European journal of neurology : the official journal of the European Federation of Neurological Societies
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There is little information about the prevalence and disease burden of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP), multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) and paraproteinaemic demyelinating neuropathy (PDN). ⋯ The common forms of chronic inflammatory neuropathy cause a considerable disease burden in the community.
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Acute severe exacerbations of myasthenia gravis (MG) are common in both early and late onset MG. We wished to examine the current management in the intensive care unit (ICU) of severe exacerbations of MG and to study the long-term prognosis of MG following discharge from the ICU. ⋯ Despite the significant morbidity and mortality associated with severe exacerbations of MG, specialized neurointensive care can result in a good long-term prognosis in both early- and late-onset MG.
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Observational Study
Treatment of respiratory impairment in patients with motor neuron disease in the Netherlands: patient preference and timing of referral.
We assessed the first evaluation at a large ventilation clinic in the Netherlands to: (i) determine what proportion of patients with motor neuron disease would benefit from earlier referral; and (ii) examine the patient preferences regarding ventilatory support. ⋯ A meaningful proportion of patients who desire ventilatory support are referred to a ventilation clinic after already developing respiratory failure. Future studies could examine means, including more sensitive respiratory measures, to detect those patients who could benefit from earlier referral.
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Interictal headache (IIH), and in particular migraine, is considered a relevant co-morbidity in epilepsy; however, available data are ambiguous. Periictal headache (PIH) displays a frequent ancillary burden to seizures, but identification of unequivocal predictors is still elusive. ⋯ In patients with epilepsy, IIH, and particularly migraine, is less common than expected, challenging the widely held concept of co-morbidity of the two conditions. PIH is frequent, severe and undertreated. Predictors include low age at epilepsy onset, AED polytherapy and tonic-clonic generalized seizures. Physicians should ask for PIH and offer specific analgesic treatment. To confirm these findings, future studies with a prospective approach implementing a headache and seizure diary should be performed.