Richmond S. Paine

Minimal Chronic Brain Syndromes in Children

Forty‐one children are described who were referred for neurological consultation because of poor school work, overactivity, clumsiness, poor speech or emotional problems; there was no previous definite diagnosis of neurological abnormality. Thirty‐one of these children showed definite abnormal neurological signs and nine of the other ten were at least excessively clumsy. It is suggested that there is a syndrome of minimal brain damage, with subclinical affections in each of four areas, which may be stated as motor, mental, sensory and convulsive.

The Evolution of Infantile Postural Reflexes in the Presence of Chronic Brain Syndromes

Introduction OLJR study of postural reflexes in normal infants (Paine e/ a/. 1964), furnishes a background, with information as to the range of variation of normal, for the present study of the distortion of evolutions of these patterns by cerebral dysfunction. In this second study, 129 infants with abnormal motor development in association with chronic brain syndromes were studied serially. The diagnostic composition of the group is given in Table I . This was a group

Elevation of plasma phenylalanine levels during pregnancies of women heterozygous for phenylketonuria

The heterozygote for phenylketonuria has already been shown to have a reduced capacity to handle a phenylalanine load. Pregnancy with its resultant positive nitrogen balance adds a measurable stress to the heterozygote with regard to the handling of phenylalanine. Maternal phenylalanine concentrations during pregnancy could not be used to clarify the status of the newborn, nor could concentrations in cord sera. The phenylalanine concentration in the infants serum 5 to 7 days after birth is a better indicator of the status of the newborn.

Atypical variants of the 'ataxia telangiectasia' syndrome. Report of two cases, including one with apparent dominant inheritance.

In the two cases reported here, the progressive ataxia started later than the age of first walking, which is usual.

Clinical, Psychological and Radiological Comparisons of Trisomic and Translocation Down's Syndrome

Translocation and trisomic mongolism can be differentiated by chromosomal analysis or from the plasma and cellular levels of several enzymes and chemical substances. In this study. 12 trisomic and 12 translocation mongols have been compared from the clinical, psychological and radiological points of view in the hope of finding ways of differentiating the two types when laboratory facilities are not available. The differences found were too slight to be reliable.