Current opinion in neurology
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Curr. Opin. Neurol. · Jun 2013
ReviewMigraine and childhood periodic syndromes in children and adolescents.
This review covers recent advances in our understanding of migraine and childhood periodic syndromes in children and adolescents, as well as the treatment of these disorders. ⋯ Childhood periodic syndromes are thought to be early life expressions of those genes that later in life are expressed as migraine headache. Future research into mechanisms of identifying children with these disorders prior to extensive and often invasive testing would be of benefit to these families and children. Migraine-specific therapies are now approved for the acute treatment of migraine in pediatric patients. Preventive migraine therapy is indicated in appropriate patients, although which medications are most effective in children is an area of active research.
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Migraine attacks consist of head pain and hypersensitivities to somatosensory, visual, auditory, and olfactory stimuli. Investigating how the migraine brain simultaneously processes and responds to multiple incoming stimuli may yield insights into migraine pathophysiology and migraine symptoms. ⋯ Multisensory integration of somatosensory, visual, auditory, and olfactory stimuli by the migraine brain may be an important concept for understanding migraine.
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Medication-overuse headache (MOH) is a well described clinical entity. There is a growing body of knowledge on the epidemiology of MOH, risk factors, and treatment strategies. ⋯ MOH is a common headache disorder and a serious public health problem all over the world. Although the treatment regimen for MOH patients is straightforward and the outcomes are favorable, it is time now to move forward and establish a predictive model for early recognition of patients at high risk, to intervene early and avoid development of chronic headache.
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Curr. Opin. Neurol. · Jun 2013
ReviewAdvances in the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculous meningitis.
Early diagnosis and treatment of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) saves lives, but current laboratory diagnostic tests lack sensitivity and the best treatment regimens are uncertain. This article reviews the advances towards better TBM diagnosis and treatments made over the last 2 years. ⋯ Much remains to be done to improve the outcome from TBM. There have been important advances in the treatment, which may influence treatment guidelines in the near future, but there remains an urgent need for better diagnostic tests.
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This review comments on the recent advances in the understanding of the controversial aspects of neurocysticercosis (NCC). ⋯ During the last few years, there has been an increased knowledge on the controversial aspects of NCC, including epidemiology, mechanisms of disease acquisition, the natural involution of lesions in the brain parenchyma, and the role of calcifications as responsible for symptom occurrence.