Journal of the neurological sciences
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Psychiatric disorders seem to be more frequent in patients with epilepsy (PWE) than the general population. Although researchers have documented a strong association between epilepsy and psychiatric comorbidities, the nature of this relationship is poorly understood. According to this, psychiatric diseases are often underdiagnosed and undertreated in PWE with further decrease of the quality of life of patients. The aim of the review was to examine the most frequent psychiatric comorbidities in adults with epilepsy (AWE) and the main psychiatric comorbidities in children with epilepsy (CWE) in order to better understand the relationship between epilepsy and the development of psychiatric disorders.
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Malignant gliomas are common primary brain tumors with dismal prognosis. The blood-brain barrier and unacceptable systemic toxicity limit the employment of chemotherapeutic agents. BCNU-impregnated biodegradable polymers (Gliadel®) have been demonstrated to prolong the survival of patients with malignant gliomas. Until now, no biodegradable drug delivery system has been commercially available in China. In the present study, we evaluated the safety of implants with high-dose BCNU in Chinese patients with recurrent malignant gliomas. ⋯ The high-dose BCNU-loaded PLGA implants were safe for Chinese patients with recurrent malignant gliomas and further investigation for efficacy is warranted.
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We investigated the King-Devick (K-D) test of rapid number naming as a visual performance measure in a cohort of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). ⋯ The K-D test, a <2 minute bedside test of rapid number naming, is associated with visual dysfunction, neurologic impairment, and reduced vision-specific QOL in patients with MS. Scores reflect work disability as well as structural changes as measured by OCT imaging. History of ON and abnormal binocular acuities were associated with worse K-D scores, suggesting that abnormalities detected by K-D may go along with afferent dysfunction in MS patients. A brief test that requires saccadic eye movements, K-D should be considered for future MS trials as a rapid visual performance measure.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
An open labeled randomized controlled trial of pregabalin versus amitriptyline in chronic low backache.
There is no head on comparison of amitriptyline (AMT) and pregabalin (PG) in relieving pain and disability in chronic low backache (CLBA). This randomized controlled trial reports the efficacy and safety of AMT and PG in CLBA. ⋯ AMT and PG are effective in CLBA but AMT reduced pain and disability significantly compared to PG.
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Therapeutic targets for intracranial pressure (ICP) in patients with severe intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) are approximated from data of traumatic brain injury. However, specific data for ICH are lacking. Here, we aimed to investigate the association between ICP, mortality and functional outcome following severe ICH. ⋯ Our data suggest that in the context of other predictors as age, admission clinical status, hemorrhage volume and intraventricular hemorrhage, average ICP, ICP variability and the frequency of ICP values >20 mm Hg are independently associated with mortality and poor outcome after ICH. Further studies and prospective validations of ICP thresholds for ICH patients are highly warranted.