Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Nov 2014
Multiple changes of functional connectivity between sensorimotor areas in focal hand dystonia.
Task-specific focal hand dystonia impairs the control of arm muscles during fine motor skills such as writing (writer's cramp (WC)). Functional imaging found abnormal task-related activation of sensorimotor areas in this disorder, but little is known on their functional connectivity (FC). ⋯ An increase of negative cerebello-cortical FC at rest is in line with the hypothesis of a pathogenetic role of the cerebellum in dystonia. The deficit of positive subcortico-cortical FC indicates more generalised changes within the basal ganglia-thalamocortical motor loops beyond primary sensorimotor areas in WC. As patients with WC are asymptomatic during rest, these functional network changes could reflect an underlying abnormality or compensatory neuroplastic changes of network architecture in this disorder.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Nov 2014
Serum phosphorylated neurofilament-heavy chain levels in multiple sclerosis patients.
We evaluated whether the measurement of serum phosphorylated neurofilament heavy chain (pNF-H) titre is likely to be a valid biomarker of axonal injury in multiple sclerosis (MS). ⋯ A subset of FDE/MS cases was found to have a high serum pNF-H titre, and this was associated with changes in clinical outcome measures. We propose that routine measurement of serum pNF-H should be further investigated for monitoring axonal injury in MS.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Nov 2014
Mortality and morbidity 15 years after hospital admission with mild head injury: a prospective case-controlled population study.
To investigate mortality rate in a population of adults admitted to hospital with mild head injury (MHI) 15 years later. ⋯ Adults hospitalised with MHI had greater risk of death in the following 15 years than matched controls. The extent to which lifestyle and potential chronic changes in neuropathology explain these findings is unclear. Lifestyle factors do contribute to risk of death after MHI and this finding has implications for lifestyle management interventions.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Nov 2014
The impact and prognosis for dystonia in childhood including dystonic cerebral palsy: a clinical and demographic tertiary cohort study.
The impact of dystonia in childhood is poorly understood. We report our experience of referrals between 2005 and 2012. ⋯ In this selective cohort, childhood dystonia is severe, presenting early before worsening without remission. Secondary dystonias spend a higher proportion of life living with dystonia and lower functional capacity. Despite referral bias, services offering neurosurgical interventions and health service planning agencies should understand the context and predicament of life with childhood dystonia.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Nov 2014
Apolipoprotein E ε2 genotype delays onset of dementia with Lewy bodies in a Norwegian cohort.
Results conflict concerning the relevance of APOE alleles on the development of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), though they are well established in connection with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The role of APOE alleles in a Norwegian cohort of patients with DLB was therefore examined compared with patients with AD and healthy control individuals. ⋯ The results indicate that APOE ε2, a protective factor in AD, has a clear beneficial effect on the development of DLB also.