Brief neuropsychological assessment of adults post-stroke in the left hemisphere

The neuropsychological assessment investigates cognitive deficits to improve the diagnosis, the prognosis and the rehabilitation of patients. In Brazil, stroke is a major cause of hospitalization and the leading cause of mortality and disability. The stroke in the left hemisphere (LH) is associated with different degrees of loss of language and other cognitive impairments, for example, in the memory. We compared the performance in brief neuropsychological tasks of the left hemisphere poststroke patients, without moderate or severe aphasia, with healthy controls. A list of 135 patients was selected based on inclusion criteria. The study included 15 patients with left stroke, paired by sex, age and education to 30 neurologically healthy adults. The data resulting from application of the Neupsilin Brief Neuropsychological Assessment Instrument were analyzed with the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U. Adults with LH stroke showed a significant reduction in performance when compared to healthy controls on language, working memory and ideomotor praxis, results also found in other studies of patients with left hemisphere stroke

Clinical experience of clobazam as add-on treatment in a cohort of adults with epilepsy

Objective: Epilepsy is a common neurologic disorder affecting 1% of the world population with one-third of these patients failing to have seizure control for more than one year. Clobazam is a long-acting benzodiazepine used worldwide for the treatment of epilepsy. This antiepileptic drug has demonstrated great clinical benefits with mild side effects. The objective of this study was to better understand the efficacy of clobazam treatment on adult patients with refractory epilepsy. Design: A retrospective review of 44 adult patients with diagnosis of epilepsy that were seen at our Epilepsy Clinic between January 2014 and May 2015. Setting: An outpatient epilepsy clinic at the Hospital Universitario Fundación Santa Fe de Bogota, Colombia. Participants: 44 adult patients with diagnosis of epilepsy. Measurements: Seizure frequency, adverse effects and the use of concomitant AEDs were reviewed in each of the patient´s clinical charts. Results: The responder rate of patients with clobazam was 52% at 3 months, 50% at 6 months and 55% at 12 month. Seizure freedom rates at 3, 6 and 12 months were 18%, 25% and 25% respectively. Clobazam related adverse events occurred only in four patients (9%) at the end of the twelve months with somnolence being the most common. Conclusion: These findings suggest that clobazam treatment in adult patients with focal or generalized epilepsy is effective and safe. Its use should be considered early when first-line agents fail to provide seizure control.

Short Term Health Shocks and School Attendance: The Case of a Dengue Fever Outbreak in Colombia.

This paper makes use of a short, sharp, unexpected health shock in the form of the 2010 Colombian Dengue outbreak to examine the direct and indirect impact of negative health shocks on behaviour of households in affected areas. Our analysis combines data from several sources in order to obtain a comprehensive picture of the influence of the outbreak, and furthermore to understand the underlying mechanisms driving the effects. Our initial analysis indicates that the outbreak had a substantial negative effect on the health status of adults and adversely affected their ability to function as usual in their daily lives. In our aggregated school data, in areas with high levels of haemorrhagic Dengue we observe a reduction innational exam attendance (last year of secondary school) and on enrolment rates in primary education. Further analysis aims to exploit detailed individual level data to gain a more in depth understanding of the precise channels through which this disease influenced the behaviour and outcomes of the poor in Colombia.