ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Along with classical motor disorders in Parkinson's disease (PD), psychopathological features frequently co-occur, which may increase the caregiver's burden. AIMS: To identify the profile of psychopathological symptoms in patients with PD and the impact imposed by this condition on the caregiver's burden. SUBJECTS: Fifty patients with idiopathic PD seen consecutively at the Movement Disorder Outpatient Clinic at the Hospital of State University of Campinas, Brazil, and their 50 respective caregivers were studied. METHODS: The 50 patients with PD were divided into three groups according to the respective psychiatric diagnosis received (depression: N = 17, dementia: N = 13 and non-depressed and non-demented: N = 20). We divided the caregivers into three groups according to the mental condition of their patients. To assess the mental condition of patients and the caregiver's burden, and to correlate those psychopathological features found with clinical features of PD, we applied the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). RESULTS: Patients with dementia presented the highest NPI scores of psychopathological symptoms (26.4), followed by patients with depression (24.9). Non-depressed and non-demented patients revealed fewer symptoms (7.2). Caregivers' burden was found to be proportional to the degree of patients' symptomatology. CONCLUSION: Patients with dementia presented more severe motor impairment and lower functionality, followed by patients with depression and those non-demented, non-depressed. Psychotic symptoms, agitation, aberrant motor behaviours and sleep disturbances were higher in dementia group. Neuropsychiatric disturbances correlated with caregiver's burden, which was highest in patients with dementia.
Subject(s)
Caregivers/psychology , Parkinson Disease/psychology , Aged , Analysis of Variance , Brazil/epidemiology , Cost of Illness , Dementia/epidemiology , Depressive Disorder/epidemiology , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Neuropsychological TestsABSTRACT
Foi estudado o caso de um paciente de 57 anos com meningeoma frontal esquedo, cuja única manifestaçäo clínica foi torcicolo espasmódico contralateral. Há poucos casos relatados na literatura de lesöes frontais levando a movimentos involuntários, sendo analizada a possibilidade de uma desconexäo funcional entre o córtex frontal e o complexo estriato-lentículo-talâmico
Subject(s)
Humans , Middle Aged , Male , Meningeal Neoplasms/complications , Meningioma/complications , Torticollis/etiology , Frontal Lobe/physiopathologyABSTRACT
Os autores trataram 25 pacientes neurocisticercoticos com a dose de 50mg/kg/dia de praziquantel, pelo periodo de 21 dias. Em quatro pacientes (16) fez-se necessaria a interrupcao do tratamento pelo aparecimento de sinais e sintomas de hipertensao intracraniana, ocorrendo regressao imediata destes com a suspensao do praziquantel, embora num deles persistisse o quadro de sindrome de Parinaud que havia se instalado no primeiro dia da medicao. Nesta serie ocorreu um obito por hipertensao intracraniana, num paciente ja previamente submetido a derivacao ventriculoperitoneal. Conclui-se que sao necessarios mais estudos clinicos para esclarecer o papel terapeutico definitivo do praziquantelna neurocisticercose, revendo-se suas principais indicacoes nessa patologia.
