Propofol reduced rCBF and rCMRO2 comparably. Sevoflurane reduced rCBF less than propofol but rCMRO2 to an extent similar to propofol. These reductions in flow and metabolism were partly attenuated by adjunct N2O. S+N especially reduced the oxygen extraction fraction, suggesting disturbed flow-activity coupling in humans at a moderate depth of anesthesia.

The results suggest that traumatic brain injury may cause decades-lasting vulnerability to psychiatric illness in some individuals. Traumatic brain injury seems to make patients particularly susceptible to depressive episodes, delusional disorder, and personality disturbances. The high rate of psychiatric disorders found in this study emphasizes the importance of psychiatric follow-up after traumatic brain injury.

Our preliminary observations on a small group of burning mouth syndrome (BMS) patients indicated a change in the non-nociceptive, tactile sensory function in BMS and provided evidence for the hypothesis of a neuropathic etiology of BMS. In the present clinical study on a group of 52 BMS patients, we used quantitative sensory tests (QST) in addition to the blink reflex (BR) recordings in order to gain further insight into the neural mechanisms of BMS pain. Based on electrophysiologic findings, the BMS patients could be grouped into four different categories: (1) The results of the BR were suggestive of brainstem pathology or peripheral trigeminal neuropathy in ten (19%) patients. In most of the cases, the abnormalities in the BR seemed to represent subclinical changes of the trigeminal system. (2) Increased excitability of the BR was found in the form of deficient habituation of the R2 component of the BR in 11 (21%) of the patients. Two of these patients also showed signs of warm allodynia in QST. (3) One or more of the sensory thresholds were abnormal indicating thin fiber dysfunction in altogether 35 patients (76%) out of the 46 tested with QST. Thirty-three of these patients showed signs of hypoesthesia. (4) There were only five patients with normal findings in both tests. The present findings with strong evidence for neuropathic background in BMS will hopefully provide insights for new therapeutic strategies.

Longer survival time is achieved after open craniotomy and resection of tumour. However, overall benefit of open surgery to patient seems to be modest, while time of deterioration did not differ between two treatment groups. Our results support previous studies on the benefit of radiotherapy in the treatment of malignant glioma.

Both anesthetic agents caused a global reduction of rCBF (propofol > sevoflurane) at the 1 MAC/EC(50) level. The effect was maintained at higher propofol concentrations, whereas 2 MAC sevoflurane caused noticeable flow redistribution. Despite the marked global changes, SPM analysis enabled detailed localization of regions with the greatest relative decreases.