Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology
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We assessed sleep patterns in 85 patients with chronic disorders of consciousness (DOC) in order to reveal any relationship with the degree of the impairment. ⋯ PSG is a simple and effective technique, and sleep patterns may reflect the degree of impairment in chronic DOC patients.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
A look inside the nerve - Morphology of nerve fascicles in healthy controls and patients with polyneuropathy.
Polyneuropathies are increasingly analyzed by ultrasound. Summarizing, diffuse enlargement is typical in Charcot-Marie Tooth type 1 (CMT1a), regional enlargement occurs in inflammatory neuropathies. However, a distinction of subtypes is still challenging. Therefore, this study focused on fascicle size and pattern in controls and distinct neuropathies. ⋯ Pattern analysis of fascicles might facilitate distinction of several otherwise similar neuropathies.
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Healthy subjects can learn to use cognitive-emotional strategies to suppress their spinal nociception, quantified by the nociceptive flexor reflex (RIII reflex), when given visual RIII feedback. This likely reflects learned activation of descending pain inhibition. Here, we investigated if training success persists 4 and 8 months after the end of RIII feedback training, and if transfer (RIII suppression without feedback) is possible. ⋯ These results are an important pre-requisite for application of RIII feedback training in the context of clinical pain.
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The aims of this exploratory study were (1) to develop a standardized objective electrophysiological technique with laser-evoked potentials to assess dorsal root damage quantitatively and (2) to correlate these LEP measures with clinical parameters and sensory abnormalities (QST) in the affected dermatome. ⋯ An increase in N2-latency indicates a more pronounced nerve root damage, which is associated with a decrease of function and an increase of severity and pain. LEP amplitudes are associated with the functional status of the nociceptive system and may distinguish between degeneration of neuronal systems and central sensitization processes.
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The ice-pack test is a convenient diagnostic testing procedure for myasthenia gravis (MG). We investigated the underlying mechanism of the ice-pack test performed on bilateral masseters. ⋯ The ice-pack test induces a prolonged effect of ameliorating impaired E-C coupling in MG.