Journal of neurology
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Journal of neurology · Aug 2016
Randomized Controlled TrialComparative effects of unilateral and bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation on gait kinematics in Parkinson's disease: a randomized, blinded study.
Gait dysfunction in Parkinson's disease (PD) does not always respond to bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS). Since right hemisphere motor networks may be dominant for gait control, identical stimulation of asymmetric circuits could account for gait dysfunction. We compared the effects of bilateral and unilateral STN-DBS on gait kinematics in PD patients who developed gait impairment after STN-DBS. ⋯ Yet, unilateral stimulation has similar effects on gait kinematics. Particularly, right-sided stimulation might produce slightly greater improvements. Although the clinical relevance of differential programming of right versus left-sided STN-DBS is unclear, this approach could be considered in the management of treatment-resistant gait dysfunction in PD.
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Journal of neurology · Aug 2016
Clinical prediction of large vessel occlusion in anterior circulation stroke: mission impossible?
Simple clinical scores to predict large vessel occlusion (LVO) in acute ischemic stroke would be helpful to triage patients in the prehospital phase. We assessed the ability of various combinations of National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) subitems and published stroke scales (i.e., RACE scale, 3I-SS, sNIHSS-8, sNIHSS-5, sNIHSS-1, mNIHSS, a-NIHSS items profiles A-E, CPSS1, CPSS2, and CPSSS) to predict LVO on CT or MR arteriography in 1085 consecutive patients (39.4 % women, mean age 67.7 years) with anterior circulation strokes within 6 h of symptom onset. 657 patients (61 %) had an occlusion of the internal carotid artery or the M1/M2 segment of the middle cerebral artery. Best cut-off value of the total NIHSS score to predict LVO was 7 (PPV 84.2 %, sensitivity 81.0 %, specificity 76.6 %, NPV 72.4 %, ACC 79.3 %). ⋯ There is a significant correlation between clinical scores based on the NIHSS score and LVO on arteriography. However, if clinically relevant thresholds are applied to the scores, a sizable number of LVOs are missed. Therefore, clinical scores cannot replace vessel imaging.
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Journal of neurology · Aug 2016
Tissue damage within normal appearing white matter in early multiple sclerosis: assessment by the ratio of T1- and T2-weighted MR image intensity.
Histopathological and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have shown white matter (WM) damage in early stages of multiple sclerosis (MS) beyond the apparent T2-hyperintense lesions. These changes in normal appearing WM (NAWM) are important with regard to the clinical picture and prognosis. However, the detection of changes within NAWM has so far required special imaging techniques commonly not available in clinical routine and, hence, at large scale. ⋯ The difference remained significant after restricting the analysis to patients with a disease duration of 5 years or less and without disease modifying drugs. Our measures also correlated with clinical scores. We believe that the mean T1w/T2w ratio is a promising candidate to assess MS-related tissue damage within NAWM at large scale.