[Tension type headache, the most common type of primary headaches, affects approximately 80% of the population. Mainly because of its high prevalence, the socio-economic consequences of tension type headache are significant. The pain in tension type headache is usually bilateral, mild to moderate, is of a pressing or tightening quality, and is not accompanied by other symptoms. Patients with frequent or daily occurrence of tension type headache may experience significant distress because of the condition. The two main therapeutic avenues of tension type headache are acute and prophylactic treatment. Simple or combined analgesics are the mainstay of acute treatment. Prophylactic treatment is needed in case of attacks that are frequent and/or difficult to treat. The first drugs of choice as preventatives of tension type headache are tricyclic antidepressants, with a special focus on amitriptyline, the efficacy of which having been documented in multiple double-blind, placebo-controlled studies. Among other antidepressants, the efficacy of mirtazapine and venlafaxine has been documented. There is weaker evidence about the efficacy of gabapentine, topiramate, and tizanidin. Non-pharmacological prophylactic methods of tension type headache with a documented efficacy include certain types of psychotherapy and acupuncture. ]

[Stroke associated dysphagia can have serious consequences such as aspiration pneumonia. The Hungarian guideline on nutritional therapy for stroke patients recommends dysphagia assessment, as early screening can optimize disease outcome and hospital cost. Thus far, this may be the first study in Hungarian that has documented a systematic review about the available validated dysphagia assessments of acute stroke. Purpose – The aim of this study was to summarize the instrumentally validated bedside dysphagia screening tools for acute stroke patients, which were published in the last twenty years. Our objective was to describe the characteristics of the validation studies, examine their study design, and sample the sub-tests and the diagnostic accuracy of the assessments. A systematic research was carried out of the literature between 2001 and 2021 in eight scientific databases with search terms appropriate to our objectives. Subjects of the study – 652 articles were found and were reduced to eight. We made a comparative analysis of these. The GUSS test reached a high level of sensitivity compared to the others. In our study sample, the prevalence of instrumentally confirmed dysphagia among acute stroke patients was 56.1%. The focus and the composition of the analyzed studies differed and posed problems such as the ambiguity of the concept of dysphagia, the difference in outcome indicators, or the timing of screening. The GUSS test, which offers domestic management, is a suitable tool for the Hungarian clinical use.]

[The majority of patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease are treated at specialized movement disorder centers. Currently, there is no clear consensus on how to define the stages of Parkinson’s disease; the proportion of Parkinson’s patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease, the referral process, and the clinical features used to characterize advanced Parkinson’s disease are not well delineated. The primary objective of this observational study was to evaluate the proportion of Parkinson’s patients identified as advanced patients according to physician’s judgment in all participating movement disorder centers across the study. Here we evaluate the Hungarian subset of the participating patients. The study was conducted in a cross-sectional, non-interventional, multi-country, multi-center format in 18 countries. Data were collected during a single patient visit. Current Parkinson’s disease status was assessed with Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) parts II, III, IV, and V (modified Hoehn and Yahr staging). Non-motor symptoms were assessed using the PD Non-motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS); quality of life was assessed with the PD 8-item Quality-of-Life Questionnaire (PDQ-8). Parkinson’s disease was classified as advanced versus non-advanced based on physician assessment and on questions developed by the Delphi method. Overall, 2627 patients with Parkinson’s disease from 126 sites were documented. In Hungary, 100 patients with Parkinson’s disease were documented in four movement disorder centers, and, according to the physician assessment, 50% of these patients had advanced Parkinson’s disease. Their mean scores showed significantly higher impairment in those with, versus without advanced Parkinson’s disease: UPDRS II (14.1 vs. 9.2), UPDRS IV Q32 (1.1 vs. 0.0) and Q39 (1.1 vs. 0.5), UPDRS V (2.8 vs. 2.0) and PDQ-8 (29.1 vs. 18.9). Physicians in Hungarian movement disorder centers assessed that half of the Parkinson’s patients had advanced disease, with worse motor and non-motor symptom severity and worse QoL than those without advanced Parkinson’s disease. Despite being classified as eligible for invasive/device-aided treatment, that treatment had not been initiated in 25% of these patients.]

The detoxification process in medication overuse headache is the most difficult process for the patient. We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the combination of low dose IV lidocaine and magnesium (100 mg lidocaine and 1.25 mg magnesium) in patients with medication overuse headache during the detoxification process. A total of 30 patients were included in the study; 15 received 24 hours of IV hydration, 15 received 1-hour lidocaine-magnesium infusion at the onset of pain in addition to the 24 hours of IV hydration. Headache severity (numeric rating scale, NRS), attack durations, onset of headache, monthly analgesic/triptan intakes, numbers of monthly headache days data were documented. We evaluated the severity of headache before and after daily treatment of two groups for one week. When both groups were compared, there was no significant difference in the pre-treatment NRS values, whe­reas, in the group receiving IV lidocaine-magnesium combination, there was a statistically significant decrease in the post-treatment NRS values in the first five days (p <0.05). An 1-hour combined infusion of lidocaine-magnesium may be considered as an alternative option for the patient to have a more quality detoxification process during the hospital stay, so that in parallel to the reduction in the use of multiple treatments (such as neuroleptics, benzodiazepines, antiemetics and opioids) and duration length of stay, the economic costs can also be reduced. The administration of combination will bring fewer side effects compared to their administration separately.

The relationship among obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) and obesity is very complex and multi-directional. Obesity and increased visceral fat are important perpetuating factors for DM2 in patients with OSAS. On the other hand, OSAS itself leads to obesity by causing both leptin and insulin resistance as a consequence of activation of the sympathetic nervous system. Risk for developing DM2 further increases in patients with OSAS and obesity. Data regarding effects of positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy, gold standard treatment for OSAS, on glycemic control were inconsistent due to variability in duration of and adherence to PAP therapy. In our cohort study we investigated effects of PAP treatment on glucose metabolism in normal-weighted non-diabetic OSAS patients, in obese non-diabetic OSAS patients, and in OSAS patients with DM2. We prospectively analyzed 67 patients diagnosed with OSAS and documented to be effectively treated with PAP therapy for three months. Apnea-hypopnea index was highest in the diabetic group, being significantly higher than in the normal-weighted group (p=0.021). Mean HOMA values were significantly higher in obese (p=0.002) and diabetic group (p=0.001) than normal-weighted group; the differences were still significant after PAP therapy. HbA1c levels were significantly higher in diabetic group compared to those in normal-weighted (p=0.012) and obese (p=0.001) groups. After PAP treatment, decrease in HbA1c levels were significant in normal-weighted (p=0.008), obese (p=0.034), and diabetic (p=0.011) groups. There was no correlation with the change in HbA1c levels and age (p=0.212), BMI (p=0.322), AHI (p=0.098) or oxygen levels (p=0.122). Our study showed that treatment of OSAS by PAP therapy offers beneficial effect on glucose metabolism, not only in diabetic patients, but also in obese and normal-weighted OSAS patients. Although data regarding overall effects of PAP therapy on glycemic control present contradictory results in the literature, it should be emphasized that duration and adherence to PAP therapy were main determinants for beneficial outcome of treatment.