Psychotic symptoms are common in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and are associated with poorer quality of life, significant patient morbidity, early mortality, and caregiver burden. We present a case of a 49-year old female patient with late-onset psychosis, which led to the diagnosis of PD. This clinical case combines all the rarely presented symptoms related to PD psychosis, and the diagnosis was formed after a thorough clinical, imaging, and neuropsychological examination.
Aims: This study assessed histological parameter of the hippocampus using scopolamine-induced cognitive dysfunction rats following the administration of aqueous extract of Telfairia occidentalis seed.
Materials and Methods: Thirty Wistar rats weighed between 180-200 g were randomly grouped into five, designated I, II, III, IV and V each containing six rats. Cognitive dysfunction was induced in groups II to V by intraperitoneal administration of 1 mg/kg body weight of scopolamine for seven days before the aqueous extract administration. Group I were fed with animal feed and water ad libitum. Groups III and IV received 875 and 1750 mg/kg body weight of aqueous extract of Telfairia occidentalis seed while group V received 1 mg/kg body weight of donepezil for fourteen days. Twenty-four hours after the last administration, the animals were anaesthetized with their brain tissues perfused, processed and stained with haematoxylin and eosin.
Results: Results showed atrophied and karyorrhectic cells with disrupted cell membranes in group II. These pathological features were less in groups III and V but none in group IV when compared to group I. The ameliorative effect of aqueous extract of T. occidentalis may be attributed to the presence of exogenous antioxidants which helps to neutralize the toxic effects caused by scopolamine.
Conclusion: In conclusion, the cellular damage caused by scopolamine hydrobromide was reduced in dose dependent manner following administration of aqueous extract of T. occidentalis seed.
Background: Parkinson's disease is a slowly progressing neurodegenerative disease with accumulation of alpha synuclein and the formation of Levy's intraneuronal bodies. The prevalence of PD ranges from 100 to 200 cases per 100,000 population, however, in reality in Ukraine, many cases of the disease remain undiagnosed, which affects the statistical indicators of disease burden.
Aim of the Study: Comparison of PD epidemiological indices in the Southern Ukraine versus all-Ukrainian rates.
Materials and Methods: Analysis of static data of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, health departments of Odessa, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions for 2015-2017. There were used the methods of descriptive statistics and analysis of variance.
Results: Average prevalence of PD in the Ukraine is 67.5 per 100,000 population – it’s close to the Eastern Europe rate. The highest prevalence was registered in Lviv (142.5 per 100000), Vinnytsia (135.9 per 100000), Cherkasy (108.6 per 100,000) and Kyiv (107.1 per 100,000) regions. The lowest prevalence rates were in the Luhansk (37.9 per 100,000), Kropivnitsky (42.5 per 100,000), Chernivtsi (49.0 per 100,000) and Ternopil (49,6 per 100,000) regions. In the Southern Ukraine the highest prevalence of PD was found in the Mykolayv region. The prevalence was higher in the urban area and in the districts located closely to the regional capital city. Based on the total population and demographic properties in Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, it can be concluded that at least 40-50% of patients with PD are left outside the sphere of medical care, and in some areas of these regions this index is 80-90%.
Conclusion: To optimize the diagnostic process and standardize epidemiological data, it is necessary to intensify the work of centers of extrapyramidal diseases in all regions of Ukraine, including intra-center and inter-center information databases to obtain adequate and pertinent statistical data.
Background: Correct identification of the central sulcus and adjacent gyri is essential for localizing tumors and planning effective surgery. With brain lesions central sulcus and surrounding sensory and motor eloquent areas may be obliterated. Central sulcus is the sulcus anterior to the pars marginalis on axial images.
Purpose: To evaluate the presence of marginal sulcus in axial cuts brain MRI among Sudanese population and to use it as land mark for central sulcus localization.
Methodology: The study included 100 normal MRI of both sex of adult age group. The pars marginalis and pars bracket sign was assessed and the direct relation to the central sulcus was observed.
Results: This study included 100 participants, (55 males and 45 females). The mean age of patients was 32.2 (+/- 7.4) years (range, 18–73 years). Pars marginalis and bracket sign were observed in all cases. In all cases, the central sulcus was observed to be anterior to the pars bracket. In 97 cases (53 males and 44 females), the central sulcus enters into the bracket, while in the remaining 3 cases it did not reach the pars bracket. No significant difference was observed between males and females.
Conclusion: Pars bracket sign was proved to be a reliable and quite effective signs to localize the central sulcus.
The flower sea urchin (Toxopneustes pileolus) sting is characterised by severe pain, followed by a brief paralysis of facial muscles that may create confusion with the diagnosis of similar clinical conditions like facial palsy and an episode of myasthenia gravis (MG), at the first glance. The epidemiological history, paralysis of face muscles occurring in scuba divers, following a sting, by the sea urchin, distinguishes the venomation by the flower sea urchin, from the other conditions. Its awareness to the medical professionals, assumes paramount importance in avoiding misdiagnosis. Another distinguishing feature of the envenomation, is its self limiting nature and the sting's effect wears of within a few minutes to hours besides being nonreccurent. Though two toxins, contractin and Pedixin are identified, the possible mechanisms involved in the sting paralysis are not clearly elucidated. The similarity of symptomatology with MG suggests a possible mechanism of action of the sea urchin toxin, similar to that of MG involving the myonueral junction. The various mechanisms disrupting the signal transmission at the myoneural junction are explored. The article is aimed at creating awareness among the medical profession about the sting paralysis, its transient and reversible nature and also suggest possible mechanisms that may be involved in the sting paralysis,to give impetus to future research, in this direction.
