Neurology Updates

A study in Canada has suggested that specialist palliative care involvement in the last year of life may reduce visits to emergency departments and…

Epstein-Barr virus infection is the strongest known risk factor for the development of multiple sclerosis, and it precedes preclinical manifestation…

The 2017 McDonald criteria showed higher sensitivity, lower specificity, and similar accuracy in predicting clinically definite multiple sclerosis…

Insidious disability accrual starts already in the earliest phases of multiple sclerosis and becomes dominant over the disease course, suggesting an…

In multiple sclerosis, an impairment of the glymphatic system may contribute to pathology accrual in the central nervous system and disability…

Baseline characteristics of Aβ-positive individuals can help identify those who will remain tau-negative for at least 5 years.

Greater diffusion restriction in the white matter of amyloid-beta-positive cognitively unimpaired individuals supports the role of inflammation in…

The palliative care out-patient clinic approach for people with Parkinson’s disease improves the quality of life for patients and reduces the…

A randomized clinical trial of alteplase administered after endovascular stroke treatment showed a statistically significant benefit toward favourable…

The revised Boston criteria allow for a more accurate diagnosis of cerebral amyloid angiopathy

WGS can reliably assess the most common neurological disease-causing repeat expansions, further supporting its implementation in clinical practice

The use of prognostic indicators for end of life palliative care for Parkinson’s disease and related disorders have been shown, in a systematic…

Overlapping pathophysiological mechanisms may contribute to some cases of epilepsy and cognitive impairment.

Recent insights into premature mortality in epilepsy and potential mitigating factors

The American Academy of Neurology Clinical Guidance on Neuropalliative care outlines the need for neurologists to be involved in the palliative care…

The care of someone with dementia raises many ethical issues – of communication, decision making, care, symptom and behavioural support and carer…

The social isolation and physical inactivity during the COVID-19 pandemic has increased symptom and psychosocial issues for people with neurological…

Palliative care outpatient clinics, with a multidisciplinary team, helps patients with Parkinson’s disease and related disorders and their families

Event Related Potentials might be an accurate neurophysiological biomarker for early diagnosis of AD and prediction of MCI to AD conversion.

A medical mystery solved after more than 60 years- analysis of archival brain tissue allows characterization of rare fatal disease

The major problem for epilepsy patients is unpredictability of seizures attacks, which carry a risk of accidents and has negative impact on normal…

The world has changed for patients and parents of children suffering from spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 1. Without treatment these children…

SMA is a perfect example of rare neurological disease, and should be regarded as a prototype concerning the medical and social aspects of its…

Patients using angiotensin-II-stimulating antihypertensives have 45% lower risk to develop demenia compared to those that use…

Study results suggest that RO948 F 18 has a high specificity for Alzheimer disease–type tau and highlight its potential as a diagnostic marker.

Blood p-tau 181 is sensitive for identifying clinically diagnosed AD patients in the very early disease stages; differentiates AD from other…

Each AD phenotype had its own pattern of baseline and rates of change in tau pathology and grey matter loss, with some overlap particularly in the…

Auditory localization should be considered as a sign of consciousness, as unresponsive patients who demonstrate this behaviour show increased brain…

The process of end-of-life decision-making for patients with disorders of consciousness should include caregivers in bedside assessments and integrate…

An international study showed that younger age, shorter time since injury, higher level of responsiveness and EEG reactivity to eye opening are all…

Habituation of auditory startle reflex should be considered as a sign of the minimally conscious state, as unresponsive patients who demonstrate this…

A Dutch nationwide prospective cohort study has been launched to monitor the outcomes of patients included in the Early Intensive Rehabilitation…

The Vagal Cortical Pathways model aims to explain possible mechanisms for the action of transcutaneous auricular vagal nerve stimulation to promote…

The COVID 19 pandemic has affected people with neurological disease and reduced the care provided, with possible adverse sequelae, including frailty.

A new study has shown that a short-term palliative care intervention was seen positively by the patients and families and reduced costs, but did not…

Siponimod has been associated with decrease in HR at treatment initiation and development of hypertension during treatment, which may be predicted by…

Pain management, covid-19 pandemic, recommendations

Rotigotine in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease may have a potential effect in reducing frontal lobe cognitive dysfunction and in…

Telemedicine consultations can aid effective epilepsy care, even for first visits.

Caution is warranted with the use of antiseizure medications in the context of COVID-19 illness.

This neurology update focuses on mental well-being of people with epilepsy and their caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highet B, Dieriks BV, Murray HC, Faull RLM and Curtis MA (2020)

Huntingtin Aggregates in the Olfactory Bulb in Huntington’s Disease. Front. Aging…

Ataxin-1 regulates B cell function and the severity of autoimmune experimental encephalomyelitis.

www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2003798117 …

The International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group task force found sufficient evidence to formulate diagnostic criteria for pediatric clinical…

Dementia Lewy bodies (DLB) may present in the prodromal stage as mild cognitive impairment, delirium-onset or psychiatric-onset and authors proposed…

Around 20-30% epileptic patients do not achieve seizure freedom despite well selected and tolerated pharmacological treatment. Surgery is a widely…

Transient orthostatic hypotension is as common as classic orthostatic hypotension in people with Parkinson’s disease. Short-lived falls in blood…

Dementia Lewy bodies (DLB) may present in the prodromal stage as mild cognitive impairment, delirium-onset or psychiatric-onset and authors proposed…

The THALES study investigated dual antiplatelet therapy with Aspirin plus Ticagrelor in patients with mild non-cardioembolic stroke or high-risk TIA.

Evaluating blood pressure and heart rate changes upon standing helps screening for nOH at bedside.

A paper has just been published – Collaboration between palliative care and neurology: a survey of clinicians in Europe.

Guidelines for the Acute Treatment of Cerebral Edema in Neurocritical Care Patients, recommendations for patients with Subarachnoid Hemorrhage, Acute…

This neurology update summarises additional case reports on seizures and status epilepticus associated with COVID-19 in patients without a history of…

Telemedicine can help to deliver epilepsy care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Careful planning is needed to protect patients and healthcare workers…

Why we need neurorehabiliation now more than ever, and how to deal with this.

An e book has just been published by Frontiers Research Topics entitled” Palliative care in neurology” - Oliver D, de Visser M and Voltz R (2020)…

The first randomized controlled trial investigating treatment with thrombolysis before mechanical thrombectomy was recently published.

Acute symptomatic seizures have been reported with SARS-CoV-2-positive meningoencephalitis but, overall, seizures seem uncommon with SARS-CoV-2…

Kanberg et al., 2020: Neurochemical evidence of astrocytic and neuronal injury commonly found in COVID-19.

In this paper, the authors investigated…

Status epilepticus (SE) remains life thereatening condition with limited therepautic options. Benzodiazepine-refractory, or established, SE is thought…

A new guideline on the palliative care for people with severe multiple sclerosis has been produced by EAN, in collaboration with the European…

A double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled phase II study of adjunctive cenobamate in adults with uncontrolled focal epilepsy showed high rates of…

Rare neurological diseases are usually hereditary chronic disorders, affecting the central, peripheral nervous system and skeletal muscle, with…

This neurology update summarises key points on caring for people with epilepsy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Seizures appear to be a rare feature of COVID-19. Avoiding unintentional antiseizure medicine withdrawal during the COVID-19 pandemic is a potential…

According to the WHO, the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has already reached pandemic proportion, affecting at present more than…

The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak raises new management challenges, which lack an evidence-based answer to date. The management group of the EAN…

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Patients with…

The number of subjects infected with SARS-Cov-2 is dramatically increasing worldwide since the beginning of this year.

The SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic is deeply affecting our health systems both directly and indirectly. In several countries, neurorehabilitation units…

In view of the challenges of the current Corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic and with the aim of protecting both patients and ultrasound providers…

At present, the Covid-19 pandemic is the focus of the global community and an all-consuming threat to the health care systems all across Europe.…

We are experiencing an unprecedented situation that no one had imagined or prepared for which has hit Europe during a period of prosperity, and the…

The growing emergency due to the Covid-19 pandemic has rapidly and abruptly stressed health systems in all involved countries. Post-acute…

The authors of this review (2) article hypothesize that respiratory dysfunction could be explained in part by the well-known neuroinvasive potential…

Cutaneous silent period is a useful, although underestimated tool for the clinical assessment of poly neuropathy as well as other neurological…

The Covid-19 global pandemic is having a dramatic impact on many chronic conditions including those affecting neurological patients and among them…

Due to the CoVID-19 pandemic spread, most outpatient facilities have been strictly regulated, thus making it difficult for many patients suffering…

Neuromuscular diseases are a group of heterogenic rare conditions, that can be due to a genetic cause, inflammatory processes or dysimmune disorders.…

Highly pathogenic coronavirus infections are well-established sources of previous epidemics (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus: SARS‐CoV,…

In patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), the impact of respiratory infections is expected to be more serious than in the general…

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) typically causes fever, pulmonary and respiratory symptoms as well as gastrointestinal symptoms in the form of…

During the Covid-19 pandemic, most European countries have imposed personal restrictions on their populations in order to inhibit viral transmission…

To our knowledge, there is currently no evidence on how and if Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) affects people with rare neurological diseases,…

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus causes…

Physicians of all specialties worldwide are challenged by the new SARS-CoV-2 virus causing corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The virus is causing…

An unexpected outbreak due to the infection by the coronavirus, Covid-19, which started in China at the end of 2019, is rapidly expanding and is now…

Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new illness caused by the novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2),…

Practice changing studies have been published in late 2017 and 2018 on IDH wild-type diffuse astrocytoma (the new entity of WHO 2016 classification),…

Patients with mild to moderate traumatic brain injury may benefit from treatment with Tranexamic Acid within 3 hours of injury.

Can physiotherapy combined with vagal nerve stimulation enhance the functional recovery after stroke?

A recent paper from Cortese et al (2019) reported that a new intronic expansion may be a relevant cause of late-onset ataxia.

Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare, fatal, neurodegenerative disease of the adulthood presenting with progressive autonomic failure,…

A patient with Nakalanga syndrome (NLS) is unlikely to present for clinical care in Europe because cases are confined to impoverished sub-Saharan…

There are limited options as second line treatment in convulsive status epilepticus (CSE), both in underage and adult populations with sufficient…

Zika virus circulation has decreased but there is a possibility of its emergence or re-emergence in all areas with competent mosquito vectors.

In patient with post stroke epilepsy and non-valvular atrial fibrillation, the combination of levetiracetam and NOACs is very valuable. Therapeutic…

Antiparanodal antibodies in CIDP.

No benefit from second dose of immunoglobulin treatment for severe Guillain-Barre syndrome.

Right frontal regions make a significant contribution to inhibitory behavioural control.

Fluoroquinolones increase the risk of peripheral neuropathy.

Neurology and Palliative Care - collaboration now and in the future

Multimodal neuroimaging studies highlight the extent brain-wide structural changes in narcolepsy type 1.

Guidelines based on consensus of international experts on the current status of Single Fiber EMG and the measurement of neuromuscular jitter with…

The first IFCN-endorsed clinical guidelines for magnetoencephalography

Three patients with chronic disorders of consciousness showed behavioural and neuroimaging improvements after 30 days of treatment by apomorphine in…

There is need for automated seizure detection using wearable devices, to decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with seizures, especially…

Transcranial sonography and MRI - fusion ultrasound can serve as a screening tool for detecting the preclinical stage and differential diagnosis of…

DNA methylation editing of the FMR1 gene rescue Fragile X syndrome neurons.

Awareness of atypical features in optic neuritis is crucial to initiate appropriate treatment and prevent permanent visual loss.

Whether small fiber pathology accounts for pain in fibromyalgia, and whether brain imaging can be used as an objective marker of pain remain…

A major issue in genetic disorders is to find out clues, which may help to interpret the phenotypic heterogeneity, in order to provide more precise…

To date there is no electrophysiological gold standard in defining the subtypes of GBS. Recovery of abnormal CMAP amplitude reduction and of…

Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) allow to obtain functional and localising information about the dorsal somatosensory system. SEPs are…

The use of tracheostomy with invasive ventilation (TIV) for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is challenging and raises the most delicate questions…

Differential diagnosis of tremor syndromes is challenging task for neurologists. The need of a new classification scheme arises from recent…

Recently two trials reported results about effectiveness of thrombectomy for patients with acute ischemic stroke with large-vessel occlusion of…

Behavioural scales, such as the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R), are universally considered the gold standard for responsiveness assessment,…

It was l suggested a long time ago, that ALS is rather a cortical than a spinal disease. The work of Heiko Braak and collaborators has demonstrated…

On 21 March 2017, several activities including a meeting in the European Parliament were organized. In addition, the European Headache Alliance have…

Over the past few years the Taskforce of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) on neurology has been working on the writing of a…

The results of previous randomized trials, especially INTERACT-2, have shown that early intensive blood pressure lowering in patients with spontaneous…

Lochner et al. reported on the diagnostic applicability of ultrasonography in idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IH) or secondary intracranial…

Viski et al. reported on the effect of reading on blood flow changes in the posterior cerebral artery in early blind and sighted people using TCD.

Favaretto et al. explored in this study the diagnostic role of transcranial brain parenchyma sonography in detecting specific echogenic alterations of…

Rouco et al. present a new method that may improve the performance of previous approaches for the automatic detection of the common carotid artery…

Perren et al. compared in this study the diagnostic sensitivity of transcranial color-coded duplex (TCCD) sonography and the recently developed 3D…

Kargiotis et al. present their preliminary observations of consecutive ultrasound evaluations in 2 patients with acute encephalitis (presenting with…

The Enhanced Control of Hypertension and Thrombolysis Stroke Study (ENCHANTED) was driven by concerns about safety of intravenous alteplase in terms…

The International normalized ratio (INR) normalization in Coumadin-induced intracerebral haemorrhage (INCH) trial compared the effect of intravenous 4…

Faint or Syncope is the sudden loss of consciousness, associated with the inability to maintain postural tone followed by the immediate, spontaneous…

The multicentre, randomized-controlled Platelet Transfusion in Cerebral Haemorrhage (PATCH) study tested whether platelet transfusion could be…

A Task Force was created by the International Parkinson and Movement Disorders Society in 2012 with the aim of analyzing apparent problems and…

This is a significant clinical-epidemiological 2001-2013 survey of neurodegenerative disease among the Auyu and Jaqai linguistic groups of Papua,…

In 2015 acute stroke therapy has taken an important step forward with a series of trials which have shown a better functional outcome of patients with…

1. Fibular nerve palsy after hip replacement: Not only surgeon responsibility. Hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies (HNPP) a rare…

A recent study published in Journal of Alzheimer's Disease has found that most, but not all, patients in Sweden diagnosed with dementia have their…

This retrospective study coming from Sands et al. highlights the incidence of acute isolated central facial palsy as manifestation of Middle Cerebral…

The progress made over the past 15 years in the field of autoimmune encephalitis has transformed the diagnostic approach to these disorders and led to…

The following updates were focused specifically on clinically relevant neuroimaging studies in patients with Parkinson’s disease and in migraine…

In 2015 acute stroke therapy has taken an important step forward with a series of trials which have shown a better functional outcome of patients with…

The Palliative Care Scientific Panel aims to encourage the development of palliative care for people with neurological disease.  There are increasing…

Isolated ocular myasthenia gravis is often a diagnostic challenge, as most common ancillary tests, such as acetylcholine receptor autoantibodies and…

Brivaracetam was approved for adjunctive treatment of partial epilepsy with focal and secondary generalised seizures by the EMEA in January 2016.…

In this work the therapeutic value of a diaphragm pacemaker  is examined on a trial in patients with amyothropic lateral sclerosis. Patients underwent…

The current diagnostic criteria for ALS, the El Escorial Criteria, have met with criticism by the community (Agosta F, Al-Chalabi A, Filippi M, Hardim…

The use of statins in neurocardiovascular conditions has widely increased over the decades. Based on extension of indications major side effects of…

In the last decade, patients clinically diagnosed in the vegetative state who are able to perform mental imagery tasks [1-2] have been still…

Advances in understanding memory mechanisms have crucial implications for cognitive neurology, and it is very good news that current studies combining…

Searching for early biomarkers for alpha synucleinopathies, a recent study by Drahms et al. revealed that cardiac/vascular dysfunction in prodromal…

Syncope is a frequent clinical presentation in neurology departments. This clinical event, situated at the border between neurology and cardiology, is…

Searching for early biomarkers for alpha synucleinopathies, a recent study by Drahms et al. revealed that cardiac/vascular dysfunction in prodromal α-…