• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 2024

Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is a condition wherein the cerebrospinal pressure in the brain is within the normal range, but the cerebrospinal fluid increases above the normal level, causing ventriculomegaly. In patients with NPH, the articulatory system exhibits reduced mobility and range, which may affect diadochokinesis (DDK) and speech intelligibility. In this study, we investigated the characteristics of DDK, including accurate-token DDK and all-token DDK including inaccurate tokens, in patients with NPH and healthy elderly adults (HE). We also examined the classification accuracy of DDK between the two groups. Finally, we investigated whether there was a correlation between speech intelligibility and DDKs in the NPH group. The results showed that NPH and HE groups differed significantly in both accurate-token DDK and all-token DDK, and their classification accuracy was relatively high. However, there was no correlation between speech intelligibility and DDK. The findings suggest that the DDK is a useful method for sensitively assessing speech motor performance in patients with NPH.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.10
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• pp.1085-1089
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• 2008

Purpose : This study aims to examine and compare the features of rolandic epilepsy. Methods : Of 158 patients selected retrospectively, 116 had typical (group A) and 42 had atypical (group B) rolandic epilepsy, as defined by Worrall's criteria. Results : The age at onset of the seizures in group A was $8.6{\pm}2.0y$ and $6.2{\pm}1.7y$ in group B (P>0.05). Among the 40 patients who underwent neuroimaging studies (25 patients in group A and 15 patients in group B), abnormal findings in group B included ventricular dilatation, mild cortical atrophy, and partial agenesis of corpus callosum. group A had no abnormal findings. The frequency of seizures was $2.0{\pm}1.0$ and $2.3{\pm}1.2$ per month in groups A and B respectively. Seizure control from the initial anticonvulsant treatment was achieved within 3 months in group A, and 3 to 12 months in group B. A 2-year remission rate was noted in 105 patients in group A and in 38 patients in group B. Of these, the recurrence rate after 2 y was 13 in group A and 12 in group B. Conclusion : Age of onset of seizures, gender, frequency of seizures before therapy, and 2-y remission rate were not significantly different in the 2 groups. However, neuroimaging abnormalities, the time to achieving seizure control from the initial anticonvulsant treatment, and the recurrence rate after being seizure-free for 2 y were significantly different in the 2 groups.