V Colamaria

Publications (25)51.66 Total impact

• Article: [Epilepsy and disorders of cortical development in children with congenital cytomegalovirus infection].

  A Pérez-Jiménez, V Colamaria, A Franco, R Grimau-Merino, F Darra, E Fontana, E Zullini, A Beltramello, B Dalla-Bernardina
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  ABSTRACT: Neuroimaging and experimental studies have related cytomegalovirus (CMV) to certain neuronal migration disorders. To define the electroclinical picture of children with epilepsy associated with disorders of cortical development (DCD) and congenital CMV infection, we conducted a clinical, electroencephalographic and neuroradiological study of 10 children with this condition. Eighty per cent of them had dismorphic traits, or malformations outside CNS. All showed other neuroradiological signs (cerebral calcification, white matter damage, porencephaly). Six patients with bihemispheric DCD (agyria-pachigyria, 2; 'poligyria', 1; schizencephaly, 1; bilateral opercular DCD, 2) showed: Tetraparesis, severe or profound mental deficiency, early onset epilepsy (mean age at onset: 11 months) with spasms, tonic seizures, partial seizures, and multifocal paroxysms or unusual diffuse sharp Alfa-Beta EEG activity. One child developed Epilepsia Partialis Continua. Children with bilateral opercular DCD evolved to a continuous spike and wave (SW) electrical status during wakefulness and sleep, linked to a worsening of psychomotor derangement. Four patients with unilateral hemispheric DCD (pachigyric or 'poligyric') showed: Congenital hemiparesis, mild intellectual deficiency, motor seizures (orofacial, hemiclonic, generalized) beginning in the third year of live, atypical absences with focal phenomena, frequent focal rhythmic SW discharges during wakefulness, and continuous SW status during sleep (CSWS). A wide spectrum of DCD due to congenital CMV infection is documented. Characteristic electroclinical pictures related to the extent and topographical distribution of the DCD are recognized, which may lead to an appropriate diagnosis and prognosis.
  Revista de neurologia 01/1998; 26(149):42-9. · 0.65 Impact Factor
• Article: Treatment with intravenously administered immunoglobulins of the neuroblastoma-associated opsoclonus-myoclonus.

  C Borgna-Pignatti, R Balter, P Marradi, V Colamaria
  Journal of Pediatrics 08/1996; 129(1):179-80. · 4.11 Impact Factor
• Article: 4p(-) syndrome: a chromosomal disorder associated with a particular EEG pattern.

  V Sgrò, E Riva, M P Canevini, V Colamaria, A Rottoli, L Minotti, R Canger, B Dalla Bernardina
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  ABSTRACT: We report an electroclinical and cytogenetic study of 4 patients with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS). In all cases, we observed a stereotyped EEG and clinical picture characterized by generalized or unilateral myoclonic seizures followed later by brief atypical absences. Electrographically, these were accompanied by a sequence of centroparietal or parietotemporal sharp waves; high-voltage wave with a superimposed spike becoming unusual spike-wave complexes, often elicited by eye closure; burst of diffuse spikes and waves; and frequent jerks. This electroclinical pattern is very similar to the one described in Angelman syndrome (AS) in which a defect in GABAA receptor function has been suggested. Moreover, the genes encoding the GABAA receptor subunit have been mapped to the p12-p13 bands of chromosome 4. Even though the deletion in these cases does not encompass the 4p12-p13 region, we suggest that the electroclinical picture common to WHS and AS might represent a characteristic type of epilepsy linked to a common genetic abnormality.
  Epilepsia 01/1996; 36(12):1206-14. · 3.96 Impact Factor
• Article: Epilepsia partialis continua in a case of MELAS: clinical and neurophysiological study.

  P Veggiotti, V Colamaria, B Dalla Bernardina, A Martelli, D Mangione, G Lanzi
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  ABSTRACT: There are few reports in the literature dealing with the association between mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) and epilepsia partialis continua (EPC) in children. We report the case of a child presenting with numerous stroke-like episodes associated with EPC which, despite therapy, were not controlled and aggravated the clinical condition of our patient. We present the neuroradiological, biochemical, genetic and muscle biopsy findings, and EEG characteristics, with attention to polygraphic recordings which were done during wake and sleep periods. We consider the correlation with other possible etiological factors relating to EPC and in particular coinvolvement of the basal ganglia as a cause of EPC in our patient.
  Neurophysiologie Clinique/Clinical Neurophysiology 01/1995; 25(3):158-66. · 1.98 Impact Factor
• Article: Giant somatosensory evoked potentials and pathophysiology of hyperekplexia. Neurophysiological study of one patient.

  R Ferri, M Elia, S A Musumeci, V Colamaria, B Dalla-Bernardina, S Del Gracco, P Bergonzi
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  ABSTRACT: EEG during wakefulness and sleep and somatosensory evoked potentials from the median nerve were recorded in a 3 year-old boy with hyperekplexia and his close relatives (parents and two sisters). Centro-temporal spikes during sleep were found in the patient and in the older sister, while somatosensory evoked potentials, in the patient, showed abnormally high amplitude over the centroparietal regions. Pathophysiological mechanisms of hyperekplexia are discussed and the existence of symptomatic forms is suggested.
  Neurophysiologie Clinique/Clinical Neurophysiology 10/1994; 24(4):318-24. · 1.98 Impact Factor
• Article: Microgyria associated with Sturge-Weber angiomatosis.

  A Simonati, V Colamaria, A Bricolo, B D Bernardina, N Rizzuto
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  ABSTRACT: A case is reported of an infant affected with Sturge-Weber disease who underwent left hemispherectomy due to untreatable seizures when 97 days old. Pathological analysis of the surgical specimens revealed the presence of four-layered microgyric cortex below the angiomatosis, intense gliosis, and the presence of calcifications of both the abnormal cortex and the underlying white matter. These findings suggest that the early infantile form of Sturge-Weber disease is associated with a developmental disorder of the cortical organization. Such abnormalities are consistent with the presence of an epileptogenic condition that is unresponsive to pharmacological treatment.
  Child s Nervous System 09/1994; 10(6):392-5. · 1.54 Impact Factor
• Article: Muscle cytochrome c oxidase deficiency in two Italian patients with ethylmalonic aciduria and peculiar clinical phenotype.

  B Garavaglia, V Colamaria, F Carrara, P Tonin, M Rimoldi, G Uziel
  Journal of Inherited Metabolic Disease 02/1994; 17(3):301-3. · 3.58 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: bmj.com

  Article: Bilateral occipital calcification, epilepsy and coeliac disease: clinical and neuroimaging features of a new syndrome.

  A Magaudda, B Dalla Bernardina, P De Marco, Z Sfaello, M Longo, V Colamaria, O Daniele, G Tortorella, M A Tata, R Di Perri
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  ABSTRACT: Twenty patients affected by bilateral occipital cortical-subcortical calcification (BOC) are described, 19 (95%) had epilepsy. In 8 of 16 cases studied, intestinal biopsy revealed coeliac disease. Fourteen patients had occipital partial epilepsy with a relatively benign outcome, while 4 patients were affected by a severe form of epilepsy, with very frequent, drug-resistant, generalised and partial seizures with mental deterioration. One patient had a single episode of convulsive status epilepticus at four months of age. The neurological examination was normal in all patients. CT showed flocculo-nodular, cortico-subcortical BOC, without enhancement and without lobar or hemispheric atrophy. MRI was normal. The clinical and neuroimaging features of these patients are different therefore from those with the Sturge-Weber Syndrome. The study confirms a high prevalence of coliac disease in patients with BOC, but the relationship between these two pathologies still needs to be clarified.
  Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery &amp Psychiatry 09/1993; 56(8):885-9. · 4.76 Impact Factor
• Article: Tuberous sclerosis and Down syndrome: a casual association?

  M Elia, S A Musumeci, R Ferri, B Dalla Bernardina, V Colamaria, P Bergonzi
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  ABSTRACT: This paper reports on the clinical, neurophysiological and neuroradiological characteristics of a patient with Down syndrome unusually associated with tuberous sclerosis. In particular, epilepsy is investigated in detail and its polygraphic study and etiopathological factors are discussed. The most interesting findings are those related to the presence of a structural abnormality of the rolandic-parietal cortex, bilaterally, in the form of pachygyria.
  Brain and Development 08/1992; 14(4):245-8. · 2.12 Impact Factor
• Article: Minipolymyoclonus in congenital nemaline myopathy: a nonspecific clinical marker of neurogenic dysfunction.

  V Colamaria, R Zanetti, M Simeone, G Tomelleri, D Orrico, B Dordi, B Dalla Bernardina
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  ABSTRACT: The authors report a seven-month-old boy with severe hypotonia, poor spontaneous movements, breathing difficulties and recurrent respiratory infections, dysmorphisms and a peculiar movement disorder: minipolymyoclonus (MPM), previously reported only in spinal muscular atrophies. MPM is characterized by nonrhythmic myoclonic jerks associated with a rhythmic tremor of the extended fingers polygraphically detected. A muscle biopsy showed pathological changes typical of congenital nemaline myopathy (CNM). The relationship between MPM and CNM may be explained on the presumptive basis of the "neurogenic" nature of this congenital myopathy or by the non-specificity of this clinical sign.
  Brain and Development 10/1991; 13(5):358-62. · 2.12 Impact Factor
• Article: Irreversible respiratory failure in an achondroplastic child: the importance of an early cervicomedullary decompression, and a review of the literature.

  V Colamaria, C Mazza, A Beltramello, A Polo, A Boner, F Antoniazzi, M Polo, P Luchini, V Sgrò, B Dalla Bernardina
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  ABSTRACT: The authors report the case of a girl with achondroplasia suffering from a progressively worsening hypotonic quadriparesis. CT scan showed slight dilatation of ventricular and subarachnoid spaces, with well-defined evidence of cortical sulci and gyri. This aspect was compatible with the diagnosis of macrocrania and megalencephaly (CP being 51 cm). The foramen magnum was narrowed, the transverse diameter measuring 15 mm and the 50th percentile being, for age, 26 mm. Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) revealed bilaterally prolonged interpeak latencies Erb-N13, slowing of central conduction time N13-N20 from right median nerve stimulation, and block from left median nerve. The suspicion of cervicomedullary compression was confirmed by MRI, showing a very marked stenosis with compression exerted by the odontoid process. Further, a stenotic cervical canal and optic nerves verticalization were manifest. The patient underwent neurosurgical decompression by suboccipital craniectomy and cervical-C1 laminectomy. In spite of treatment, both neurologic and respiratory problems (rapid, shallow and almost abdominal breathing) were unchanged. The girl died 4 1/2 months later. The authors emphasize the important role of SEPs in detection of cervicomedullary compression in achondroplastic children and also stress the necessity of an early surgical treatment as the only condition for possible clinical improvement and/or full recovery.
  Brain and Development 08/1991; 13(4):270-9. · 2.12 Impact Factor
• Article: [Congenital hemiplegia and epilepsy. The significance of disorders of the cortical architectonics].

  V Colamaria, N Zamponi, L Piattella, V Sgrò, M Simeone, R Zanetti, R Grimau-Merino, E Zullini, E Fontana, R Caudana
  Minerva pediatrica 04/1991; 43(3):193-201.
• Article: Sleep and benign partial epilepsies of childhood: EEG and evoked potentials study.

  B Dalla Bernardina, V Sgrò, R Caraballo, E Fontana, V Colamaria, E Zullini, M Simone, R Zanetti
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  ABSTRACT: The electroclinical picture and nosological limits of benign partial epilepsy of childhood with rolandic spikes (BERS) have been better defined by nocturnal sleep records. In all stages of sleep, there is a significant increase in frequency and amplitude of rolandic spikes (RS) without change of their morphology. Another interesting observation is the appearance of independent spike foci in sleep, or brief subclinical spike wave discharges which are limited to the state of drowsiness. More recently, other types of partial epilepsy of childhood with benign evolution have been identified: (a) partial epilepsy with induced spike representing somatosensory evoked potentials; (b) benign psychomotor epilepsy; (c) partial epilepsy with occipital spike waves. In all these forms, the sleep records are essentially similar to those in BERS and have been very helpful in the nosological identification of these forms of epilepsy. For this reason, the sleep records of these special forms are truly informative for the clinician from the diagnostic and prognostic viewpoint. On the other hand, some investigators, have pointed out that, in the initial stage of these benign forms of partial epilepsy, there may be more or less significant intellectual impairment and behavioral disorder, sometimes accompanied by frequent brief absences. From the EEG viewpoint, this condition is characterized by brief discharges of slow spike wave complexes amounting to a pattern of "electrical status epilepticus". This special electroclinical condition mimics the Lennox-Gastaut syndrome but is generally self-limited. Thus, a correct differential diagnosis is very important from the diagnostic viewpoint. There is good evidence that sleep records permit an earlier identification of these conditions and strongly contribute to a correct differential diagnosis. In the benign partial epilepsy the SEPs, during awake and sleep, morphology and latency are normal, while the N60 amplitude is increased. A group of children with benign partial epilepsy shows EEG spikes evoked by tapping, and giant N60 component. This giant component persists during sleep and is not specific for any type of benign partial epilepsy. In conclusion, the results of sleep recordings are conducive to a correct diagnosis and better definition of the nosological delineation of partial epilepsies in childhood; they also provide a better comprehension of their evolution, and thus of their prognosis. The Evoked Potentials seem be a useful tool in the study of benign partial epilepsy.
  Epilepsy research. Supplement 02/1991; 2:83-96.
• Article: Transient focal leukoencephalopathy following intraventricular methotrexate and cytarabine. A complication of the Ommaya reservoir: case report and review of the literature.

  V Colamaria, R Caraballo, C Borgna-Pignatti, P Marradi, R Balter, C Mazza, C Procacci, B Dalla Bernardina
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  ABSTRACT: A 14-year-old boy, suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia with meningeal involvement, was treated with intraventricular methotrexate and cytosine arabinoside, administered via an Ommaya reservoir (OR). Three months later, right occipital headache, vomiting, and lethargy appeared. Cerebrospinal fluid specimens showed increased proteins and a right frontal slow-wave focus was evident on the EEG recording. The computed tomography scan revealed white matter hypodensity within the right frontal and rolandic regions. After injection of medium contrast, an abscesslike hyperdensity appeared, surrounding both a well-placed cannula tip and the right frontal horn of the lateral ventricle. Brain swelling and shift signs were also evident. Nine cases of focal methotrexate leukoencephalopathy have been previously reported, and in six of these there was a misplaced OR cannula tip. The focal methotrexate leukoencephalopathy seems to be related to the neurotoxicity of the drugs administered, and may also exist with a well-placed OR cannula tip. Immediate removal of the catheter may be associated with a benign evolution.
  Child s Nervous System 07/1990; 6(4):231-5. · 1.54 Impact Factor
• Article: Progressive myoclonic encephalopathy in X-linked hypogamma-globulinemia. Case report, review of the literature and its relationship with progressive encephalopathy in children with A.I.D.S.

  V Colamaria, P Marradi, A Boner, F Pajno-Ferrara, C Procacci, G Cesaro, L La Selva, G Capovilla, E Fontana, B Dalla Bernardina
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  ABSTRACT: A 7-year-old boy suffering from X-linked hypogammaglobulinemia and progressive myoclonic encephalopathy is reported. The onset of neurological disturbances is at four years of age with ataxic gait and myoclonic jerks. The EEG shows a progressive slowing of background activity, bilateral diffuse and repetitive, pseudoperiodic, high amplitude slow waves, myoclonic jerks polygraphically documented. The CT-scan shows generalized cerebral atrophy, white matter hypodensity--principally in the frontal regions -, multiple nodular calcifications, also in the basal ganglia. Two years after the onset of neurological signs, the boy is completely bedridden, spastic, dement and blind; the myoclonic jerks persist. Finally the relationship is discussed with both the previously reported patients with the same affection, and with similar progressive encephalopathy in children suffering from A.I.D.S.
  Neuropediatrics 12/1989; 20(4):223-9. · 0.94 Impact Factor
• Article: Acute measles encephalitis of the delayed type in an immunosuppressed child.

  V Colamaria, P Marradi, D Merlin, C Moser, O Dulac, P Dompieri, B Dalla Bernardina
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  ABSTRACT: The authors described a case of an immunosuppressed child with acute measles encephalitis of the delayed type (AMED). The authors also discussed the relationship between the AMED, epilepsia partialis continua and the neuroradiological picture, in which bilateral putaminal lucency was evident.
  Brain and Development 02/1989; 11(5):322-6. · 2.12 Impact Factor
• Article: Kojewnikow's Epilepsia Partialis Continua: two cases associated with striatal necrosis.

  V Colamaria, P Plouin, O Dulac, G Cesaro, B Dalla Bernardina
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  ABSTRACT: The authors report two cases of children suffering from Epilepsia Partialis Continua (EPC). The first case concerned a boy primarily affected by abdominal neuroblastoma and secondarily by bilateral EPC; "pallidal posture" was the prominent clinical feature. An acute measles encephalitis was diagnosed and the CT scan showed necrosis of the putamina. The second case concerned a girl suffering from increased intracranial pressure due to suprasellar craniopharyngioma. Seven days after intervention, Diabetes Insipidus and EPC appeared. Enlargement of rolandic and sylvian spaces and lacunar necrosis of the putamen on the left side were also evident on the CT scan. The authors emphasize the significance of occasional metabolic disturbances, especially natremia, in the development of EPC.
  Neurophysiologie Clinique/Clinical Neurophysiology 01/1989; 18(6):525-30. · 1.98 Impact Factor
• Article: Tuberous sclerosis associated with partial gigantism in a child.

  V Colamaria, L Zambelli, P Tinazzi, B Dalla Bernardina
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  ABSTRACT: The authors report a case of a six-year-old boy with seizures, mental retardation and some classic features of tuberous sclerosis, i.e., cutaneous hypomelanotic macules, poliosis, cyst-like lesions of the right upper limb and cerebral calcifications. From birth he showed partial gigantism of the first two fingers of the right hand associated with an arteriovenous malformation of the ulnar artery and agenesis of the radial artery. The EEG and CT scan studies are also reported. The occurrence of two dysgenetic disorders in one patient as a manifestation of disturbed embryogenesis at a very early stage of development is discussed.
  Brain and Development 02/1988; 10(3):178-81. · 2.12 Impact Factor
• Article: Symmetrical bithalamic hyperdensities in asphyxiated full-term newborns: an early indicator of status marmoratus.

  V Colamaria, P Curatolo, R Cusmai, B Dalla Bernardina
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  ABSTRACT: Three severely asphyxiated full-term newborns showed tomographic findings of bilateral symmetrical hyperdensities restricted to the thalamic region. All these patients had a strikingly similar poor neurological outcome characterized by dystonia, severe mental retardation and acquired microcephaly. We presume that these bithalamic hyperdensities could be an early predictor of the later status marmoratus.
  Brain and Development 02/1988; 10(1):57-9. · 2.12 Impact Factor
• Article: Nosological classification of epilepsies in the first three years of life.

  B Dalla Bernardina, V Colamaria, G Capovilla, S Bondavalli
  Progress in clinical and biological research 02/1983; 124:165-83.