 0.1% tape and BMV 0.12% cream for 30 days in a half-side distribution. Both treatments resulted in a significant clinical improvement. Efficacy and tolerability were evaluated by comparison of pre-treatment and post-treatment psoriasis area and severity index and self-administered psoriasis area and severity index scores, and by comparison of the changes from baseline in clinical appearance and hydration. RESULTS: Lesions treated with BMV 0.1% tape showed higher reductions from baseline in the psoriasis area and severity index and the self-administered psoriasis area and severity index scores (61.7% and 59.3%, respectively), compared with lesions treated with BMV 0.12% cream (39.5% and 34.0%, respectively). No serious local or systemic treatment-related adverse effects were reported. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate a higher efficacy of BMV 0.1% tape compared with BMV 0.12% cream in the treatment of mild to moderate chronic plaque psoriasis.

Risk factors for the syndrome of ventricular enlargement with gait apraxia (idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus): a case-control study.

A case-control study was performed to verify the association between the risk factors for cerebrovascular disease and the syndrome of ventricular enlargement with gait apraxia (VEGAS). This syndrome was defined on the basis of clinical and CT criteria alone; however, it may be representative of patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus in whom gait disturbance is the initial symptom. Seventeen patients were matched for age and sex with one hospitalised and two general population controls. Among the risk factors considered we found a significant statistical association between VEGAS and hypertension (odds ratio = 3.14; p = 0.032), ischaemic heart disease (odds ratio = 4.20; p = 0.013), ECG ischaemic changes (odds ratio = 3.67; p = 0.029), low HDL-cholesterol levels (odds ratio = 3.75; p = 0.028) and diabetes (odds ratio = 6.00; p = 0.018). Our findings indicate that risk factors for cerebrovascular disease may play a role in the development of VEGAS.

Neuropsychological, electroencephalogram and brain computed tomography findings in motor neuron disease.

Thirty-five patients affected with sporadic motor neuron disease (MND) and without clinically evident mental deterioration were systematically investigated by means of neuropsychological tests, quantitative analysis of EEG and brain CT. The MND patients as a group showed a slight but definite and stereotyped cognitive impairment. Temporal slow EEG activity was increased in the whole MND group and posterior background activity was slower in the more cognitively impaired patients. No significant differences were found in CT measurements of brain atrophy between MND and controls.

Binswanger's disease: a review of the literature and a personal contribution.

Binswanger's disease is the name which has been given to a form of subcortical vascular dementia. These patients have a particular clinical profile which progressively includes strokes, gait disorder, pseudobulbar signs and cognitive impairment suggesting dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex. The radiological pattern of hypodensity of the white matter on CT scan (or an increased MRI signal), albeit much debated, seems to be more closely associated with hypertension, previous strokes and neuropsychological defects. Binswanger's disease probably represents the end stage of a pathological process in which hypertensive arteriolopathy, demyelination of the centra semiovale and deep infarcts all play a role.

Carotid endarterectomy. Pre- and post-operative monitoring with cerebral SPECT.

In the pre-operative evaluation of carotid endarterectomy, the knowledge of ischemic areas may be helpful to reduce the operative risk. A positive CT scan is often correlated with an increased operative risk. The single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) allows us to visualize ischemic areas not shown by the CT; these areas are almost always correlated to neurological symptomatology. In patients with positive CT scan, the ischemic areas shown by SPECT are generally larger, because this technique visualize the ischemic area surrounding the cerebral infarct (penumbra). After carotid EA, SPECT is useful to show the hemodynamic modifications induced by this operation. In a series of 15 patients we observed an improvement of the cerebral blood perfusion characterized by the normalization of the blood flow in 7/12 (58%) of the ischemic areas observed pre-operatively), an improvement in 3/12 and a normalization or an improvement in the contralateral hemisphere in 5/7 of the areas. In conclusion SPECT is a useful technique to study the cerebral pathophysiology of both cerebrovascular disease and its surgical treatment.

Lipoma of the quadrigeminal plate cistern.

Two cases of quadrigeminal plate cistern lipoma detected by CT scan, one of which produced impairment of vertical gaze, are reported. The problems of diagnosis and therapy of intracranial lipomas are briefly discussed.

[Importance of trigeminal artery persistance in the pathogenesis of cerebrovascular disturbances (author's transl)]. / Ruolo della persistenza dell'arteria trigeminale nella genesi di turbe circolatorie cerebrali.

The persistence of the primitive trigeminal artery was detected in a male who had complained of a paresthetic attack in the tongue and in the right part of the body, followed by long-lasting dizziness. The vascular changes connected with this anomaly were similar, in our case, to those reported in the literature. They show that the persistence of carotido-basilar anastomosis may be combined with a defective development in both circulatory systems. The subjective and objective symptomatology reported, in such cases, appears under multiple aspects, as either the carotid circulation or the vertebro-basilar circulation may be involved. In our case, the symptomatology started when the patient was 57 years old, i.e. during the 6th decade of his life, exactly like the other cases reported in literature.