Massimo Feliciani - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Massimo Feliciani
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 1990
The trigeminal reflexes (corneal reflex, blink reflex, masseter inhibitory periods, jaw-jerk) and... more The trigeminal reflexes (corneal reflex, blink reflex, masseter inhibitory periods, jaw-jerk) and far field scalp potentials (nerve, root, brainstem, subcortical) evoked by percutaneous infraorbital stimulation were recorded in 30 patients with "idiopathic" trigeminal neuralgia (ITN) and 20 with "symptomatic" trigeminal pain (STP): seven postherpetic neuralgia, five multiple sclerosis, four tumour, two vascular malformation, one Tolosa-Hunt syndrome, and one traumatic fracture. All the patients with STP and two of those with ITN had trigeminal reflex abnormalities; 80% of patients with STP and 30% of those with ITN had evoked potential abnormalities. The results indicate that 1) trigeminal reflexes and evoked potentials are both useful in the examination of patients with trigeminal pain, and in cases secondary to specific pathologies provide 100% sensitivity; 2) in "symptomatic" and "idiopathic" paroxysmal pain the primary lesion affects the afferent fibres in the proximal portion of the root or the intrinsic portion in the pons; 3) primary sensory neurons of the A-beta fibre group are involved in both paroxysmal and constant pain, but in the latter the damage is far more severe.
Brain and Development, 1989
We report a 3-year-old child affected by severe encephalopathy, partial seizures with early onset... more We report a 3-year-old child affected by severe encephalopathy, partial seizures with early onset and microgyria whom polymicrogyria was detected by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We believe that MRI first allow an early and confident in vivo diagnosis of this severe and probably not so rare condition.
Abstract: Study Design: A pilot study of lumbar disc herniation patients examined with magnetic r... more Abstract: Study Design: A pilot study of lumbar disc herniation patients examined with magnetic resonance imaging in both psoas-relaxed position and axial compression in extension of the lumbar spine is described. Objective: To discuss the clinical value of axially loaded magnetic resonance imaging in patients with lumbar disc herniation and to evaluate the effect on the dural cross-sectional area. Summary of Background Data: Magnetic resonance imaging tests are performed in a supine relaxed position. It is well documented that a narrowing of the spinal canal is provoked by axial loading, especially when it is combined with spinal extension. Physiological or pathological changes due to loading effects might thus remain undetected by conventional imaging tests. This unloading effect could lead surgeons to a diagnosis that does not take into account these dynamic aspects. The present pilot study seeks to evaluate the effect of axial loading compression on the dural cross-sectional are...
Functional neurology, 1987
Spasmophilia is a problem much debated as regards its nosographic location. Its paroxysmal onset ... more Spasmophilia is a problem much debated as regards its nosographic location. Its paroxysmal onset in a "neurotic" patient has confined spasmophilia within a psychiatric syndromic complex for many years. In the present study, strict clinical criteria used in selecting a population of spasmophilic patients included clinical, neurophysiological, biohumoral and psychological evaluations, providing further information about the real organic features of this syndrome. Moreover, on the basis of an organic pathogenetic hypothesis, all patients were administered medical therapy which resulted in clinical amelioration in a significant number of cases.
La Clinica terapeutica, 1988
Rivista di neurologia, 1985
In this double-blind clinical trial we compared the prophylactic efficacy of the calcium-entry bl... more In this double-blind clinical trial we compared the prophylactic efficacy of the calcium-entry blocker flunarizine (15 mg nocte) with that of pizotifen (1,5 mg nocte). In 30 patients affected by classical and common migraine. During a two months treatment both drugs showed a good efficacy. Flunarizine tended to more markedly suppress severity of pain and duration of attacks than pizotifen. Daytime drowsiness and weight gain occurred with both drugs; the first side effect was more evident in the group treated with flunarizine, the second one in the group treated with pizotifen.
Functional neurology, 1988
Twenty EEG recordings obtained in children showed temporo-parieto occipital or temporo-occipital ... more Twenty EEG recordings obtained in children showed temporo-parieto occipital or temporo-occipital spikes or spike-wave complexes suppressed by eye-opening. Patients showed different neurological syndromes: classic migraine, vertebrobasilar migraine, visual phenomena, epilepsy, psychomotor retardation. Thirteen subjects were affected by epileptic seizures, which were preceded by visual phenomena in 12 cases. In 6 cases, a combination of classic migraine, visual phenomena and seizures was found. In one case of vertebrobasilar migraine, seizures occurred 5 years after the first episode of migraine. Follow-up data indicate a non-benign evolution of occipital epilepsy: partial or generalized seizures persisted in 13 treated cases. Moreover, the EEG finding of occipital spike-wave complexes seems to extend to different neurological syndromes.
Rivista di Neuroradiologia, 1991
12 pazienti portatori di glioblastoma multiforme sono stati sottoposti a chemioterapia con carbop... more 12 pazienti portatori di glioblastoma multiforme sono stati sottoposti a chemioterapia con carboplatino mediante somministrazione intra-arteriosa (carotide interna e/o vertebrale) in cicli ripetuti. Gli effetti collaterali sono stati valutati con metodiche cliniche, neurofisiologiche, ematochimiche. I risultati indicano come questa procedura sia sufficientemente ben tollerata, in assenza di tossicità diretta sul SNC, e con una mielotossicità globalmente di grado lieve.
The Neuroradiology Journal, 1999
The Neuroradiology Journal, 1989
Rivista di neurologia
In this double-blind clinical trial we compared the prophylactic efficacy of the calcium-entry bl... more In this double-blind clinical trial we compared the prophylactic efficacy of the calcium-entry blocker flunarizine (15 mg nocte) with that of pizotifen (1,5 mg nocte). In 30 patients affected by classical and common migraine. During a two months treatment both drugs showed a good efficacy. Flunarizine tended to more markedly suppress severity of pain and duration of attacks than pizotifen. Daytime drowsiness and weight gain occurred with both drugs; the first side effect was more evident in the group treated with flunarizine, the second one in the group treated with pizotifen.
Advances in neurology, 1987
Functional neurology
Spasmophilia is a problem much debated as regards its nosographic location. Its paroxysmal onset ... more Spasmophilia is a problem much debated as regards its nosographic location. Its paroxysmal onset in a "neurotic" patient has confined spasmophilia within a psychiatric syndromic complex for many years. In the present study, strict clinical criteria used in selecting a population of spasmophilic patients included clinical, neurophysiological, biohumoral and psychological evaluations, providing further information about the real organic features of this syndrome. Moreover, on the basis of an organic pathogenetic hypothesis, all patients were administered medical therapy which resulted in clinical amelioration in a significant number of cases.
... The Year in Neurology 2001. Feliciani, M and Lovestone, S and Quinn, N and Schrag, A and Warn... more ... The Year in Neurology 2001. Feliciani, M and Lovestone, S and Quinn, N and Schrag, A and Warner, T and Walker, M and Zajicek, J (2003) The Year in Neurology 2001. Informa HealthCare. Full text not available from this repository. Abstract. ...
Cephalalgia
Seventy patients suffering from post-traumatic headache were studied. Pain characteristics, perso... more Seventy patients suffering from post-traumatic headache were studied. Pain characteristics, personality and intellectual functions were assessed to be related to cranial trauma. No evident signs of brain damage were present, but an impairment related to pain in personal adjustment and well-being reducing work and study capabilities was identified. A psychopathological condition described as anxiety with somatizations and conversion mechanisms was found and when compared with the psychopathological characteristics from a group of common headache patients no differences were obtained between the two groups. DSM III diagnostic possibilities for post-traumatic headache patients were discussed.
Imaging of Brain Metabolism Spine and Cord Interventional Neuroradiology Free Communications, 1989
The management of cerebral AVMs has been improved and extended by the advent of endovascular embo... more The management of cerebral AVMs has been improved and extended by the advent of endovascular embolization techniques which represent preoperative or preradiosurgical procedures. This makes it possible to achieve a reduction in the size of the AVM; sometimes an improvement in progressive neurological deficits, if present, can be expected. In this paper we report our experience with nine cases of cerebral AVMs, in which embolization was attempted as a primary preoperative therapeutic method in order to reduce intraoperative bleeding.
Neuroradiology, 1994
The neuroradiological features of six intracranial and one intraorbital haemangiopericytomas (HP)... more The neuroradiological features of six intracranial and one intraorbital haemangiopericytomas (HP) are reviewed. CT was performed before and after IV contrast medium in 5 patients. In 2 patients MRI was performed before and after contrast medium; in another, only unenhanced images were obtained. Five patients were studied by selective external and internal carotid artery angiography. Women constituted 5 of the 7 patients, and the mean age was 50.5 years, thus the sex and age distribution did not differ from that of typical meningiomas. Contrary to previous reports, calcification was present in two of the intracranial HP, and bone erosion was clearly seen in one intracranial HP and the orbital lesion. On MRI the tumours showed no differences from angioblastic meningiomas. All 6 intracranial HP were aggressive; all recurred following treatment and extracerebral metastasis occurred in one case.
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 1990
The trigeminal reflexes (corneal reflex, blink reflex, masseter inhibitory periods, jaw-jerk) and... more The trigeminal reflexes (corneal reflex, blink reflex, masseter inhibitory periods, jaw-jerk) and far field scalp potentials (nerve, root, brainstem, subcortical) evoked by percutaneous infraorbital stimulation were recorded in 30 patients with "idiopathic" trigeminal neuralgia (ITN) and 20 with "symptomatic" trigeminal pain (STP): seven postherpetic neuralgia, five multiple sclerosis, four tumour, two vascular malformation, one Tolosa-Hunt syndrome, and one traumatic fracture. All the patients with STP and two of those with ITN had trigeminal reflex abnormalities; 80% of patients with STP and 30% of those with ITN had evoked potential abnormalities. The results indicate that 1) trigeminal reflexes and evoked potentials are both useful in the examination of patients with trigeminal pain, and in cases secondary to specific pathologies provide 100% sensitivity; 2) in "symptomatic" and "idiopathic" paroxysmal pain the primary lesion affects the afferent fibres in the proximal portion of the root or the intrinsic portion in the pons; 3) primary sensory neurons of the A-beta fibre group are involved in both paroxysmal and constant pain, but in the latter the damage is far more severe.
Brain and Development, 1989
We report a 3-year-old child affected by severe encephalopathy, partial seizures with early onset... more We report a 3-year-old child affected by severe encephalopathy, partial seizures with early onset and microgyria whom polymicrogyria was detected by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We believe that MRI first allow an early and confident in vivo diagnosis of this severe and probably not so rare condition.
Abstract: Study Design: A pilot study of lumbar disc herniation patients examined with magnetic r... more Abstract: Study Design: A pilot study of lumbar disc herniation patients examined with magnetic resonance imaging in both psoas-relaxed position and axial compression in extension of the lumbar spine is described. Objective: To discuss the clinical value of axially loaded magnetic resonance imaging in patients with lumbar disc herniation and to evaluate the effect on the dural cross-sectional area. Summary of Background Data: Magnetic resonance imaging tests are performed in a supine relaxed position. It is well documented that a narrowing of the spinal canal is provoked by axial loading, especially when it is combined with spinal extension. Physiological or pathological changes due to loading effects might thus remain undetected by conventional imaging tests. This unloading effect could lead surgeons to a diagnosis that does not take into account these dynamic aspects. The present pilot study seeks to evaluate the effect of axial loading compression on the dural cross-sectional are...
Functional neurology, 1987
Spasmophilia is a problem much debated as regards its nosographic location. Its paroxysmal onset ... more Spasmophilia is a problem much debated as regards its nosographic location. Its paroxysmal onset in a "neurotic" patient has confined spasmophilia within a psychiatric syndromic complex for many years. In the present study, strict clinical criteria used in selecting a population of spasmophilic patients included clinical, neurophysiological, biohumoral and psychological evaluations, providing further information about the real organic features of this syndrome. Moreover, on the basis of an organic pathogenetic hypothesis, all patients were administered medical therapy which resulted in clinical amelioration in a significant number of cases.
La Clinica terapeutica, 1988
Rivista di neurologia, 1985
In this double-blind clinical trial we compared the prophylactic efficacy of the calcium-entry bl... more In this double-blind clinical trial we compared the prophylactic efficacy of the calcium-entry blocker flunarizine (15 mg nocte) with that of pizotifen (1,5 mg nocte). In 30 patients affected by classical and common migraine. During a two months treatment both drugs showed a good efficacy. Flunarizine tended to more markedly suppress severity of pain and duration of attacks than pizotifen. Daytime drowsiness and weight gain occurred with both drugs; the first side effect was more evident in the group treated with flunarizine, the second one in the group treated with pizotifen.
Functional neurology, 1988
Twenty EEG recordings obtained in children showed temporo-parieto occipital or temporo-occipital ... more Twenty EEG recordings obtained in children showed temporo-parieto occipital or temporo-occipital spikes or spike-wave complexes suppressed by eye-opening. Patients showed different neurological syndromes: classic migraine, vertebrobasilar migraine, visual phenomena, epilepsy, psychomotor retardation. Thirteen subjects were affected by epileptic seizures, which were preceded by visual phenomena in 12 cases. In 6 cases, a combination of classic migraine, visual phenomena and seizures was found. In one case of vertebrobasilar migraine, seizures occurred 5 years after the first episode of migraine. Follow-up data indicate a non-benign evolution of occipital epilepsy: partial or generalized seizures persisted in 13 treated cases. Moreover, the EEG finding of occipital spike-wave complexes seems to extend to different neurological syndromes.
Rivista di Neuroradiologia, 1991
12 pazienti portatori di glioblastoma multiforme sono stati sottoposti a chemioterapia con carbop... more 12 pazienti portatori di glioblastoma multiforme sono stati sottoposti a chemioterapia con carboplatino mediante somministrazione intra-arteriosa (carotide interna e/o vertebrale) in cicli ripetuti. Gli effetti collaterali sono stati valutati con metodiche cliniche, neurofisiologiche, ematochimiche. I risultati indicano come questa procedura sia sufficientemente ben tollerata, in assenza di tossicità diretta sul SNC, e con una mielotossicità globalmente di grado lieve.
The Neuroradiology Journal, 1999
The Neuroradiology Journal, 1989
Rivista di neurologia
In this double-blind clinical trial we compared the prophylactic efficacy of the calcium-entry bl... more In this double-blind clinical trial we compared the prophylactic efficacy of the calcium-entry blocker flunarizine (15 mg nocte) with that of pizotifen (1,5 mg nocte). In 30 patients affected by classical and common migraine. During a two months treatment both drugs showed a good efficacy. Flunarizine tended to more markedly suppress severity of pain and duration of attacks than pizotifen. Daytime drowsiness and weight gain occurred with both drugs; the first side effect was more evident in the group treated with flunarizine, the second one in the group treated with pizotifen.
Advances in neurology, 1987
Functional neurology
Spasmophilia is a problem much debated as regards its nosographic location. Its paroxysmal onset ... more Spasmophilia is a problem much debated as regards its nosographic location. Its paroxysmal onset in a "neurotic" patient has confined spasmophilia within a psychiatric syndromic complex for many years. In the present study, strict clinical criteria used in selecting a population of spasmophilic patients included clinical, neurophysiological, biohumoral and psychological evaluations, providing further information about the real organic features of this syndrome. Moreover, on the basis of an organic pathogenetic hypothesis, all patients were administered medical therapy which resulted in clinical amelioration in a significant number of cases.
... The Year in Neurology 2001. Feliciani, M and Lovestone, S and Quinn, N and Schrag, A and Warn... more ... The Year in Neurology 2001. Feliciani, M and Lovestone, S and Quinn, N and Schrag, A and Warner, T and Walker, M and Zajicek, J (2003) The Year in Neurology 2001. Informa HealthCare. Full text not available from this repository. Abstract. ...
Cephalalgia
Seventy patients suffering from post-traumatic headache were studied. Pain characteristics, perso... more Seventy patients suffering from post-traumatic headache were studied. Pain characteristics, personality and intellectual functions were assessed to be related to cranial trauma. No evident signs of brain damage were present, but an impairment related to pain in personal adjustment and well-being reducing work and study capabilities was identified. A psychopathological condition described as anxiety with somatizations and conversion mechanisms was found and when compared with the psychopathological characteristics from a group of common headache patients no differences were obtained between the two groups. DSM III diagnostic possibilities for post-traumatic headache patients were discussed.
Imaging of Brain Metabolism Spine and Cord Interventional Neuroradiology Free Communications, 1989
The management of cerebral AVMs has been improved and extended by the advent of endovascular embo... more The management of cerebral AVMs has been improved and extended by the advent of endovascular embolization techniques which represent preoperative or preradiosurgical procedures. This makes it possible to achieve a reduction in the size of the AVM; sometimes an improvement in progressive neurological deficits, if present, can be expected. In this paper we report our experience with nine cases of cerebral AVMs, in which embolization was attempted as a primary preoperative therapeutic method in order to reduce intraoperative bleeding.
Neuroradiology, 1994
The neuroradiological features of six intracranial and one intraorbital haemangiopericytomas (HP)... more The neuroradiological features of six intracranial and one intraorbital haemangiopericytomas (HP) are reviewed. CT was performed before and after IV contrast medium in 5 patients. In 2 patients MRI was performed before and after contrast medium; in another, only unenhanced images were obtained. Five patients were studied by selective external and internal carotid artery angiography. Women constituted 5 of the 7 patients, and the mean age was 50.5 years, thus the sex and age distribution did not differ from that of typical meningiomas. Contrary to previous reports, calcification was present in two of the intracranial HP, and bone erosion was clearly seen in one intracranial HP and the orbital lesion. On MRI the tumours showed no differences from angioblastic meningiomas. All 6 intracranial HP were aggressive; all recurred following treatment and extracerebral metastasis occurred in one case.