Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Nov 2015
Multicenter StudyTracking motor neuron loss in a set of six muscles in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis using the Motor Unit Number Index (MUNIX): a 15-month longitudinal multicentre trial.
Motor Unit Number Index (MUNIX) is a novel neurophysiological measure that provides an index of the number of functional lower motor neurons in a given muscle. So far its performance across centres in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has not been investigated. ⋯ MUNIX is a reliable electrophysiological biomarker to track lower motor neuron loss in ALS.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Nov 2015
ReviewUsing visual rating to diagnose dementia: a critical evaluation of MRI atrophy scales.
Visual rating scales, developed to assess atrophy in patients with cognitive impairment, offer a cost-effective diagnostic tool that is ideally suited for implementation in clinical practice. By focusing attention on brain regions susceptible to change in dementia and enforcing structured reporting of these findings, visual rating can improve the sensitivity, reliability and diagnostic value of radiological image interpretation. ⋯ Careful consideration of atrophy rating scales is needed to verify their diagnostic potential and encourage uptake among clinicians. Determining the added value of combining scores from visual rating in different brain regions may also increase the diagnostic value of these tools.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Nov 2015
Randomized Controlled TrialThe MITOS system predicts long-term survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
The choice of adequate proxy for long-term survival, the ultimate outcome in randomised clinical trials (RCT) assessing disease-modifying treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is a key issue. The intrinsic limitations of the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R), including non-linearity, multidimensionality and floor-effect, have emerged and its usefulness argued. The ALS Milano-Torino staging (ALS-MITOS) system was proposed as a novel tool to measure the progression of ALS and overcome these limitations. This study was performed to validate the ALS-MITOS as a 6-month proxy of survival in 200 ALS patients followed up to 18 months. ⋯ The ALS-MITOS system can reliably predict the course of ALS up to 18 months and can be considered a novel and valid outcome measure in RCTs.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Nov 2015
Multicenter StudyPerformance characteristics of methods for quantifying spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage: data from the Efficacy of Nitric Oxide in Stroke (ENOS) trial.
Poor prognosis after intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) is related to haemorrhage characteristics. Along with developing therapeutic interventions, we sought to understand the performance of haemorrhage descriptors in large clinical trials. ⋯ ISRCTN9941422.