Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology
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The resection of the epileptogenic area of brain is very important and useful for the treatment of uncontrolled epilepsy, especially for the patients with stereotyped partial seizures. The critical point for successful epilepsy surgery is the precise identification of epileptogenic zone. ⋯ The intracranial electrodes which are most used currently are depth electrodes, subdural strip electrodes, and subdural grid electrodes. The subject of this paper is to discuss and compare the indications, construction, insertion, interpretation, limitations, risks and accuracy of each of these methods.
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Comparative Study
A comparative study of neuroimaging features between human neuro-gnathostomiasis and angiostrongyliasis.
Gnathostoma spinigerum and Angiostrongylus cantonensis are human parasites that can cause neurological symptoms. The human diseases produced by these parasites can usually be differentiated by clinical symptoms. The aim of this study was to report neuroimaging abnormalities detected with computed tomography (CT) and MR in patients with gnathostomiasis and angiostrongyliasis. ⋯ The angiostrongyliasis group had no specific findings and most patients had normal CT brain images. The variety of neuroimaging findings is shown here. This study emphasizes that neuroimaging studies may be useful to differentiate gnathostomiasis and angiostrongyliasis particularly in patients with indistinct clinical presentations.
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High-dose cyclophosphamide followed by autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HDC-AHSCT) is a treatment option for aggressive and refractory multiple sclerosis (MS). Natalizumab is a monoclonal antibody approved for relapsing-remitting (RR) MS unresponsive to immunomodulating drugs. Nothing is known about the use of natalizumab in patients after HDC-AHSCT. ⋯ No severe adverse events, in particular opportunistic infections such as Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML), were observed. Our results suggest that the use of natalizumab in aggressive RR-MS after HDC-AHSCT could be effective and safe. The very long-term risk of adverse events due to sequential aggressive immunosuppression has to be established.
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Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is an independent risk factor for ischemic cerebrovascular diseases, and results in worse prognosis and higher mortality. We aimed to investigate the effects of early treatment of OSAS on the prognosis of ischemic stroke. We prospectively evaluated patients with acute supratentorial ischemic stroke and OSAS on admission (acute stage), at second week (subacute stage) and at second month (chronic stage); 11 (73.3%) out of 15 patients put on the non-invasive mechanical ventilation treatment within 48 h of stroke constituted the treatment group, and 13 patients constituted the control group. ⋯ The rate of shrinkage of the ischemic lesion was higher in the treatment group, though not significant. The early and effective treatment of OSAS provides a better clinical prognosis in ischemic stroke. The beneficial effects on radiological parameters need to be further studied.
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We use multiple MRI modalities to measure cerebral edema and intracerebral hemorrhage quantitatively after TBI in rabbits and to acquire the early prognostic MRI information. Multiple MRI modalities (DCE-MRI, DWI and SWI) were used to assess cerebral edema and intracerebral hemorrhage quantitatively at different time points within a month after TBI in 15 rabbits. The functional outcomes were evaluated at 1 and 30 days after TBI. ⋯ In the perifocal lesion area, the ADC values at both acute and subacute phase correlated with the functional outcome at 30 days (p < 0.05). The volume of hemorrhage correlated with functional outcome at 30 days (p < 0.05). The cerebral edema assessed by DCE-MRI (K (trans)) and DWI (ADC) and intracerebral hemorrhage assessed by SWI may have predictive values.