[Objective - Analyzing the medical record data of patients with the main symptom of vertigo in “Kaposi Mór” Hospital’s Emergency Department. Method - Retrospective evaluation of patients’s medical history with vertigo related diagnoses according to BNO classification. Results - In the year of 2010, 18 000 patients were presented to ED. In 471 cases the symptoms were vertigo related which makes up 3% of the total. Almost half, 46% of these patients were brought in by ambulance medical car. The ratio of women was twice as high as of the men. One fifth, 19% of patients with vertigo gained admission to the ward and 81% of them were discharged in 24 hours. According to the interviews, 4 types of vertigo have been identified: “whirling style” vertigo in 37% of the cases, dizziness in 33% of the cases, presyncope in 12% and „light headedness” in 9%. The remaining 9% couldn’t be classified. Conclusion - Vertigo is common presenting symptom in emergency department, however it rarely indicates severe condition. The diagnostic value of vertigo classification based on history and brain CT result in identifying the severity of the background condition is questionable. We found that in recognizing the cases which need prompt intervention, thorough neurological examination and the clarification of the vertigo’s circumstances proved to be helpful.]

[Celiac disease - in its typical form - is a chronic immunemediated enteropathy with typical clinical symptoms that develops against gliadin content of cereal grains, and is often associated with other autoimmune diseases. In cases of atypical manifestation classic symptoms may be absent or mild, and extra-intestinal symptoms or associated syndromes dominate clinical picture. The authors present a longitudinal follow-up of such a case. A 63-years old woman was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 19, and with progressive limb ataxia at the age of 36, which was initially thought to be caused by cerebellar atrophy, later probably by stiff person syndrome. At the age 59, her diabetes mellitus manifested with type 2 diabetic phenotype, but based on GAD positivity later was reclassified as type 1 diabetes. Only the last check-up discovered the celiac disease, retrospectively explaining the entire disease course and neurological symptoms. By presenting this case, the authors would like to draw attention to the fact that one should think of the possibility of celiac disease when cerebellar ataxia, progressive neurological symptoms and diabetes are present at the same time. An early diagnosis may help to delay the progression of disease and help better treatment.]

[Efficacy and safety of natalizumab in multiple sclerosis: data from the first five years of TOP (Tysabri Observational Program) study 2014;67(05-06)]

[Hypertension and dementia are frequent disorders or rather syndromes. Their incidence is growing with advancing age and hypertension is increasing the risk of cognitive impairment too, while treating hypertension (i.e. the use of antihypertensive medications) is decreasing it. In addition, hypertension is the most important risk factor for stroke. The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) has a special role in the development of hypertension and also involved in the pathogenesis of the most frequent dementia form, namely Alzheimer’s disease. The effect of angiotensin convertase inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) is based on the inhibition of the RAS, but the ARBs do not inhibit angiotensin formation, just blocking its harmful effects on the AT1 receptor, while allowing the activation of AT2 receptors with pleiotropic effects. Preclinical, epidemiological and clinical therapeutic studies suggest this additional effect of ARBs and these are summarized in this review.]

[Background and purpose - Medication overuse headache (MOH) is a common form of disabling headache presenting in as much as 30% of the patients seen in headache subspecialty practice. Quality of life (QOL) is frequently used as a secondary endpoint in headache trials. In MOH, previous trials of QOL focused mostly on generic QOL. We report the results of a pilot study that examined the feasibility of using a new QOL questionnaire, the 23-item Comprehensive Headache-related Quality of life Questionnaire (CHQQ), as an indicator of treatment response in MOH. Patients and methods - Fifteen patients (13 women and two men; mean age: 39.7±12.5 years) suffering from MOH were enrolled in a complex treatment programme consisting of acute medication withdrawal, preventive pharmacological treatment, structured advice and lifestyle intervention. The clinical data were collected using a detailed headache diary. CHQQ was completed before and after the treatment programme. Results - MOH patients had low QOL values at baseline which was comparable to the QOL of episodic migraine patients. The treatment programme resulted in significant reductions of the number of headache days and attacks, headache severity and analgesic consumption. The dimensions and total score of CHQQ showed a significant increase after the treatment period. Seventeen of CHQQ’s 23 individual items also improved significantly. Conclusion - In this study the new headache-specific quality of life instrument CHQQ was able to demonstrate significant improvements after adequate treatment of MOH. This result indicates that the CHQQ may be an adequate tool for assessing quality of life in headache treatment trials.]