Bmc Neurol
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The ReSPonD trial--rivastigmine to stabilise gait in Parkinson's disease a phase II, randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial to evaluate the effect of rivastigmine on gait in patients with Parkinson's disease who have fallen.
Gait impairment is common in people with Parkinson's disease. There is a lack of effective interventions to target this debilitating complication and therefore a need to identify new therapeutic options. An underlying cholinergic deficit contributes to both the gait and cognitive dysfunction seen in Parkinson's disease. The combined impact of both impairments can be assessed in gait tasks performed with concomitant cognitive tasks. The aim of this trial is to evaluate the impact of a cholinesterase inhibitor on cognitive function and gait performance in people with established Parkinson's disease. ⋯ This randomised controlled trial will examine the effect of cholinesterase inhibitor therapy on gait, balance and falls in Parkinson's disease. If effective, it would offer a new therapeutic option to ameliorating gait and cognitive deficits in a population at high risk of falls.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Multimodal noninvasive and invasive imaging of extracranial venous abnormalities indicative of CCSVI: results of the PREMiSe pilot study.
There is no established noninvasive or invasive diagnostic imaging modality at present that can serve as a 'gold standard' or "benchmark" for the detection of the venous anomalies, indicative of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI). We investigated the sensitivity and specificity of 2 invasive vs. 2 noninvasive imaging techniques for the detection of extracranial venous anomalies in the internal jugular veins (IJVs) and azygos vein/vertebral veins (VVs) in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). ⋯ Noninvasive DS screening for the detection of venous anomalies indicative of CCSVI may be a reliable approach for identifying patients eligible for further multimodal invasive imaging testing of the IJVs. However, the noninvasive screening methods were inadequate to depict the total amount of azygos vein/VVs anomalies identified with invasive testing. This pilot study, with limited sample size, shows that both a non-invasive and invasive multimodal imaging diagnostic approach should be recommended to depict a range of extracranial venous anomalies indicative of CCSVI. However, lack of invasive testing on the study subjects whose results were negative on the DS screening and of healthy controls, limits further generalizibility of our findings. In addition, the findings from the 2 invasive techniques confirmed the existence of severe extracranial venous anomalies that significantly impaired normal blood outflow from the brain in this group of MS patients.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
V-TIME: a treadmill training program augmented by virtual reality to decrease fall risk in older adults: study design of a randomized controlled trial.
Recent work has demonstrated that fall risk can be attributed to cognitive as well as motor deficits. Indeed, everyday walking in complex environments utilizes executive function, dual tasking, planning and scanning, all while walking forward. Pilot studies suggest that a multi-modal intervention that combines treadmill training to target motor function and a virtual reality obstacle course to address the cognitive components of fall risk may be used to successfully address the motor-cognitive interactions that are fundamental for fall risk reduction. The proposed randomized controlled trial will evaluate the effects of treadmill training augmented with virtual reality on fall risk. ⋯ This randomized controlled trial will demonstrate the extent to which an intervention that combines treadmill training augmented by virtual reality reduces fall risk, improves mobility and enhances cognitive function in a diverse group of older adults. In addition, the comparison to an active control group that undergoes treadmill training without virtual reality will provide evidence as to the added value of addressing motor cognitive interactions as an integrated unit.
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The partial form of the complex regional pain syndrome of the hand type 1 (CRPS 1), involving only 1 to 3 fingers, is a rare condition first described in 1972. The aim of the study is to define more precisely the diagnosis workup and the prognosis of this clinical entity. ⋯ This is the largest series of consecutive partial form of CRPS. The Budapest criteria are sufficient for the diagnosis in 88% of cases. As in complete form of CRPS1 of the hand, three phase bone scintigraphy should only be used in doubtful cases in the first six months of the illness. Partial form of CRPS1 of the hand is rare and its prevalence remains unknown. Long term prognosis (4 to 9 years) is poor in our series, 50% of patients didn't returned to work.
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Comparative Study
Reproducibility and accuracy of optic nerve sheath diameter assessment using ultrasound compared to magnetic resonance imaging.
Quantification of the optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) by transbulbar sonography is a promising non-invasive technique for the detection of altered intracranial pressure. In order to establish this method as follow-up tool in diseases with intracranial hyper- or hypotension scan-rescan reproducibility and accuracy need to be systematically investigated. ⋯ Sonographic ONSD quantification 3 mm behind the papilla can be performed with good reproducibility, measurement accuracy and observer agreement. Thus, our findings emphasize the feasibility of this technique as a non-invasive bedside tool for longitudinal ONSD measurements.