[Brain stem involvement in eclampsia and HELLP syndrome]. / Afectación del tronco cerebral en la eclampsia y síndrome HELLP.

INTRODUCTION: Nowadays, eclampsia is a rare complication of pregnancy and the puerperium. However, it is still one of the main causes of maternal morbi-mortality. Systemic findings in eclampsia may sometimes include association with microangiopathic hemolytic anaemia, raised liver enzymes and thrombocytopenia. This clinical combination constitutes the HELLP syndrome (Hemolysis Elevated Liver enzymes Low Platelets). The commonest neurological findings in eclampsia are headache, visual alterations, convulsions and stupor or coma. The presence of clinical symptoms and signs due to brainstem disorders is unusual. CLINICAL CASE: We present the case of a thirty year old woman with eclampsia and associated HELLP syndrome, which briefly affected the brain stem. The patient showed progressive general and neurological improvement. Three months afterwards she still had paresia of the sixth right cranial nerve, due to what was presumed to be a right paramedian infarct of the pons. CONCLUSION: We consider it important not to forget this exceptional association so that suitable treatment may be given to such patients since prognosis is not invariably bad.

[Deficiency, disability and handicap in multiple sclerosis: a population-based study in Valladolid]. / Deficiencia, discapacidad y minusvalía en la esclerosis múltiple: un estudio de base poblacional en Valladolid.

INTRODUCTION: Apart from impairment there is hardly any other assessment of the repercussions of multiple sclerosis (MS) in population studies. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the functional state of en epidemiological series of patients in the Valladolid health district. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A descriptive transversal study of a geographically defined population base. During a period of three months and complementing a prevalence study, were assessed, by means of the Minimal Record of Disability, impairment, disability and handicap in a series of 51 patients (33 women and 18 men) with clinically defined MS, who lived in the area on 1 March 1997. RESULTS: There was a primarily progressive evolution in 21.6% of the patients, and secondarily progressive in 11.8%. Average follow-up time was 9.1 years (range 1-41) and average age of onset 27.8 years (range 14.7-51.0). The distribution of scores on the Expanded Disability Status Scale was bimodal (average and interquartile range: 3.0 (1.5-5.0). 80.4% of the patients continued to be ambulatory. 21.5% had frequent urinary incontinence or required a long-term urinary catheter. Less than 20% needed help with day to day activities. 78% of the patients complained of some degree of fatigue, and 51% had difficulties with social relationships. 59.4% of the patients had full-time jobs and 70.6% had no financial problems. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows that the functional state of persons with MS is better than was thought, and that assessment of the consequences of this illness should include disability and handicap profiles.

[Predominance of urban suicides over rural suicides in Spain]. / Predominio del suicidio urbano sobre el rural en España.

INTRODUCTION: The different occurrence of Suicide depending on the rural/urban environment, as well as the interaction of this variable with others such as sex and age has given rise to a large quantity of investigations over the world. It was necessary to carry out in Spain an updated study of these characteristics. OBJECTIVE AND METHODS: Our purpose is to work with the raw data referred to suicide in the two last Spanish Census years. 4,619 records of suicide are requested and obtained from the Spanish National Statistics Institute registered in the years 1981 and 1991. Adjusted rates by rural/urban environment, sex and age are established and compared to each other. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Suicide rate in Spain is always higher in the cities that in the country, no matter be sex or the age group. However, there appears to be no continuous relationship between Suicide and the environment variable, since the large cities seem to confer a certain prevention. On the other hand, the feminine urban suicidal behaviour is becoming quantitatively more and more similar to those of men.

Suicides and the lunar cycle.

The existence of lunar influence on the frequency of suicide is tested by means of a permutation test. A total of 897 suicide deaths reported by the Anatomical Forensic Institute of Madrid were analyzed by a permutation test, a direct application of Fisher's ideas. Noteworthy in this study are the testing method used and the accuracy of timing of the deaths. Both factors provide firm ground for our conclusion: there appears to be no relationship between lunar phases and suicide.

[Latex allergy. Reaction to intraoperative anaphylaxis]. / Alergia al látex. Reacción de anafilaxia intraoperatoria.

We report a case of anaphylaxis during surgery as a result of reaction to latex. The patient was a 26-year old woman undergoing emergency exploratory laparotomy. Sixty minutes after the start of the procedure, rash, confluent cutaneous wheals and severe bronchospasm appeared. An allergic reaction was suspected and treatment with corticoids, H1 and H2 antihistamines, theophylline and adrenalin was begun, after which the symptoms disappeared. We wish to emphasize that in the presurgical taking of the patient's case history, no relevant diseases or known allergies were mentioned, and that all complementary analytical data obtained before surgery were within the normal limits. The woman had had a cesarean section seven months before, with no anesthetic complications. Later, the patient mentioned suffering sinusitis and food allergies, describing a clear history of atopy.

[Completed suicide in Spain, 1906-1991. Geographical distribution of mortality]. / El suicidio en España, 1906-1991. Mortalidad según distribución geográfica.

Suicidal behaviour in Spain, from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) data, is analysed. Provincial standardized figures of the first national study on Suicide (INE-1906) and those ones in 1991 (Spanish last Census), are compared. We discuss the consequences from the preventive approach.

Tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic tonus in common migraine.

Changes in dopaminergic tonus have been hypothesized in patients with common migraine, suggesting that prolactin may play a role in the pathogenesis of the migraine. We investigated the prolactin response to domperidone, a dopamine receptor blocker. We tested 22 patients with common migraine (8 men, 7 women in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, and 7 women in the luteal phase), and 22 normal subjects adjusted for age, sex and phase of the menstrual cycle. Domperidone produced a significant rise of serum prolactin (p less than 0.01) in migrainous patients (7.77 +/- 3.09 vs 71.06 +/- 9.97 in men, 7.05 +/- 2.3 vs 129.58 +/- 14.15 in women in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, and 14.28 +/- 3.51 vs 169.71 +/- 16.63 in women in the luteal phase) and control subjects. The response did not show significant differences between migrainous patients and normal subjects. These data do not suggest changes in the tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic tonus in migrainous patients, in contrast to reports of other authors.