Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology
-
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an important paraclinical tool to diagnose and monitor multiple sclerosis (MS). Conventional MRI measures lack of pathological specificity and are weakly correlated with MS clinical manifestations. Advanced MRI techniques are improving the understanding of the mechanisms underlying tissue injury, repair, and functional adaptation in MS; however, they require careful standardization. ⋯ These data will be used to perform research studies to identify clinical, neuropsychological and imaging biomarkers characteristics of the entire spectrum of MS. INNI will be instrumental to help to define standardized MRI and clinical protocols towards an increasing uptake of personalized interventions for people with MS at a national and international level. Upon approval of the INNI Steering Committee, the data collected in the online database will be shared with any research center detailing specific research proposals on disease pathophysiology or treatment effects.
-
Comparative Study
Delirium in the acute phase after stroke: comparison between methods of detection.
Delirium is an acute neuropsychiatric syndrome, very common in hospitalized people with medical and neurological conditions. The identification of delirium after stroke is not an easy task and validated psychometric instruments are needed to correctly identify it. We decided to verify if (1) formal training in DSM-V criteria is needed to correctly identify post-stroke delirium, (2) if the use of a brief psychometric instrument such as 4AT improves its identification, (3) the applicability of these scales in the stroke setting. ⋯ In the second phase, the 4AT was used for delirium screening revealing a 52% of cases of delirium, the same observed by the consensus diagnosis of two senior neurologists (that was 50%). In the second phase, the use of 4AT scale allowed to capture post-stroke delirium as well as the consensus diagnosis by two neurologists. The identification of post-stroke delirium is not an easy task and requires both formal training in DSM-V criteria as well as the application of brief scales, such as the 4AT.
-
Comparative Study
Do bilateral and unilateral greater occipital nerve block effectiveness differ in chronic migraine patients?
We aimed to compare the effectiveness of bilateral and unilateral block application in chronic migraine patients and whether there were differences in their effectiveness retrospectively. In chronic migraine patients undergoing Greater occipital nerve (GON) block, mean number of days with pain per month before and after block, mean duration of pain in attacks (in hours), and mean Visual Analog Scale (VAS) in attack and pain severity were recorded from files. The patients underwent one block a week for the first 1 month, thereafter one block a month according to GON block protocol used by our institute. ⋯ Mean severity of migraine decreased significantly differ in group 1 in 2, 3 months as compared to pre-block treatment (P < 0.001). No differences were observed in frequency, severity and duration of headache between groups during 3-month treatment period. GON block is effective in chronic migraine and bilateral application is no superior over unilateral application.