Prolonged distal motor latency of median nerve does not improve diagnostic accuracy for CIDP

Journal of Neurology - Compression of the median nerve at the carpal tunnel can give demyelinating features and result in distal motor latency (DML) prolongation fulfilling the EFNS/PNS...     

Trajectories of adolescent poly-substance use and their long-term social and economic outcomes for males from low-income backgrounds

European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry - Substance abuse is a significant public health concern that disproportionately burdens males and low-income communities. This study examined (1)...     

Six-month humoral response to BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in people with multiple sclerosis treated with natalizumab

Neurological Sciences - Few studies investigated the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in patients with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) treated with natalizumab (NTZ) and found a short-term efficient...     

Validation of the DYALS (dysphagia in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) questionnaire for the evaluation of dysphagia in ALS patients

Neurological Sciences - Dysphagia is a common symptom during the trajectory of ALS, and it can significantly impact on the quality of life and prognosis of patients. Nowadays, no specific tool for...     

Second primary malignancies in renal cortical neoplasms: an updated evaluation from a single institution

Purpose

To examine the incidence of secondary primary malignancies in patients with renal cortical neoplasms.

Methods

Between January 1989 and July 2010, 3647 patients underwent surgery at our institution for a renal cortical neoplasm and were followed through 2012. Occurrence of other malignancies was classified as antecedent, synchronous, or subsequent. All patients with antecedent malignancies (n = 498) and a randomly selected half of those with synchronous malignancies (n = 83) were excluded. The expected number of second primaries was calculated by multiplying Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program incidence rates of renal cortical neoplasms by person-years at risk within categories of age, sex, and year of diagnosis. The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) was calculated as observed cancers divided by expected incidence of the cancer, with approximation to the exact Poisson test used to obtain confidence intervals (CI) and p values.

Results

Of 3066 patients with renal cortical neoplasms, 267 had a second primary cancer; the five most common in men were prostate, colorectal, bladder, lung, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; the five most common in women were breast, colorectal, lung, endometrium, and thyroid. Men demonstrated higher than expected thyroid cancer rate (SIR 5.0; 95 % CI 1.83–10.88, p = 0.002), and women had higher than expected rates of stomach cancer (SIR 5.0; 95 % CI 1.61–11.67, p = 0.004) and thyroid cancer (SIR 4.62; 95 % CI 1.69–10.05, p = 0.003).

Conclusions

The incidence of certain types of second malignancies may be higher in patients after diagnosis of renal cortical neoplasms compared to the general population. These observations can inform clinical follow-up in kidney cancer survivorship and future research studies.

     

Effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on spike-and-wave discharges

Aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of 5Hz-suprathreshold repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on the duration of the spike-and-wave discharges (SWDs) in a patient presenting idiopathic absence seizures. At the moment of the study the patient presented a mild blunting of consciousness due to the high frequency of absences and EEG recordings showed sub-continuous, generalized, symmetrical and synchronous 3c/s SWDs, petit mal status. Trains of 10 stimuli (120% resting motor threshold) were delivered at 5Hz frequency at the beginning of the SWDs. 5Hz-rTMS trains significantly changed the EEG activity by reducing the duration of SWDs without changing the intervals between two consecutive discharges. rTMS had not significant after-effects on the epileptic activity and patient's clinical status. Despite the limitations of a single case report, our neurophysiological findings suggest that 5Hz-suprathreshold rTMS delivered in short trains induces a transitory interference of the ongoing epileptic activity.     

Synthesis,bioconjugation and stability studies of [18F]ethenesulfonyl fluoride

Fluorine‐18 labelled prosthetic groups (PGs) are often necessary for radiolabelling sensitive biological molecules such as peptides and proteins. Several shortcomings, however, often diminish the final yield of radiotracer. In an attempt to provide higher yielding and operationally efficient tools for radiolabelling biological molecules, we describe herein the first radiochemical synthesis of [¹⁸F]ethenesulfonyl fluoride ([¹⁸F]ESF) and its Michael conjugation with amino acids and proteins. The synthesis of [¹⁸F]ESF was optimised using a microfluidic reactor under both carrier‐added (c.a.) and no‐carrier‐added (n.c.a.) conditions, affording, in a straightforward procedure, 30‐50% radiochemical yield (RCY) for c.a. [¹⁸F]ESF and 60‐70% RCY for n.c.a. [¹⁸F]ESF. The conjugation reactions were performed at room temperature using 10 mg/mL precursor in aqueous/organic solvent mixtures for 15 min. The radiochemical stability of the final conjugates was evaluated in injectable formulation and rat serum, and resulted strongly substrate dependent and generally poor in rat serum. Therefore, in this work we have optimised a straightforward synthesis of [¹⁸F]ESF and its Michael conjugation with model compounds, without requiring chromatographic purification. However, given the general low stability of the final products, further studies will be required for improving conjugate stability, before assessing the use of this PG for PET imaging.     

Management of early ankle osteoarthritis through anterior joint-preserving surgery: a retrospective evaluation at mid- to long-term follow-up

European Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery & Traumatology - Chronic anterior ankle pain is a recognized and straightforward characteristic of anterior impingement syndrome. This retrospective...     

Myoclonus in mitochondrial disorders

Myoclonus is a possible manifestation of mitochondrial disorders, and its presence is considered, in association with epilepsy and the ragged red fibers, pivotal for the syndromic diagnosis of MERRF (myoclonic epilepsy with ragged red fibers). However, its prevalence in mitochondrial diseases is not known. The aims of this study are the evaluation of the prevalence of myoclonus in a big cohort of mitochondrial patients and the clinical characterization of these subjects. Based on the database of the “Nation‐wide Italian Collaborative Network of Mitochondrial Diseases,” we reviewed the clinical and molecular data of mitochondrial patients with myoclonus among their clinical features. Myoclonus is a rather uncommon clinical feature of mitochondrial diseases (3.6% of 1,086 patients registered in our database). It is not strictly linked to a specific genotype or phenotype, and only 1 of 3 patients with MERRF harbors the 8344A>G mutation (frequently labeled as “the MERRF mutation”). Finally, myoclonus is not inextricably linked to epilepsy in MERRF patients, but more to cerebellar ataxia. In a myoclonic patient, evidences of mitochondrial dysfunction must be investigated, even though myoclonus is not a common sign of mitochondriopathy. Clinical, histological, and biochemical data may predict the finding of a mitochondrial or nuclear DNA mutation. Finally, this study reinforces the notion that myoclonus is not inextricably linked to epilepsy in MERRF patients, and therefore the term “myoclonic epilepsy” seems inadequate and potentially misleading. © 2014 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society