[Metabolic study of Vincamine in cranial trauma (author's transl)]. / Etude métabolique de la Vincamine chez les traumatisés crâniens.

The metabolic effects of Vincamine were studied in eight cases of cranial trauma. The lactate/pyruvate ratio in venous blood and cerebrospinal fluid was observed for a period of six hours immediately following intravenous injection of Pervincamine (1 mg/kg) and the results compared with values obtained in the six hours following injection of a placebo. The injections were administered in 20 minutes, at intervals of 24 hours. A statistically significant change was observed in the lactate/pyruvate ratio after injection of Pervincamine. No effect was observed after administration of the placebo.

Treatment of comatose patients by mechanical hyperventilation.

In case of cranial trauma, early respiratory troubles either of central or peripheral origin often accelerate the deterioration of the neurological situation. The different values of PCO2, PO2, pH and alcaline reserve measured on samples of CSF in comatose patients prove the central acidosis related to metabolic and vascular disorders in the damaged areas. Our results confirm the correlation between the importance of this disturbances and the severity of the trauma. It is thus necessary to insure patients of satisfactory respiration conditions. The tracheobronchial cleansing is applicable to intubated or tracheotomized patients by an instillation of 5ml of simple or bicarbonated physiological serum 4 to 6 times a day, followed by repeated aspirations and associated to a preventive endotracheal instillation of 80 mg of Gentamycin 4 times a day. Moreover we use controlled respiration which does not modify the gazometric parameters in the CSF but which assures patients a normoxia and moderate hypocapnia with a decrease of intracranial hypertension. Treatment by controlled hyperventilation must be precocious, because the recuperation at the level of the damaged zones is very slow.

[Trial of a new therapeutic agent, Pervincamine, in the post-concussion syndrome of patients with head injuries. Application of a double-blind control system and sequential analysis]. / Essai d'un nouvel agent thérapeutique, la pervincamine, dans le syndrome postcommotionnel des traumatisés crâniens. Application d'une méthode de contrôle à double anonymat et de l'analyse séquentielle

The authors have studied the influence of Pervincamine on the postconcussional syndrome in a group of 30 patients with cranial trauma examined for at least six months after their accident. The double blind testing was utilised and the patients were followed at regular intervals spanning three weeks. Each patient was evaluated by semi-directed interviews and tests of "double barrage" of Zazzo and the 15 words test of Rey. In addition, an EEG was performed at the beginning and the end of the study. Statistical analysis of the evolution of symptoms and the results obtained by psychological testing has revealed the positive action of Pervincamine on the postconcussional syndrome and on mental as well as motor functioning in general. Furthermore, the secondary effects of this product are negligible.