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This Month in Archives of Neurology
Arch Neurol. 2008;65(10):1278-1280.
Visuospatial Attention in Children
Smith and Chatterjee (SEE ARTICLE) describe how visuospatial attention develops, is deployed, and can be damaged in children. Advances in cognitive neuroscience in recent years have provided insights into understanding orienting, lateralized attention, and global vs local processing. These important developmental findings are reviewed in relation to evaluations of children presenting to a pediatric neurologist.
Periventricular Leukomalacia
Deng and colleagues (SEE ARTICLE) describe our present understanding of periventricular leukomalacia, the predominant form of brain injury and leading known cause of cerebral palsy and cognitive deficits in premature infants.
Friedreich Ataxia
Pandolfo (SEE ARTICLE) reviews our current knowledge of the disease and how it is contributing to the development of therapeutic approaches.
Assessment of β-Amyloid in Frontal Cortical Brain Biopsy and by Positron Emission Tomography With Carbon 11–Labeled Pittsburgh Compound B
Leinonen and colleagues (SEE ARTICLE) compare carbon 11–labeled Pittsburgh Compound B ([11C]PiB) positron emission tomography (PET) findings in patients with or without β-amyloid (Aβ) in a frontal cortical biopsy. Their findings support the use of the noninvasive (11C)PiB PET in the assessment of Aβ deposition in the brain. Editorial perspective is provided by William E. Klunk, MD, PhD.
Sodium Oxybate for Daytime Sleepiness in Parkinson Disease
Ondo and colleagues (SEE ARTICLE) find that nocturnally administered sodium oxybate improved excessive daytime sleepiness and fatigue in patients with Parkinson disease.
Restarting Anticoagulation After Warfarin-Associated Intracerebral Hemorrhage
Claassen and colleagues (SEE ARTICLE) report that restarting treatment with warfarin in patients with a recent warfarin-associated intracerebral hemorrhage is associated with a low risk of recurrence. Withholding warfarin is associated with a risk of thromboembolism.
Predictors of Outcome in Warfarin-Related Intracerebral Hemorrhage
Zubkov et al (SEE ARTICLE) report that a lower level of consciousness at presentation and larger initial intracerebral hemorrhage volume predict poor prognosis in patients with warfarin-associated intracerebral hemorrhage.
High-Throughput Microarray-Based Studies for Neurological Disorders
Takahashi et al (SEE ARTICLE) have developed the methodologies for a microarray-based high-throughput resequencing system for the causative and disease-related genes of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases. They show how this approach can be used to detect mutations in familial and sporadic cases of ALS and identify numerous novel variants associated with genetic risk. They show how this system of analysis serves as a milestone for translating the technological innovation of high-throughput resequencing directly into clinical practice.
Angiogenin Gene With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Paubel and colleagues (SEE ARTICLE) report finding mutations in the angiogenin gene (ANG) in French patients with sporadic amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Their findings support the view of ANG gene mutations as a rare but widespread cause of ALS.
Potassium Channel Autoimmunity Mimicking Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
Geschwind and colleagues (SEE ARTICLE) describe a series of patients with clinical, radiologic, electrophysiologic, and laboratory findings of voltage-gated potassium channel (VGKC) autoantibody–associated encephalopathy that can be mistaken for those of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). Thus, they point out that evaluating for VGKC autoantibodies may be warranted in patients with suspected CJD.
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Brain magnetic resonance images of a patient with immunotherapy-responsive voltage-gated potassium channel (VGKC) autoimmunity and renal oncocytoma illustrate increased signal in the left anterior cingulate gyrus and insular cortex on diffusion-weighted imaging (A, arrows) and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery sequences (B and C, arrows). Indirect immunofluorescence testing of the patient's serum revealed IgG binding to VGKC-rich synapses in mouse cerebellar cortex (D). ML indicates molecular layer; GL, granular layer; PC, Purkinje cells (unstained).
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Vitamin D Deficiency in Parkinson and Alzheimer Disease
This is a report of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) in a Parkinson disease (PD) cohort with significantly higher prevalence of hypovitaminosis compared with healthy control subjects and patients with Alzheimer disease. These data of Evatt et al (SEE ARTICLE) support a possible role of vitamin D insufficiency in Parkinson disease.
Parkinson Disease Associated With Glucocerebrosidase Mutations
Goker-Alpan and colleagues (SEE ARTICLE) show that mutations in the glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA) are associated with a spectrum of parkinsonian phenotypes ranging from Parkinson disease to a less common phenotype of Lewy body dementia.
B-Cell Activating Factor and Myasthenia Gravis
Ragheb et al (SEE ARTICLE) report that levels of B-cell activating factor (BAFF) of the tumor necrosis factor superfamily are increased in patients with autoimmune myasthenia gravis. Their data suggest that BAFF is likely to play a role in the pathogenesis of myasthenia gravis by promoting the survival and maturation of autoreactive B cells.
Alcohol and Brain Volume
Paul et al (SEE ARTICLE) find that, in contrast to studies on cardiovascular disease, moderate alcohol consumption was not protective against age-related differences in total brain volume. Rather, the more alcohol consumed, the smaller the total brain volume.
Association of GSK3B With Alzheimer Disease and Frontotemporal Disease
Schaffer et al (SEE ARTICLE) provide data that GSK3B, a known tau kinase, is associated with risk for primary neurodegenerative dementias.
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