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The literature on the effects of electrical stimulation on denervated and dystrophic muscles is reviewed. Analysis of the information supplied suggests that denervated muscles of experimental animals may benefit from the treatment that cannot be used on human patients due to technical limitations. However electrical stimulation can be used in the treatment of dystrophic muscles in human.

The changes in prolactin release induced by acute doses of L-Dopa + benserazide (250 mg) were analysed in Parkinson disease patients undergoing various drug treatments. The results obtained indicate a highly significant increase in prolactinaemia after 60 minutes in a patient undergoing chronic L-Dopa + benserazide therapy, compared to both healthy subjects and patients receiving other drugs. A patient receiving L-Dopa with no inhibitor also showed significantly high prolactinaemia levels after 180 mins. This confirms the hypothesis that elderly Parkinson patients suffer from chronic denervation of the hypothalamic receptors even when no Dopa-decarboxylase inhibitor is present.

Paralysis of the facial nerve in newborns and infants is described with a list of the various types including Bell's idiopathic paralysis, forms caused by congenital malformations and labour traumas, fractures of the temporal bone, tumours, infections and high blood pressure. Current approaches to treatment including physiotherapy, pharmacological and surgical treatment are then described.

The P-100 latency of the evoked visual potentials in 20 cases of idiopathic Parkinson's disease were examined. As indicated in earlier studies, P-100 latency was significantly higher in Parkinson patients than in healthy controls. The hypotheses about the pathogenesis of such anomalies are then discussed.

The current possibilities and limitations of NMR in the diagnosis of brain tumours are described with emphasis on the need to consider intrinsic tumoural variations, peritumoural oedema and the mass effect. It is concluded that MR should currently be considered complementary to the CAT scan.

Myotonic dystrophy or Steinert's disease is an autosomal dominant hereditary disease affecting the entire system. Apart from the myotonic phenomenon it involves muscular atrophy, endocrine disorders, baldness, cardiac arrhythmias, hyperglycaemia, cataracts. Over the years a number of drugs have been tried with results on the myotonia that are still debated. They include quinine, corticosteroids, L-DOPA, potassium-binding resins, procainamide, phenytoin, diphenylhydantoin, N-propylajmaline, dantrolene sodium, carbamazepine, imipramine, baclofen, mexiletine. It is emphasised that only the identification of the biochemical defect involved in the disease will permit any efficient treatment of its symptoms or causes.