ABSTRACT
Personality adjustment of patients with unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) was investigated in the light of special characteristics of the epilepsy process, psychosocial stressors, and the cognitive status of the patients. Thirty-seven patients with medically intractable unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy (16-55 years of age; 20 right temporal and 17 left temporal foci) were examined with standardized personality inventories (FPI, STAI, IPC, TSK) supplemented by a rating scale evaluated by the neuropsychologist (GEWLE). Patients with left temporal lobe epilepsy were characterized by increased emotional dependency, less externally judged composedness, increased depressive drive and mood, increased nervousness, increased search for information and exchange of disease experience, and greater tendency to persevere (P < 0.05). Cognitive status and psychosocial status did not significantly differ. The evaluation of personality adjustment contributes to the lateralization of the epileptogenic focus and reveals interesting patterns in the preoperative diagnostic puzzle, and in addition provides a strategy to individualize psychotherapeutic strategies.
Subject(s)
Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe/physiopathology , Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe/psychology , Functional Laterality/physiology , Psychopathology/methods , Adult , Case-Control Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Neuropsychological Tests/statistics & numerical data , Personality Disorders/physiopathology , Personality Disorders/psychology , Personality Inventory/statistics & numerical data , Psychological TestsABSTRACT
The term frontotemporal dementia is used to describe a primary degenerative form of dementia, which is characterized by typical clinical, neuropsychological, radiological and neuropathological features. Its onset is usually before the age of 65 years; manifestations before the age of 30 years have rarely been described. We report the case of a 22-year old man, who showed symptoms of behavioural disorder such as social retreat, lack of initiative, mental rigidity, progressive reduction of speech, and stereotyped behaviour. The neuropsychological examination revealed disorders of the executive functions. The cerebral MRI investigations showed bifrontal atrophies corresponding with hypoperfusion areas on the SPECT. Other investigations including EEG, evoked potentials, duplex ultrasonography, cerebral angiography, laboratory tests and cerebrospinal fluid were normal. In the present case report we discuss the clinical presentation of frontotemporal dementia with early onset.
Subject(s)
Frontal Lobe , Pick Disease of the Brain/diagnosis , Temporal Lobe , Temporal Lobe/physiopathology , Adult , Alzheimer Disease/diagnosis , Alzheimer Disease/pathology , Alzheimer Disease/physiopathology , Diagnosis, Differential , Diagnostic Imaging , Disease Progression , Electroencephalography , Frontal Lobe/pathology , Frontal Lobe/physiopathology , Humans , Male , Neuropsychological Tests , Pick Disease of the Brain/pathology , Pick Disease of the Brain/physiopathology , Temporal Lobe/pathologyABSTRACT
Investigating the specific of psychic performance disorders in epileptics structural aspects in addition to quantitative performance differences are considerable. We compared psychometrically obtained performance structures of epileptic children and adults and of parallelised healthy control persons. It became evident, that the performance differentiation hypothesis is to corroborate also in epileptic patients. The psychic performance structure of epileptics is characterized by a lower differentiation level of the basis functions underlining the performances. Our factor analytic investigations emphasize the importance of deceleration of psychic/psychomotoric speed in epileptics as primary basic disorder.
Subject(s)
Electroencephalography , Epilepsy/diagnosis , Neurocognitive Disorders/diagnosis , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Neuropsychological Tests , Psychomotor Performance , Reaction TimeABSTRACT
We examined 49 normal intelligent epileptic and parallelised in sex, age and intelligence just as much healthy and 14 minimal cerebral damaged children without seizures. Using a psychological test battery psychic/psychomotor speed, flexibility/preservation proneness, memory span and memory and concentration were registrated. Besides reduced memory performances we found a deceleration of psychic/psychomotor speed as primary basic disorder within the performance structure of epileptic children analogous to our previous examined adults. The tridimensional comparison suggests remarkable psychopathological differences among the two groups of patients.
Subject(s)
Epilepsies, Partial/psychology , Neurocognitive Disorders/psychology , Adolescent , Attention , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/psychology , Child , Female , Humans , Intelligence , Male , Mental Recall , Neuropsychological Tests , Psychometrics , Psychomotor PerformanceSubject(s)
Epilepsy/psychology , Intelligence , Neuropsychological Tests , Adolescent , Attention , Child , Female , Humans , Male , MemorySubject(s)
Nonverbal Communication , Physician-Patient Relations , Humans , Kinesics , Personal Space , Verbal BehaviorSubject(s)
Achievement , Carbamazepine/therapeutic use , Epilepsy/drug therapy , Valproic Acid/therapeutic use , Adolescent , Child , Female , Humans , MaleSubject(s)
Epilepsies, Partial/psychology , Learning Disabilities/psychology , Adolescent , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Psychological TestsSubject(s)
Epilepsy/physiopathology , Memory, Short-Term , Memory , Adolescent , Child , Epilepsy/psychology , Female , Humans , Male , Pilot ProjectsABSTRACT
Suicide attempts in childhood and adolescence include the general necessity of specific neuropsychiatric and psychological diagnostics and therapy. To classify in "serious" or "demonstrative-hysterical"suicide attempts is to refuse, because there exist personality disorders in every case. Essential sources are disturbances in the emotional parents-child-relations and chronic conflicts between the marriage partners, so that always an analysis of the family relations structure is indicated.
Subject(s)
Family , Suicide, Attempted/psychology , Adolescent , Female , Humans , Neurotic Disorders/psychology , Parent-Child Relations , Personality Development , Personality Disorders/psychologySubject(s)
Achievement , Personality Disorders/psychology , Adolescent , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Neurotic Disorders/psychology , Personality DevelopmentABSTRACT
Starting from literature analysis the authors deal with the problem of thefts, being not clear in its motive and without an essential enrichment tendency. They watched such actions as emotional eruption eruption in 13 cases of young people with defective personality development. Hypotheses to explain this phenomenon are discussed.
Subject(s)
Juvenile Delinquency/psychology , Motivation , Theft , Adolescent , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Parent-Child Relations , Personality DevelopmentABSTRACT
Somatic, neurological and psychological follow-up examinations performed on 54 high-risk children for school enrollment gave no significant differences in comparison with a randomized equal number of normal control children, with regard to physical development and maturation as indicated by carporadiograms. So far as neurological development was concerned, there was a slightly more frequent occurrence of minimal defects and, anamnestically, a marked retardation in the mastering of static functions (running) and speech development in the high-risk group. The results were in correlation with the psychological test findings. Here, too, a more frequent occurrence of impaired intellectual functions was found, which led to a greater number of deferments, conditional enrollments and transfers to special schools. Prospective examinations afford better opportunities of etiologically classifying and registering defects, including light forms. In this connection problems of screening are also discussed.
Subject(s)
Brain Damage, Chronic/diagnosis , Learning Disabilities/diagnosis , Neurocognitive Disorders/diagnosis , Child , Child Development , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , RiskSubject(s)
Vena Cava, Inferior/abnormalities , Arteriovenous Malformations/complications , Collateral Circulation , Congenital Abnormalities/diagnostic imaging , Humans , Iliac Vein/diagnostic imaging , Male , Middle Aged , Radiography , Varicose Veins/complications , Vena Cava, Inferior/diagnostic imagingABSTRACT
A 36 year old man with panarteriitis nodosa (PAN) presented over a certain period of time meinly with gastrointestinal symptoms. He was HBsAg positive and a "reactive" hepatitis with histologically demonstrated. Arterial microaneurysms and stenoses were detected by angiography in the liver, kidney and small intestine. These findings were confirmed by autopsy. Vascular occlusions had caused infarctions of the small intestine as well as necroses and ulcerations of the large bowel. Chronic ischemia is considered as cause of the patient's malabsorption-syndrome. It is suggested, that cachexia of PAN may be partly due to malabsorption.
