Interhemispheric and ipsilateral connections in Parkinson's disease: relation to mirror movements.

Mirror movements (MM) occur in early, asymmetric Parkinson's disease (PD). To examine the pathophysiology of MM in PD, we studied 13 PD patients with MM (PD-MM), 7 PD patients without MM (PD-NM), and 14 normal subjects. Cross-correlogram did not detect common synaptic input to motoneuron pools innervating homologous hand muscles in PD-MM patients. Transcranial magnetic stimulation studies showed no significant difference in ipsilateral motor-evoked potentials between PD-MM patients and normal subjects. The MM side of PD-MM patients showed a slower increase in ipsilateral silent period area with higher level of muscle contraction than the non-MM side and normal subjects. There was less interhemispheric inhibition (IHI) at long interstimulus intervals of 20 to 50 ms in PD-MM than PD-NM. IHI reduced short interval intracortical inhibition in normal subjects and PD-NM, but not in PD-MM. IHI significantly increased intracortical facilitation in PD-MM and PD-NM patients, but not in normal subjects. Our results suggest that MM in PD is due to activation of the contralateral motor cortex. PD-MM patients had reduced transcallosal inhibitory effects on cortical output neurons and on intracortical inhibitory circuits compared to PD-NM patients and controls. These deficits in transcallosal inhibition may contribute to MM in PD patients.     

Movement Disorder Society-sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS): Process, format, and clinimetric testing plan.

This article presents the revision process, major innovations, and clinimetric testing program for the Movement Disorder Society (MDS)-sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), known as the MDS-UPDRS. The UPDRS is the most widely used scale for the clinical study of Parkinson's disease (PD). The MDS previously organized a critique of the UPDRS, which cited many strengths, but recommended revision of the scale to accommodate new advances and to resolve problematic areas. An MDS-UPDRS committee prepared the revision using the recommendations of the published critique of the scale. Subcommittees developed new material that was reviewed by the entire committee. A 1-day face-to-face committee meeting was organized to resolve areas of debate and to arrive at a working draft ready for clinimetric testing. The MDS-UPDRS retains the UPDRS structure of four parts with a total summed score, but the parts have been modified to provide a section that integrates nonmotor elements of PD: I, Nonmotor Experiences of Daily Living; II, Motor Experiences of Daily Living; III, Motor Examination; and IV, Motor Complications. All items have five response options with uniform anchors of 0 = normal, 1 = slight, 2 = mild, 3 = moderate, and 4 = severe. Several questions in Part I and all of Part II are written as a patient/caregiver questionnaire, so that the total rater time should remain approximately 30 minutes. Detailed instructions for testing and data acquisition accompany the MDS-UPDRS in order to increase uniform usage. Multiple language editions are planned. A three-part clinimetric program will provide testing of reliability, validity, and responsiveness to interventions. Although the MDS-UPDRS will not be published until it has successfully passed clinimetric testing, explanation of the process, key changes, and clinimetric programs allow clinicians and researchers to understand and participate in the revision process.     

Autopsy-proven Huntington's disease with 29 trinucleotide repeats.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with expansion of CAG trinucleotide repeats in the huntingtin gene. A minimum of 36 CAG repeats is usually reported in patients with clinical features of HD; 30 to 35 repeats represent an intermediate range. Here we report a 65-year-old male with autopsy-proven HD and 29 CAG repeats.     

Construction and validation of a Parkinson's disease mutation genotyping array for the Parkin gene.

Parkin mutations account for the majority of familial and sporadic early onset Parkinson's disease (EOPD) cases with a known genetic association. More than 100 mutations have been described in the Parkin gene that includes homozygous, compound heterozygous, and single heterozygous mutations. We have designed a Parkin mutation genotyping array (gene chip) that includes published Parkin sequence variants and allows their simultaneous detection. The chip was validated by screening 85 PD cases and 47 controls previously tested for Parkin mutations. Similar genotyping microarrays have been developed for other genetically heterogeneous diseases including age-related macular degeneration. Here, we show the utility of a genotyping array for Parkinson's disease by analysis of 60 subjects from the Genetic Epidemiology of Parkinson Disease (GEPD) study that includes 15 early-onset PD case probands and 45 relatives.     

Fatal encephalitis in a patient with refractory celiac disease presenting with myorhythmia and carpal spasm.

We report the case of a woman with refractory celiac disease who developed abnormal spontaneous movements of the extremities and face consistent with myorhythmia. Investigation led to a diagnosis of encephalitis, confirmed by postmortem examination. The movements were likely caused by nonparaneoplastic encephalitis associated with refractory celiac disease. Etiologic and diagnostic considerations and treatment options are discussed.     

冠心病患者颈动脉超声检测的临床意义

目的通过分析颈动脉粥样硬化与冠心病的关系探讨颈动脉超声对诊断冠心病的临床意义。方法将120例入选对象分为对照组,稳定性心绞痛(SA)组,不稳定性心绞痛(UA)组,急性心肌梗死(AMI)组,每组30例,分别给予超声检测颈动脉内-中膜厚度(IMT),同时测定3组冠脉造影结果:正常组21例,单支病变组18例,多支病变组29例。结果冠心病患者IMT较正常对照组有显著增厚(P<0.01),且冠脉造影正常组与单支、多支病变组间亦存在显著性差异(P<0.05)。结论颈动脉超声检测对冠心病的预测具有确切的临床意义。     

History of haemophilia

Summary.  Haemophilia, an ancient disease, now has sophisticated methods for diagnosis and treatment. The genetically missing factors can now be supplied by fractionation of human-derived (HD) plasma or with recombinant technology (r). Making therapeutic choices is complicated by past transfusion-transmitted diseases. HD and r products now have similar safety profiles. Several diseases have only HD products for treatment. These products remain important in our treatment armamentarium.     

Levetiracetam monotherapy in Alzheimer patients with late-onset seizures: a prospective observational study

Levetiracetam (LEV) monotherapy was investigated in 25 patients with advanced Alzheimer's disease (AD) and new-onset epileptic seizures in a prospective open-label study. At a daily dose of 1000–1500 mg, 72% were seizure-free for at least one year; 16% discontinued for untolerability; 8% were unresponsive; 4% were lost to follow-up. These results suggest the need for controlled studies to confirm if LEV can be a first-choice drug in AD.     

99mTc-Annexin V检测早期凋亡多巴胺能神经元的实验研究

目的 研究放射性核素标记的膜联蛋白V(Annexin V)与凋亡的多巴胺能神经元的结合特性,探讨使用凋亡显像剂99mTc-Annexin V早期活体显像诊断帕金森病的可行性.方法 采用不同浓度的1-甲基-4-苯基吡啶离子(1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium, MPP+)处理大鼠肾上腺嗜铬细胞瘤细胞(PC12)和人神经母细胞瘤细胞(SH-SY5Y)以诱导其凋亡(PC12 0～200 μm/L, SH-SY5Y 0～500 μm/L),FITC -Annexin V及碘化吡啶(propidiumiodide, PI)双染进行流式细胞仪凋亡检测.以99mTc-Annexin V与凋亡的细胞进行饱和结合实验及细胞摄取实验,研究凋亡细胞与Annexin V的亲和力及其摄取99mTc-Annexin V的动力学.结果 MPP+可诱导PC12细胞及SH-SY5Y细胞发生凋亡,并有明显的量效关系.凋亡细胞可特异性与99mTc-Annexin V结合,亲和力可达(7.16±1.78)nmol/L,每个凋亡的多巴胺能神经元表面的结合位点可达到(179±33)fmol/106cells (PC12)及(220±26)fmol/106cells (SH-SY5Y),且神经元的凋亡水平与其膜结合的99mTc-Annexin V放射性强度有相关性(P＜0.001).结论 凋亡的多巴胺能神经元与99mTc-Annexin V有高度亲和力,其所结合的99mTc-Annexin V放射性强度与细胞的凋亡水平相关,99mTc-Annexin V可用于检测多巴胺能神经元的早期凋亡.     

Impaired cardiovascular autonomic function in Parkinson's disease with visual hallucinations.

We assessed the relations of visual hallucinations (VH) to cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The subjects were 37 patients without VH (VH(-)) and 31 with VH (VH(+)). Autonomic function was evaluated on the basis of cardiac 123-radioiodinated metaiodobenzylguanidine (123I-MIBG) uptake and hemodynamic testing with Valsalva maneuver. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and plasma norepinephrine concentrations (NE) were measured by tilt-table testing. 123I-MIBG uptake was lower in VH(+) than VH(-). Hemodynamic studies showed that VH(-) had only cardiac sympathetic and parasympathetic dysfunction, while VH(+) additionally had reduced vasomotor sympathetic functions. The fall in SBP during tilt-table testing was greater in VH(+) than VH(-). NE and its difference in the supine and upright positions were decreased in VH(+). We conclude that cardiac and vasomotor sympathetic dysfunction is more severe in VH(+) than in VH(-). Severe dysfunction in PD with VH is probably attributed to Lewy-body lesions or neuronal loss in sympathetic ganglia, the central autonomic system, or both.