Journal of the neurological sciences
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Cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death that affects more than a million individuals worldwide every year. Despite the recent advancement in the field of cardiac arrest and resuscitation, the management and prognosis of post-cardiac arrest brain injury remain suboptimal. ⋯ Considering that a potentially broad therapeutic window for neuroprotective drug therapy is offered in most successfully resuscitated patient after cardiac arrest, the need for further research is imperative. The aim of this article is to present the major pathophysiological disturbances leading to post-cardiac arrest brain injury, as well as to review the available pharmacological therapies.
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Comparative Study
Dementia is associated with insulin resistance in patients with Parkinson's disease.
Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder involving the basal ganglia. Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus is an important risk factor for Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia. However, the association between Parkinson's disease and Diabetes Mellitus is controversial. ⋯ Our study suggests that PD patients with dementia are two times more likely to have insulin resistance than patients with PD.
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Comparative Study
Increased expressions of TLR2 and TLR4 on peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with Alzheimer's disease.
Toll-like receptors 2 (TLR2) and TLR4 are involved in the microglia-mediated inflammatory response, Aβ plaque formation and Aβ clearance in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Our previous studies have shown that variants in the TLR2 and TLR4 genes are associated with the risk of AD. Therefore, we hypothesize that there may be significant changes in TLR2 and TLR4 expressions on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with AD when compared to healthy control subjects. ⋯ This study gives the first evidence that expressions of TLR2 and TLR4 in PBMCs were markedly elevated in LOAD patients.
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The most common neurological injuries associated with roller coaster rides are subdural hematoma and cervical artery dissection. We report two cases of roller-coaster associated subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). A 40-year-old healthy man developed a strong, holocephalic headache during a roller coaster ride. ⋯ In conclusion, SAH is a rare but relevant differential diagnosis in cases of acute headache during roller coaster rides. Both aneurysmal and non-aneurysmal perimesencephalic SAH can occur. A combination of mechanical factors and excessive blood pressure rises in vulnerable persons is discussed.
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Comparative Study
Correlation of subthalamic nuclei T2 relaxation times with neuropsychological symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease.
The subthalamic nucleus (STN) is a frequent target of deep brain stimulation (DBS), which is used to treat patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (PD). However, few studies have assessed the relationship between the STN and the clinical characteristics of PD patients. We identified the STN of 17 PD patients and 7 control subjects using coronal Short TI Inversion Recovery (STIR) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and estimated the T2 relaxation time (T2) of the STN on the subsequent coronal images that were acquired from T2-weighted MRI. ⋯ STN T2 measurements were significantly and inversely correlated (p=0.03) with scores on the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) part 1, which was applied to evaluate the mentation, behavior, and mood of PD patients. However, no significant correlations were found between the STN T2 measurements and the patients' age, disease duration, laterality, or motor clinical scores. These results suggest that degeneration of the STN in PD patients may contribute to their neuropsychological symptoms.