Neurology
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The American Academy of Neurology Workforce Task Force (WFTF) report predicts a future shortfall of neurologists in the United States. The WFTF data also suggest that for most states, the current demand for neurologist services already exceeds the supply, and by 2025 the demand for neurologists will be even higher. This future demand is fueled by the aging of the US population, the higher health care utilization rates of neurologic services, and by a greater number of patients gaining access to the health care system due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. ⋯ The impact of these US health care changes on the neurology workforce, future increasing demands, reimbursement, and alternative health care delivery models including accountable care organizations, nonphysician providers such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants, and teleneurology for both stroke and general neurology are discussed. The data lead to the conclusion that neurologists will need to play an even larger role in caring for the aging US population by 2025. We propose solutions to increase the availability of neurologic services in the future and provide other ways of meeting the anticipated increased demand for neurologic care.
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The presence of cranial autonomic symptoms often leads to a misdiagnosis of "sinus headache" in adult migraineurs, leading to unnecessary treatments and delaying appropriate migraine therapy. In this study, we examined the frequency of cranial autonomic symptoms in pediatric/adolescent patients with migraine. ⋯ In pediatric/adolescent migraine, the presence of cranial autonomic symptoms appears to be the rule rather than the exception. Clinicians should be careful to consider migraine when evaluating a child with headache and associated ocular or nasal symptoms so as to avoid giving a misdiagnosis of sinus headache.
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Multicenter Study
Electrographic seizures in pediatric ICU patients: cohort study of risk factors and mortality.
We aimed to determine the incidence of electrographic seizures in children in the pediatric intensive care unit who underwent EEG monitoring, risk factors for electrographic seizures, and whether electrographic seizures were associated with increased odds of mortality. ⋯ Electrographic seizures are common among children in the pediatric intensive care unit, particularly those with specific risk factors. Electrographic status epilepticus occurs in more than one-third of children with electrographic seizures and is associated with higher in-hospital mortality.
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To describe the patterns of cortical and subcortical changes in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) stratified for the C9orf72 genotype. ⋯ Extensive cortical and subcortical frontotemporal involvement was identified in association with the C9orf72 genotype, compared to the relatively limited extramotor pathology in patients with C9orf72-negative ALS. The distinctive, genotype-specific pathoanatomical patterns are consistent with the neuropsychological profile of the 2 ALS cohorts. Our findings suggest that previously described extramotor changes in ALS could be largely driven by those with the C9orf72 genotype.
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To assess the association of established multiple sclerosis (MS) risk variants in 3,254 African Americans (1,162 cases and 2,092 controls). ⋯ MS genetic risk in African Americans only partially overlaps with that of Europeans and could explain the difference of MS prevalence between populations.