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Query: UMLS:C0025362 (mental retardation)
 15,878 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

There is an important jeopardizing factor for all nosological classificatory systems, in general Psychiatry as well as in child Psychiatry: the lack of a universally valid basis for defining concepts of "normal" and "pathological". Both stem from social patterns, values, culture and organization. Thus, they vary widely in different countries and communities. In order to attain the much needed general nosological criteria, the starting point is to our mind, a scientific comprehensive conception of man in the midst of a social environment. Pathological phenomena are usually located either in biological, psychological or sociological domains, but they are all-pervading and affect man in the whole. Taking into account that the same can be said about children, we discuss in this paper one classificatory system proposed by Telma Reca M. D. and modified by the author. Following the gravitation of the main aethiological factors, four categories are proposed: a. Psychogenetical diseases: regular or reactive developmental disturbances; acute anxiety; neurotic traits; fully developed neurosis, and psychosomatic disturbances of neurotic origin; speech disturbances of a pure psychological nature, etc. b. Psychical disorders derived from physical diseases: acute confusional or delusional states; mental retardation; epilepsy; minimal cerebral disfunction; learning difficulties derived from injuries or/and genetic deficiencies, etc. c. Psychical disorders derived from social problems: bad nourishment, disturbed sleep, faulty or disorderly sexual behaviour; poor or disturbed performance at school or in social groups, etc. d. Disorders caused by several factors: psychotic traits; psychosis; psychopathic behaviour; lack of maturity according to chronological age; congenital personality disorders, etc.
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PMID:[Nosography in child psychiatry]. 116 72

Four cases with intractable epilepsy and mental retardation (Epi + MR), four cases of mental retardation (MR), one case of mental retardation without epileptic seizures for the last several years (MR + (Epi] and two normal children were studied on their sleep pattern. Besides these, two cases of epilepsy (Epi) were examined. Awake time increased in the Epi + MR group. Slow wave sleep decreased markedly in the Epi + MR group. REM sleep decreased in the MR + (Epi) and Epi + MR groups. REM density was lowered in the following order: normal----Epi----MR----Epi + MR groups. The difference of sleep pattern among the normal, Epi and MR groups was not exhibited clearly, but severe sleep disturbances were shown in the Epi + MR group, implicating the severe brain dysfunction in the cortex and the brain stem.
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PMID:Sleep pattern in children with intractable epilepsy and mental retardation. 654 13

The sleep apnea syndromes have been recognized clinically in the United States only within the past ten years. The true extent of the problem is not known, but it seems certain that these syndromes are much more common than was generally assumed five years ago. Every clinician should be aware of the signs and symptoms of sleep apnea because of the rapid and prompt response to therapeutic measures. Sleep apnea syndromes, whether obstructive or central, can result in systemic or pulmonary hypertension, arterial blood gas abnormalities, life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, chronic respiratory failure, sleep disturbances, narcolepsy, excessive daytime somnolence, sexual dysfunction, and the suspicion of mental retardation. The immediate and dramatic improvement produced by tracheostomy in the obstructive type of sleep apnea, or nocturnal ventilatory support in the central type, can not only enhance the quality of life for these patients, but return them to functional and productive lives.
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PMID:Sleep apnea syndromes. 703 20

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between the sleep-wake behaviour and neurological impairments among mentally retarded people. The sleep-wake behaviour of 293 mentally retarded subjects living in a rehabilitation center was studied by a standardized observation protocol carried out by trained staff members. The protocol consisted of brief check-ups of the subjects' sleep-wake status at 20-min intervals for five randomly chosen 24-h periods during 4 months. From the raw data five sleep-wake behaviour variables were formed. The data concerning the subject characteristics (age, body mass index (BMI), gender, degree of mental retardation, presence of locomotor disability, that of epilepsy, blindness or deafness and the usage of psychotropic medications) were collected from the medical records. Two main findings emerged: (1) severe locomotor disability, blindness and active epilepsy were found to be independent predictors of increased daytime sleep and increased number of wake-sleep transitions and (2) the subjects with a combination of two or all three of these impairments had a significantly more fragmented and abnormally distributed sleep than those with none or milder forms of these impairments. Age, BMI, degree of mental retardation and the studied medications played a minor role in the sleep disturbances of the study population. Finally, deafness was not found to be associated with any of the measured sleep-wake variables.
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PMID:Neurological impairments and sleep-wake behaviour among the mentally retarded. 1190 61

The unstable, gene-rich chromosome region 17p11.2-p12 is associated with various structural aberrations including supernumerary marker chromosomes (SMCs). In some cases, SMC(17)s utilize the same substrates for recombination as the common recurrent 17p11.2 and 17p12 rearrangements. We report on a 9-year-old girl with a de novo mosaic SMC(17). The der(17) encompasses genetic material from 17p10-p11.2 and is present in 97% of peripheral blood lymphocytes and in 79% of buccal cells. The patient has few features similar to individuals with duplication 17p11.2 including mental retardation, language impairment, and sleep disturbances but has normal growth, and no structural abnormalities of the heart, kidneys, or brain. She has no substantial behavioral abnormalities or dysmorphic features. Molecular analyses determined that the der(17) contains RAI1 but not PMP22. We found one chromosome breakpoint within the centromere and the second breakpoint within the distal Smith-Magenis syndrome low-copy repeat (distal SMS-REP). Recently we characterized the breakpoints of three other marker chromosomes originating from the proximal short arm of chromosome 17. In all four cases, one breakpoint maps within the centromere and in three cases the second breakpoint maps within a low-copy repeat. We thus propose that genome architecture may play a significant role in the formation of marker chromosomes. We present the cytogenetic, molecular, and clinical data of this patient and compare our results with those of patients with dup(17)(p11.2p11.2) syndrome and other patients with SMC(17).
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PMID:Trisomy 17p10-p12 due to mosaic supernumerary marker chromosome: delineation of molecular breakpoints and clinical phenotype, and comparison to other proximal 17p segmental duplications. 1615 35

Smith-Magenis syndrome is a microdeletion syndrome involving chromosome 17p11.2. The characteristic features include mental retardation, dysmorphic facial features, minor skeletal anomalies including brachydactyly and behavioural abnormalities, such as disturbed sleep pattern, restlessness and self-destructive behaviour. We present a patient with this syndrome and with six digits on each hand. Polydactyly has not yet been described in Smith-Magenis syndrome as far as we know.
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PMID:Polydactyly in a boy with Smith-Magenis syndrome. 1615 20

Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) is a multiple congenital anomalies and mental retardation syndrome associated with an interstitial deletion of chromosome 17 band p11.2. The incidence of this microdeletion syndrome is estimated to be 1 in 25,000 individuals. Persons with SMS have a distinctive neurobehavioral phenotype that is characterized by aggressive and self-injurious behaviors and significant sleep disturbances. From December 1990 through September 1999, 58 persons with SMS were enrolled in a 5-day multidisciplinary clinical protocol. Developmental assessments consisting of cognitive level and adaptive behavior were completed in 57 persons. Most patients functioned in the mild-to-moderate range of mental retardation. In addition, we report that patients with SMS have low adaptive functioning with relative strengths in socialization and relative weakness in daily living skills. These data were analyzed in light of the molecular extent of the microdeletion within 17p11.2. We found that the level of cognitive and adaptive functioning does depend on deletion size, and that a small percentage of SMS patients have cognitive function in the borderline range.
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PMID:Cognitive and adaptive behavior profiles in Smith-Magenis syndrome. 1677 14

Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) is a mental retardation syndrome with distinctive behavioral characteristics, dysmorphic features and congenital anomalies ascribed to an interstitial deletion of chromosome 17p11.2. Severe sleep disturbances and maladaptative daytime behavior have been linked to an abnormal circadian secretion pattern of melatonin, with a diurnal instead of nocturnal secretion of this hormone. SMS provides a demonstration of a biological basis for sleep disorder in a genetic disease. Considering that clock genes mediate the generation of the circadian rhythm, haploinsufficiency for a circadian system gene, mapping to chromosome 17p11.2 might cause the inversion of the melatonin circadian rhythm in SMS. The disorder of circadian timing in SMS might also affect the entrainment pathway (retinohypothalamic tract), pacemaker functions (suprachiasmatic nucleus) or synthesis and release of melatonin by the pineal gland. Elucidating pathophysiological mechanisms of behavioral phenotypes in genetic disease can provide an original therapeutic approach in SMS: blockade of endogenous melatonin production during the day combined with exogenous melatonin administration in the evening.
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PMID:Inverted rhythm of melatonin secretion in Smith-Magenis syndrome: from symptoms to treatment. 1689 Apr 50

We report a patient with a de novo interstitial deletion of the long arm of chromosome 2 involving bands 2q24.3-q31.1. The patient shows postnatal growth retardation, microcephaly, ptosis, down-slanting palpebral fissures, long eyelashes and micrognathia. Halluces are long, broad and medially deviated, while the other toes are laterally deviated and remarkably short with hypoplastic phalanges. She also showed developmental delay, seizures, lack of eye contact, stereotypic and repetitive hand movements and sleep disturbances with breath holding. Prenatal and three independent postnatal karyotypes were normal. Array-CGH analysis allowed us to identify and characterize a "de novo" 2q interstitial deletion of about 10.4Mb, involving segment between cytogenetic bands 2q24.3 and 2q31.1. The deletion was confirmed by quantitative PCR. About 30 children with 2q interstitial deletion have been reported. The deletion described here is overlapping with 15 of these cases. We have attempted to compare the clinical features of our patient with 15 overlapping cases. The emerging phenotypes include low birth weight, postnatal growth retardation, mental retardation and developmental delay, microcephaly, and peculiar facial dysmorphisms. Peculiar long and broad halluces with an increased distance between the first and the second toe are ("sandal gap" sign) present in most of the described patients. The gene content analysis of the deleted region revealed the presence of some genes that may be indicated as good candidates in generating both neurological and dysmorphic phenotype in the patient. In particular, a cluster of SCNA genes is located within the deleted region and it is known that loss of function mutations in SCNA1 gene cause a severe form of epilepsy.
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PMID:2q24-q31 deletion: report of a case and review of the literature. 1708 12

Animal models are a promising method to approach the basic mechanisms of the neurobiological disturbances encountered in mental disorders. Depression is characterized by a decrease of REM sleep latency and an increase of rapid eye movement density. In schizophrenia, electrophysiological, tomographic, pharmacological and neurochemical activities are all encountered during REM sleep. Mental retardation and dementia are characterized by rather specific REM sleep disturbances. Identification of the genetic support for these abnormalities (endophenotypes) encountered during REM sleep could help to develop specific treatments.
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PMID:The neurobiological characteristics of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep are candidate endophenotypes of depression, schizophrenia, mental retardation and dementia. 1735 Jul 44


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