Anterior cerebral artery infarcts; two years follow-up study
LÜTFÜ Hanoglu, ELMIR Khanmammadov, SEMA Demirci, ÜMMÜHAN Altin, DURSUN Kirbaş, TAHA Hanoglu, BURAK Yulug
LÜTFÜ Hanoglu, ELMIR Khanmammadov, SEMA Demirci, ÜMMÜHAN Altin, DURSUN Kirbaş, TAHA Hanoglu, BURAK Yulug
Objectives – Anterior cerebral infarct (ACA) infarcts are reported very rare that is due to the compensatory collateral circulation provided by the anterior communicating artery. There are very few studies reporting the long-term follow-up results of ACA infarcts regarding their aetiology, clinical features and prognosis. Most studies reported in the literature vary between several months to one year. Patients and methods – A total of 27 patients with ACA infarcts were registered (14 women and 13 men). The mean age of the patients was 68.5 (age range: 45–89 years). Results – Bilateral ACA infarcts were reported in four patients (14.8%), right ACA infarct in 11 (40%) patients and left ACA infarct in 12 patients (44%). During the initial examination 15 patients (55.5%) were found to have apathy, 13 patients (48%) had incontinence, nine patients (33.3%) had primitive reflexes, 11 patients (40.7%) had aphasia, while six patients (22.2%) were found to suffer from neglect. At the end of one-year follow-up, five patients (22.7%) were reported to have apathy, 6 patients (27.2%) had incontinence, one patient (4.5%) had primitive reflexes, while one patient (4.5%) was found to have permanent aphasia, and no patients was found to suffer from neglect. Conclusion – Here we present our clinical data regarding the aetiology, specific clinical characteristics (including the speech disorders) and prognosis of 27 patients with ACA infarcts during a relatively longer follow-up period (3 months – 30 months) in compared to previous literature. We show that there are differences in the etiological factors of ACA infarcts between the Asian and European communities. Regarding speech disorders which are frequently reported during ACA infarcts, our study results are in agreement with other studies suggesting that this clinical picture is more than a real aphasia and associated with general hypokinesia and reduction in psychomotor activity.
Clinical Neuroscience
[The revolutionary progress of research in neuroimmunology has led to the introduction of disease modifying therapies in multiple sclerosis at the end of the last century. The International Panel on Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis originally proposed the 2001 McDonald criteria to facilitate the diagnosis of MS in patients with the first objective neurological symptom(s) suggesting demyelinating event, when magnetic resonance imaging is integrated with clinical and other paraclinical diagnostic methods. New terms have been introduced to substitute clinical information by MRI: dissemination in space - indicating a multifocal central demyelinating process and dissemination in time - indicating the development of new CNS lesions over time. The criteria for diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis have continuously evolved, they were modified in 2005 and 2010 allowing for an earlier and more accurate diagnosis of MS over time, and they provided the most up-to-date guidance for clinicians and researchers. The last recommended revisions relied entirely on available evidence, and not on expert opinion thereby reducing the risk of the misdiagnosis. The 2017 McDonald criteria continue to apply primarily to patients experiencing a typical, clinically isolated syndrome. In this review, we provide an overview of the recent 2017 revisions to the criteria of dissemination in space and time with the importance of the presence of CSF-specific oligoclonal bands; keeping fully in mind that there is no better explanation for symptoms than diagnosis of MS. In the future, validation of the 2017 McDonald criteria will be needed in diverse populations. Further investigations are required on the value of new MRI approaches, on optic nerve involvement, on evoked potential and optical coherence tomography, in order to assess their possible contribution to diagnostic criteria.]
Clinical Neuroscience
Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune disease with mononuclear cell infiltration and destruction of the lacrimal gland and salivary glands, which cause dryness of the eyes and mouth. The most common neurological condition seen in SS is peripheral neuropathy. Initial manifestation of SS as an acute fulminant peripheral neuropathy is extremely rare. We report a 42-year-old patient presenting with acute motor sensory-axonal neuropathy in the presence of SS. She showed partial response to intravenous immunoglobulin but favourable clinical improvement was seen after initiation of corticosteroid treatment.
Clinical Neuroscience
[Introduction - Differential diagnosis of neonatal and infantile seizures based only on inspection poses a challenge even for specialists. Aims - To investigate the evaluations of neonatal and infantile paroxysmal events based only on inspection. Research question - Is there any difference in the opinion of neonatologists, paediatric neurologists and neurologists about the assessment of common paroxysmal events in infancy? Patients and methods - Video recordings about paroxysmal movements of 15 neonates or infants (aged 2 days- 5 months) were displayed for 47 paediatric neurologists, 35 neonatologists and nurses working in Neonatal or Perinatal Intensive Care Units and 43 neurologists. They had to decide without knowing the past medical history or EEG results whether events presented were epileptic or nonepileptic in nature. Results - Answers of neonatologists and paediatric neurologists were correct in 67% of cases (824/1230), no significant difference was found between their results. The largest uncertainty was in the judgement of discrete hand movements and very rapid clonus with epileptic origin, they were judged correctly by only one third of participants. The result of neurologists was only slightly, but not significantly different from that of paediatric neurologists. Conclusion - In most cases, the correct diagnosis of neonatal and infantile paroxysmal events requires video-EEG recording. No significant difference was revealed between the evaluation of neonatologists and paediatric neurologists about the differential diagnosis of movements. The ongoing cooperation of paediatric neurologists and neurologists going back to several decades facilitates the shaping of a common perspective.]
Clinical Neuroscience
Background - Impaired shoulder function is the most disabling problem for daily life of Fascioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) patients. Scapulothoracic arthrodesis can give a high impact to the functionality of patients. Here we report our experience with scapulothoracic arthrodesis and spinal stenosis surgery in FSHD patients. Patients and methods - 32 FSHD patients were collected between 2015-2016. Demographical and clinical features were documented. All the patients were neurologically examined. The Medical Research Council (MRC) and the FSHD evaluation scale was used to assess muscle involvement1. Scapulothoracic arthrodesis and spinal stenosis surgeries were performed in eligible patients. Results - There were 16 male and 16 female (mean age 34.4 years; range 12-73) patients. 6 shoulders of 4 patients aged between 2132 years underwent scapulothoracic arthrodesis (two bilateral, one left and one right sided). Only one 63 years old female patient with severe hyperlordosis had spinal fusion surgery. All of the patients undergoing these corrective surgeries have better functionality in daily life, as well as superior shoulder elevation. Conclusion - Until the emergence and clinical use of novel therapeutics, surgical interventions are indicated in carefully selected patients with FSHD to improve arm movements, the posture and the quality of life of patients in general. Scapulothorosic arthrodesis is a management with good clinical results and patient satisfaction. In selected cases other corrective orthopedic surgeries like spinal fusion may also be considered.
Clinical Neuroscience
Objectives - The aim of this study was to assess the impact of early stage of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (IPD) on caregiver burden with disease severity, duration, disability and psychiatric symptoms. Methods - 30 IPD patient (15 female, 15 male) - caregiver (18 female, 12 male) pairs participated in the study. Hoehn and Yahr (H-Y) scale was used to provide the assessment of disease progression and Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) was used for assessing disability and impairment. Zarit Caregiver Burden Inventory (ZCBI) was used to ascertain the distress experienced by caregivers. Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS) was performed on both patient and caregiver groups to evaluate anxiety and depression. Depressive symptoms of both groups were also measured by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Patients’ psychotic symptoms were assessed using the part 1- mentation, behavior and mood section of UPDRS. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to evaluate dementia symptoms and Short Form-36 (SF-36) was also used to assess quality of life. Results - We found significant correlation between caregiver burden with disease severity and duration. There was a significant difference between high UPDRS scores and the caregiver’s will for placing her/his patient in a long-term institution. Patients who had depression risk according to BDI had also high UPDRS scores. Patients with off period had higher UPDRS scores and lower SF-36 subdomains of general health, physical functioning, emotional role and social functioning. Conclusion - IPD is a chronic, progressive neuro- degenerative disease and comprises substantial burden on patients, families of patients and caregivers. The disease duration and disability have a remarkable impact on caregiver burden. For the good quality of caregiving, protective therapies should be recommended for caregivers if needed.
Clinical Neuroscience
We aimed to investigate the association between fluoxetine use and the survival of hospitalised coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pneumonia patients. This retrospective case-control study used data extracted from the medical records of adult patients hospitalised with moderate or severe COVID-19 pneumonia at the Uzsoki Teaching Hospital of the Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary between 17 March and 22 April 2021. As a part of standard medical treatment, patients received anti-COVID-19 therapies as favipiravir, remdesivir, baricitinib or a combination of these drugs; and 110 of them received 20 mg fluoxetine capsules once daily as an adjuvant medication. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between fluoxetine use and mortality. For excluding a fluoxetine-selection bias potentially influencing our results, we compared baseline prognostic markers in the two groups treated versus not treated with fluoxetine. Out of the 269 participants, 205 (76.2%) survived and 64 (23.8%) died between days 2 and 28 after hospitalisation. Greater age (OR [95% CI] 1.08 [1.05–1.11], p<0.001), radiographic severity based on chest X-ray (OR [95% CI] 2.03 [1.27–3.25], p=0.003) and higher score of shortened National Early Warning Score (sNEWS) (OR [95% CI] 1.20 [1.01-1.43], p=0.04) were associated with higher mortality. Fluoxetine use was associated with an important (70%) decrease of mortality (OR [95% CI] 0.33 [0.16–0.68], p=0.002) compared to the non-fluoxetine group. Age, gender, LDH, CRP, and D-dimer levels, sNEWS, Chest X-ray score did not show statistical difference between the fluoxetine and non-fluoxetine groups supporting the reliability of our finding. Provisional to confirmation in randomised controlled studies, fluoxetine may be a potent treatment increasing the survival for COVID-19 pneumonia.
Clinical Neuroscience
Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a heterogeneous presentation, the etiology of which is not clearly elucidated. In recent years, comorbidity has become more evident with the increase in the frequency of autism and diagnostic possibilities of inborn errors of metabolism. One hundred and seventy-nine patients with diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder who presented to the Pediatric Metabolism outpatient clinic between 01/September/2018-29/February/2020 constituted the study population. The personal information, routine and specific metabolic tests of the patients were analyzed retrospectively. Out of the 3261 patients who presented to our outpatient clinic, 179 (5.48%) were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and were included in the study. As a result of specific metabolic examinations performed, 6 (3.3%) patients were diagnosed with inborn errors of metabolism. Two of our patients were diagnosed with classical phenylketonuria, two with classical homocystinuria, one with mucopolysaccharidosis type 3D (Sanfilippo syndrome) and one with 3-methylchrotonyl Co-A carboxylase deficiency. Inborn errors of metabolism may rarely present with autism spectrum disorder symptoms. Careful evaluation of the history, physical examination and additional findings in patients diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder will guide the clinician in the decision-making process and chose the appropriate specific metabolic investigation. An underlying inborn errors of metabolism may be a treatable cause of autism.
Clinical Neuroscience
Cognitive dysfunction (CD) is a common non-motor symptom of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Alexithymia is a still poorly understood neuropsychiatric feature of PD. Cognitive impairment (especially visuospatial dysfunction and executive dysfunction) and alexithymia share common pathology of neuroanatomical structures. We hypothesized that there must be a correlation between CD and alexithymia levels considering this relationship of neuroanatomy. Objective – The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between alexithymia and neurocognitive function in patients with PD. Thirty-five patients with PD were included in this study. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale–20 (TAS-20), Geriatric Depression Inventory (GDI) and a detailed neuropsychological evaluation were performed. Higher TAS-20 scores were negatively correlated with Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) similarities test score (r =-0.71, p value 0.02), clock drawing test (CDT) scores (r=-0.72, p=0.02) and verbal fluency (VF) (r=-0.77, p<0.01). Difficulty identifying feelings subscale score was negatively correlated with CDT scores (r=-0.74, p=0.02), VF scores (r=-0.66, p=0.04), visual memory immediate recall (r=-0.74, p=0.01). VF scores were also correlated with difficulty describing feelings (DDF) scores (r=-0.66, p=0.04). There was a reverse relationship between WAIS similarities and DDF scores (r=-0.70, p=0.02), and externally oriented-thinking (r=-0.77,p<0.01). Executive function Z score was correlated with the mean TAS-20 score (r=-62, p=0.03) and DDF subscale score (r=-0.70, p=0.01) Alexithymia was found to be associated with poorer performance on visuospatial and executive function test results. We also found that alexithymia was significantly correlated with depressive symptoms. Presence of alexithymia should therefore warn the clinicians for co-existing CD.
Clinical Neuroscience
[A growing body of evidence suggests that sleep plays an essential role in the consolidation of different memory systems, but less is known about the beneficial effect of sleep on relational memory processes and the recognition of emotional facial expressions, however, it is a fundamental cognitive skill in human everyday life. Thus, the study aims to investigate the effect of timing of learning and the role of sleep in relational memory processes. 84 young adults (average age: 22.36 (SD: 3.22), 21 male/63 female) participated in our study, divided into two groups: evening group and morning group indicating the time of learning. We used the face-name task to measure relational memory and facial expression recognition. There were two sessions for both groups: the immediate testing phase and the delayed retesting phase, separated by 24 hours. 84 young adults (average age: 22.36 (SD: 3.22), 21 male/63 female) participated in our study, divided into two groups: evening group and morning group indicating the time of learning. We used the face-name task to measure relational memory and facial expression recognition. There were two sessions for both groups: the immediate testing phase and the delayed retesting phase, separated by 24 hours. Our results suggest that the timing of learning and sleep plays an important role in the stabilizing process of memory representation to resist against forgetting.]
Clinical Neuroscience
Far lateral lumbar disc herniations (FLDH) consist approximately 0.7-12% of all lumbar disc herniations. Compared to the more common central and paramedian lumbar disc herniations, they cause more severe and persistent radicular pain due to direct compression of the nerve root and dorsal root ganglion. In patients who do not respond to conservative treatments such as medical treatment and physical therapy, and have not developed neurological deficits, it is difficult to decide on surgical treatment because of the nerve root damage and spinal instability risk due to disruption of facet joint integrity. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of transforaminal epidural steroid injection (TFESI) on the improvement of both pain control and functional capacity in patients with FLDH. A total of 37 patients who had radicular pain caused by far lateral disc herniation which is visible in their lumbar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, had no neurological deficit and did not respond to conservative treatment, were included the study. TFESI was applied to patients by preganglionic approach. Pre-treatment Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores of the patients were compared with the 3rd week, 3rd month and 6th month scores after the procedure. The mean initial VAS score was 8.63 ± 0.55, while it was 3.84 ± 1.66, 5.09 ± 0.85, 4.56 ± 1.66 at the 3rd week, 3rd month and 6th month controls, respectively. This decrease in the VAS score was found statistically significant (p = 0.001). ODI score with baseline mean value of 52.38 ± 6.84 was found to be 18.56 ± 4.95 at the 3rd week, 37.41 ± 14.1 at the 3rd month and 34.88 ± 14.33 at the 6th month. This downtrend of patient’s ODI scores was found statistically significant (p = 0.001). This study has demonstrated that TFESI is an effective method for gaining increased functional capacity and pain control in the treatment of patients who are not suitable for surgical treatment with radicular complaints due to far lateral lumbar disc hernia.
Investigation of risk factors, topographic location and stroke mechanisms of unilateral isolated and posterior cerebral ARTERY thalamic infarcts
Measurement of coronary artery calcification in adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus using dual-source, multi-slice computed tomography
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