NEURO

NCC is a neglected zoonotic disease with high endemicity and disease burden. Neurocysticercosis is a frequent cause of seizures in endemic countries. Early diagnosis and therapy helps in reducing morbidity and DALYs (daily adjusted life years) lost. Definite diagnosis still relies on neuroimaging identification of scolex or by histopathological examination. Molecular method such as PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) is an emerging modality to supplement or complement these Gold standard methods. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/3jQyx1I

Physical examination skills training is a central element of the undergraduate medical education. A frequently used approach is peer physical examination (PPE), in which medical students examine each other, or the instructor examines a student [1]. PPE avoids patient discomfort, allows additional skills practice and the recognition of normal examination features. The last point is particularly useful when learning the neurological examination, which requires intensive training for the identification of what is or not pathological [2]. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/2P2mrEN

Search Term: Viral Infection, Myasthenia Gravis, Myasthenic Crises, COVID-19. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/3hKteiN

Recognition of the association between acute and subacute different neuropsychiatric manifestations with the infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, is progressively being recognized [1]. The potential emergence of late onset neuropsychiatric manifestations after infection with SARS-CoV-2 remains to be discussed. After the “Spanish” influenza pandemic in the 20th century, an outbreak of encephalitis lethargica (EL) [2], a neuropsychiatric disorder of possible autoimmune origin emerged occurring soon after the acute phase or at some time later [3]. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/2DcnHCo

Background:Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is essential for the medical workup of patients with neurological conditions as for disease-modifying clinical trials. Post- lumbar puncture (LP) headache is influenced by both operator and patient factors, including needle type and gauge, age and gender.Objectives: We aimed to assess whether CSF volume as measured in pre-procedural brain MRI, is associated with the risk of developing a post-LP headache.Methods: In total, n = 117 participants (n = 58 Parkinson's disease patients, and n = 59 healthy controls) underwent an LP and CSF collection. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/39wfMfr

With interest we read the article by Delly et al. about a 56 years old female with myasthenia gravis (MG) since 5y for which she received pyridostigmine (240 mg/d), prednisone (40 mg/d), and intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG, 650 mg/kg within 2d every 2 weeks), and with undetermined mixed connective tissue disease for which she received chloroquine (400 mg/d), who developed myasthenic crisis with respiratory insufficiency during pneumonia due to infection with SARS-CoV-2 [1]. Though the patient received vancomycin, cefepime, and azithromycin and prednisone was increased to 80 mg/d, she lastly had to be intubated and required mechanical ventilation [1]. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/305KUPX

The evaluation of human epidermal innervation and its impact by disease has largely focused on rigorous immunohistochemical counts of PGP 9.5 labelled axons. In this brief and preliminary report, we expand the repertoire of epidermal axon markers to include those with an influence on their regenerative plasticity. We studied human lower limb punch skin samples with tandem analyses of their mRNA content using qRT-PCR. Normal human subjects (n = 11) and two patients with newly diagnosed CIDP were sampled with the latter undergoing serial tandem biopsies before and after 3 months of immunotherapy. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/2BywUES

Turcot's syndrome (TS) was originally described as familial predisposition to cancer of the large bowel and brain [1], and is a phenotypic variant of Hereditary Non-Polyposis Colorectal Cancer (HNPCC). HNPCC is caused by germline mutations in one of the DNA mismatch-repair (MMR)-genes MLH1, PMS1, PMS2, MSH2, or MSH6. Identification of HNPCC is based upon clinicopathological features including MMR-deficiency determined by immunohistochemistry or microsatellite instability (MSI)-analysis. Lifetime brain tumor risk in HNPCC is 3%. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/3jBqBkS

Primary lateral sclerosis is a rare neurodegenerative disorder of the upper motor neurons. Diagnostic criteria have changed considerably over the years, and the recent consensus criteria introduced ‘probable PLS’ for patients with a symptom duration of 2–4 years. The objective of this study is the systematic evaluation of clinical and neuroimaging characteristics in early PLS by studying a group of ‘probable PLS patients’ in comparison to a cohort of established PLS patients. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/3g04DWO

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive, degenerative neuromuscular disease with limited treatment options. The diagnosis of ALS can be challenging for numerous reasons, resulting in delays that may compromise optimal management and enrollment into clinical trials. Several studies have examined the process and challenges regarding the clinical diagnosis of ALS. Twenty-one studies that were almost exclusively from the English literature published between 1990 and 2020 were identified via PubMed using relevant search terms and included patient populations from the United States, Canada, Japan, Egypt, and several countries in South America and Europe. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/3eQGxwh

The COVID-19 pandemic presents two main concerns for patients with myasthenia gravis (MG); chronic immunosuppression may put them at greater risk, and some proposed treatments for COVID-19 could cause MG exacerbation. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/39lHjjO

The Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA) is a commonly used scale measuring the severity of cerebellar ataxia and is a candidate for outcome measurement in foreseeable clinical trials in Autosomal Recessive Spastic Ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay (ARSACS). Documenting its psychometric properties in this population will accelerate clinical trial readiness.The objective of this study was to document the content and construct validity, the internal consistency, and to explore the 2-year responsiveness and the 4-year interpretability of the SARA in ARSACS. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/2ZBn7Hg

Mounting evidence points to the significance of neurovascular-related dysfunction in veterans with blast-related mTBI, which is also associated with reduced [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake.The goal of this study was to determine whether plasma VEGF-A is altered in veterans with blast-related mTBI and address whether VEGF-A levels correlate with FDG uptake in the cerebellum, a brain region that is vulnerable to blast-related injury.72 veterans with blast-related mTBI (mTBI) and 24 deployed control (DC) veterans with no lifetime history of TBI were studied. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/2OC6rZK

Temporal lobe studies in motor neuron disease overwhelmingly focus on white matter alterations and cortical grey matter atrophy. Reports on amygdala involvement are conflicting and the amygdala is typically evaluated as single structure despite consisting of several functionally and cytologically distinct nuclei. A prospective, single-centre, neuroimaging study was carried out to comprehensively characterise amygdala pathology in 100 genetically-stratified ALS patients, 33 patients with PLS and 117 healthy controls. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/30lVUHB

An opioid-associated amnestic syndrome (OAS) characterized by acute onset memory loss and bilateral hippocampal signal abnormalities on brain imaging in the setting of a history of opioid use, most notably fentanyl, has been reported. To date, however, there is no case definition to assist neurologists and other clinicians in identifying this syndrome. A multi-disciplinary collaboration of physicians, including neurologists, propose diagnostic criteria for OAS using cases that have been published in the medical literature or presented at conferences. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/2OzrIDz

Introduction: Variants of CACNA1G, which encodes CaV3.1, have been reported to be associated with various neurological disorders.Methods: Whole-exome sequencing of genomic DNA from 348 Japanese patients with neurodevelopmental disorders and their parents was conducted, and de novo variants of CACNA1G were extracted. The electrophysiological properties of each mutant channel were investigated by voltage-clamp and current-clamp analyses of HEK293T cells overexpressing these channels.Results: Two patients diagnosed with Rett syndrome and West syndrome were found to have known pathological CACNA1G mutations reported in cerebellar ataxia cohorts: c.2881G > A, p.(Ala961Thr) and c.4591A > G, p.(Met1531Val), respectively. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/3ey2mR7

Although elevated fasting blood glucose (FBG) at admission is associated with poor outcome in patients with ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, it has not been investigated in patients with cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT). We aimed to determine the correlation between elevated FBG and severity and outcome among CVT patients. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/2ZxF3T0

An increasing body of evidence suggests that the coronavirus disease 2019 (SARS-CoV2) may be associated with cerebrovascular disease, although most cases have been ischemic strokes related to occlusion of major intracranial vessels [1–3]. Intracranial hemorrhages in the setting of SARS-CoV2 infection are exceedingly rare. To the best of our knowledge, only two cases has been reported in detail, one with a massive parenchymal brain hemorrhage and the other with an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage [4,5]. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/2ZtHB4y

The optimal anesthetic approach during endovascular therapy (EVT) in acute stroke patients remains an area of uncertainty. We investigated the impact of different anesthetic approaches on the outcome of posterior circulation stroke (PCS) patients undergoing EVT. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/3j0skQu

Background:The novel coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) causes multi-system disease including possibly heightened stroke risk. Data from high-income countries (HIC) suggest disruptions to care delivery with reduced stroke admissions and administration of acute stroke reperfusion therapies. We are unaware of any published data on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on stroke admissions and outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa.Purpose: To compare rates of stroke admissions and case fatality between corresponding periods in 2020 and 2019, within a hospital system in Ghana, to assess the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. from Journal of the Neurological Sciences https://ift.tt/3j6p1r8