ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: We have aimed to investigate the presence of peripheral and autonomic neuropathy in individuals who had been diagnosed with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) on the basis of an oral glucose tolerance test, by comparing with age-matched healthy subjects with an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in normoglycemic ranges. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Conventional nerve conduction studies, heart rate variation variability, heart rate response to deep breathing, heart rate response to valsalva maneuvre, blood pressure response to standing up quickly, hand grip test and sympathetic skin response tests were used to evaluate the IGT and the control subjects. RESULTS: No obvious statistical difference indicating peripheral neuropathy and/or cardiac autonomic neuropathy was detected between patient group and controls. Amplitudes of sympathetic skin response of two limbs (right upper and lower extremities) were lower in the IGT patient group when compared to healthy controls (p < 0.05) indicating the presence of sudomotor autonomic neuropathy. CONCLUSION: Complaints and neurological examinations of patients with IGT were thought to be consistent with small-fiber neuropathy in the early phase of glucose intolerance. Not detecting any neuropathic findings in conventional electroneurography should be attributed to insufficient time allowed for settling down of large-fiber neuropathy. Obtaining no response in some of the patients in addition to general decrease in the amplitudes of sympathetic skin responses indicates that sudomotor fibers tend to be affected earlier in autonomic neuropathy in the group with IGT when compared with healthy controls. Newly diagnosed IGT patients take receive priority in primary protection since the time for settling down of cardiac autonomic neuropathy was short.
Subject(s)
Autonomic Nervous System Diseases/diagnosis , Diabetic Neuropathies/diagnosis , Glucose Intolerance/complications , Peripheral Nervous System Diseases/diagnosis , Adult , Blood Pressure , Diagnostic Techniques, Neurological , Exercise , Heart Rate , Humans , Middle Aged , Neural Conduction , Valsalva ManeuverABSTRACT
Recent evidence supports that the prevalence of patent foramen ovale is higher in patients with migraine with aura. We conducted a case-control study and searched for intra-atrial right to left shunt in 53 patients with migraine. PFO was detected by means of transthoracic echocardiography with administration of contrast medium during valsalva maneuver and the results were compared with age and sex matched 27 healthy controls. Patent foramen ovale was more frequent in the migraine group (p<.01). The percentages of PFO in migraine patients with aura, without aura and the control group were 66.7%, 47.4% and 22.2%, respectively. Our results are supportive of an association between PFO and migraine, especially with aura.
Subject(s)
Foramen Ovale, Patent/epidemiology , Migraine with Aura/complications , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Case-Control Studies , Echocardiography, Transesophageal , Female , Foramen Ovale, Patent/complications , Foramen Ovale, Patent/diagnostic imaging , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Prevalence , Turkey/epidemiologyABSTRACT
We have studied the plasma cortisol levels between attacks in order to investigate the role of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in migraine patients. We have not found any statistically significance between plasma cortisol levels of patients and control group, after taking the blood of 25 patients and 24 healthy controls between 8.30-9.30 am.
Subject(s)
Hydrocortisone/blood , Migraine Disorders/blood , Aged , Case-Control Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
AIMS OF THE STUDY: To determine normative values for somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve (LFCN). METHODS: The LFCN was stimulated at two points, one located 1 cm lateral to the midpoint of a line joining the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) and the patella (31 subjects), and the other one located 12 cm distal to the ASIS (24 subjects). Recordings were performed at Cz' (2 cm behind Cz)-Fz. RESULTS: Reproducible SEPs were obtained in all but one of the 31 subjects to ASIS-patella midpoint (mean P1 latency: 33.2+/-3.5 ms, mean side-to-side difference: 2.0+/-1.6 ms) and in all but three of the 24 subjects to stimulation 12 cm distal to the ASIS (mean P1 latency: 30.9+/-3.3 ms, mean side-to-side difference: 2.2+/-1.7 ms). CONCLUSIONS: Reliable SEPs can be obtained to LFCN stimulation. It is easier and, therefore, more convenient to stimulate the ASIS-patella midpoint.
