Neurology
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Comparative Study
Role of motor evoked potentials in diagnosis of cauda equina and lumbosacral cord lesions.
To determine the diagnostic value of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in the diagnosis of lumbosacral cord disorders. ⋯ Motor evoked potential recording is an accurate and easily applicable test for the diagnosis of lumbosacral spinal cord lesions.
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Medical records and follow-up data were reviewed in 297 genetically proven myotonic dystrophy type 2 (DM2) patients. Patients were selected by the criteria of cardiac sudden death before age 45. ⋯ Cardiac histopathology showed dilated cardiomyopathy in all, and conduction system fibrosis in two patients. Pathogenetic CCUG ribonuclear inclusions were demonstrable in cardiomyocytes.
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Multiple sclerosis (MS), a neurologic disorder that affects 400,000 persons in the United States, consists of an inflammatory and a neurodegenerative phase. Treatment options now approved by the FDA specifically target the inflammatory phase of MS and include immunomodulators (i.e., interferon betas and glatiramer acetate) and an immunosuppressant, mitoxantrone. ⋯ Only mitoxantrone is approved for the treatment of worsening relapsing-remitting MS, secondary progressive MS, and progressive-relapsing MS. Early treatment with these disease-modifying agents is desirable to reduce the progression of the disease and to limit long-term disability.