Common Neurological Disorders Involving Inpatient Liaisons at a Secondary Referral Hospital in Taiwan: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study

MethodsThis was a retrospective cross-sectional study of NILs in a secondary referral hospital over a 12-month period.ResultsThere were 853 neurological consultations with a liaison rate of 3% per admission case. Chest medicine, gastroenterology, and infectious disease were the three most frequent specialties requesting liaison, and altered consciousness, seizure, and stroke were the three most frequent disorders for which a NIL was requested. Infection was the most common cause of altered consciousness. Epilepsy, infection, and previous stroke were common causes of seizure disorders. Acute stroke accounted for 44% of all stroke disorders. Electroencephalography was the most recommended study, and was also the most frequently performed. Ninety-five percent of emergency consultations were completed within 2 hours, and 85% of regular consultations were completed within 24 hours. The consult-to-visit times for emergency and regular consultations were 44±47 minutes (mean±standard deviation) and 730±768 minutes, respectively, and were shorter for regular consultations at intensive care units (p=0.0151) and for seizure and stroke disorders (p=0.0032).ConclusionsAltered consciousness, seizure, and stroke were the most common reasons for NILs. Half of the patients had acute neurological diseases warranting immediate diagnosis and treatment by the consulting neurologists. Balancing increasing neurologist workloads and appropriate health-care resources remains a challenge.     

Characteristics of etiological diagnostic workup across the past 10 years in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage in a large general hospital

Objective: A swift and accurate diagnosis of etiology would lay the foundation of targeted management for patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (SICH). It is unclear what the status of diagnostic workup related to etiology is in Chinese hospitals which treat the majority of the hemorrhagic patients in the world. We aim to demonstrate characteristics on diagnostic workup implemented routinely in both departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery in patients with SICH.

Methods: We enrolled patients with SICH from March 2002 to December 2011 from Chengdu stroke registry. Data on diagnostic workup were extracted.

Results: A total of 2264 patients diagnosed as SICH with rapid neuroimaging (computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)) scan were included. Patients in the department of Neurosurgery had a lower median Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score and a longer median length of stay. They had a significantly lower proportion of hyperlipidemia and heart disease, but a higher proportion of hypertension, alcohol consumption and history of stroke (all p?<?0.05). Following diagnostic workups were more frequently undertaken in the Neurological Department than in the neurosurgical Department: digital subtraction angiography (DSA), plain CT, plain MRI, carotid duplex ultrasound (all p?<?0.001). However, computed tomography angiography (CTA), contrast-enhanced MRI, and brain biopsy (all p?<?0.001) were implemented more in the Neurosurgical Department. While no difference in the proportion of magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) was found between the two departments, the intracranial vascular imaging (workup contains at least one of CTA, MRA and DSA) was performed more frequently in the Department of Neurosurgery (29.8% vs. 9.1%, p?<?0.001). The independent predictors contribute to the implementation of vascular examinations were gender, age, GCS score on admission, department of patients admitted in and the year patients were hospitalized in (all p?<?0.05).

Conclusions: Younger patients, females, with severe stroke onset (evaluated by GCS score), admitted in Department of Neurosurgery and hospitalized in recent years had undertaken more examinations on intracranial vascular. It is an urgency to explore a practical scheme of diagnostic workup for the etiology of SICH.     

Persistent anosmia and olfactory bulb atrophy after mulga (Pseudechis australis) snakebite

Loss of sense of smell is an intriguing yet under-recognised complication of snakebite. We report olfactory function testing and neuroimaging of the olfactory bulbs in a 30-year-old man with anosmia persisting for more than 1 year after mulga (Pseudechis australis) snakebite. This problem was first noted by the patient 1 week after being definitely bitten in Queensland, Australia. He had then presented to a regional hospital where his envenomation was considered mild enough to not warrant antivenom administration. A week later the patient noted a reduction of sense of smell, which progressed to complete inability to smell over the ensuing weeks. On clinical review the patient’s neurologic and rhinologic examination did not reveal any structural cause for anosmia. Formal olfactory testing was performed using ‘‘sniffin’ sticks” and the patient scored 17 on this test, indicating severe hyposmia (functional anosmia <16.5, normal score >30.3 for men aged 16–35 years). MRI of the brain showed no abnormalities. The olfactory bulb volumes were then measured on a volumetric T2-weighted MRI that demonstrated significantly reduced volume of both bulbs, with the right 34.86 mm³ and left 36.25 mm³ (normal volume ⩾58 mm³, 10th centile). The current patient represents a rare instance of a definite, untreated, elapid (mulga snake) envenomation with an intriguing disjunction between the mildness of the systemic features and the severity of the olfactory lesion. It is also unclear if early antivenom use attenuates this condition, and due to the delayed manifestation of the symptoms, awareness of this phenomenon may be lacking amongst physicians.     

Prenatal exome sequencing: A useful tool for the fetal neurologist

Prenatal exome sequencing (pES) is a promising tool for diagnosing genetic disorders when structural anomalies are detected on prenatal ultrasound. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic yield and clinical impact of pES as an additional modality for fetal neurologists who counsel parents in case of congenital anomalies of the central nervous system (CNS). We assessed 20 pregnancies of 19 couples who were consecutively referred to the fetal neurologist for CNS anomalies. pES had a diagnostic yield of 53% (10/19) with most diagnosed pregnancies having agenesis or hypoplasia of the corpus callosum (7/10). Overall clinical impact was 63% (12/19), of which the pES result aided parental decision making in 55% of cases (6/11), guided perinatal management in 75% of cases (3/4), and was helpful in approving a late termination of pregnancy request in 75% of cases (3/4). Our data suggest that pES had a high diagnostic yield when CNS anomalies are present, although this study is limited by its small sample size. Moreover, pES had substantial clinical impact, which warrants implementation of pES in the routine care of the fetal neurologist in close collaboration with gynecologists and clinical geneticists.     

神经内科门诊抑郁障碍患者的识别情况及其影响因素

目的 探讨神经内科门诊抑郁障碍患者的识别情况及其影响因素.方法 采用中文版流调用的抑郁自评量表对神经内科门诊的全部初诊患者(654例)进行筛查,得分＞16分者在其神经内科就诊完毕后征得患者的同意由精神科医师参照ICD-10进行诊断,对符合ICD-10抑郁障碍的78例患者进行汉密尔顿抑郁量表(HAMD)评分,及填写自制的一般情况调查问卷,并对识别抑郁的影响因素行单因素及Logistic多因素回归分析.结果 (1)神经内科医师对78例抑郁障碍患者中识别14例(17.95%),识别为功能性疾病31例(39.74%).(2)与未识别组相比,被识别组中躯体归因模式者多,家庭关系较差,病程较短.(3)被识别组主诉心理症状的比例(35.71%,5/14)高于末识别组(9.38%,6/64),而主诉躯体症状(包括头晕、头痛、乏力、失眠、纳差等)的比例(64.29%,9/14)低于未识别组(90.62%,58/64),差异有统计学意义(均P＜0.01).(4)伴有躯体疾病的抑郁障碍患者有89.18%(33/37)被漏诊;被识别组中伴有躯体疾病的比例(28.57%,4/14)明显低于未识别组(51.56%,33/64),差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05).(5)HAMD各因子分及总分比较,被识别组认知障碍、阻滞方面均重于未识别组(均P＜0.001).(6)Logistic回归分析显示,精神运动性迟滞、抑郁程度重,有利于被识别.结论 神经内科门诊抑郁障碍患者的识别率低.伴有躯体疾病的抑郁障碍多被漏诊;主诉为心理症状的抑郁及严重抑郁易于被神经内科医师识别.     

Neurological disorders in a rural Western Australian population

Background: There is limited information on the causes of neurological disorders in an Australian rural setting. Methods: This study reports on a prospective cohort of 160 patients (95 women and 65 men) with a mean age of 55.1 years (standard deviation 19.78 years, range 12–92 years) receiving a neurological work‐up from one neurologist attending the Geraldton and Midwest region of Western Australia over a 12‐month period. Results: Patients were divided into 15 diagnostic classifications. Movement disorders were the most common diagnostic classification (38 of 160 or 23.75%) and Parkinson's disease was the most common movement disorder (30 of 38 or 78.95%) with an estimated period of prevalence of 187.5 persons per 1000. Of the other neurological disorder diagnosis classifications the following number of patients per group was observed: epilepsy (27 or 16.87%); neuromuscular disorders (22 or 13.75%); multiple sclerosis (12 or 7.5%); cerebrovascular disease (10 or 6.25%); headaches (7 or 4.37%); neurodegenerative (7 or 4.37%); dementias (6 or 3.75%); memory dysfunction (6 or 3.75%); gait disorders (4 or 2.5%); vestibular syndrome (3 or 1.87%); pain syndrome (3 or 1.87%); sensory syndrome (2 or 1.25%); brain injury (1 or 0.62%) and miscellaneous (12 or 7.5%). A high number of persons having Parkinson's disease was found. Conclusion: Possible risk factors for Parkinson's disease for individuals living in Geraldton and Midwest region need to be investigated. This study raises issues pertaining to the provision of services and allocation of resources in rural areas, especially for patients with Parkinson's disease.     

多媒体网络在神经病学教学中的应用

教学媒体由传统的教学媒体向现代教学媒体发展,巧妙组合和利用多种教学媒体,可以达到提高教学效果的目的。神经病学由于内容多、解剖复杂、抽象并且理论性强,因此合理安排和设计教学,优化应用多媒体,把抽象的理论形象直观的展现给学生,对于帮助学生加深对课程的理解,提高教学效果有重要意义。     

我院2008年度神经科用药评价与分析

目的了解我院神经科药物使用情况,为临床安全、有效、经济用药提供依据。方法提取我院2008年神经科住院患者医嘱,对药物种类、用量、金额及DDDs等进行归类统计、比较和分析。结果我院神经科2008年住院病人注射剂用药总金额为￥459万元．片剂用药总金额￥8.4万元。结论用药现状比较符合神经科用药特点,但存在着不合理用药情况。     

Tolperisone: a typical representative of a class of centrally acting muscle relaxants with less sedative side effects

Tolperisone, a piperidine derivative, is assigned to the group of centrally acting muscle relaxants and has been in clinical use now for decades. The review summarizes the known pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, toxicology and side effects in humans and the clinical use of tolperisone. A future perspective for further exploration of this drug is given.     

Sex is a defining feature of neuroimaging phenotypes in major brain disorders

Sex is a biological variable that contributes to individual variability in brain structure and behavior. Neuroimaging studies of population-based samples have identified normative differences in brain structure between males and females, many of which are exacerbated in psychiatric and neurological conditions. Still, sex differences in MRI outcomes are understudied, particularly in clinical samples with known sex differences in disease risk, prevalence, and expression of clinical symptoms. Here we review the existing literature on sex differences in adult brain structure in normative samples and in 14 distinct psychiatric and neurological disorders. We discuss commonalities and sources of variance in study designs, analysis procedures, disease subtype effects, and the impact of these factors on MRI interpretation. Lastly, we identify key problems in the neuroimaging literature on sex differences and offer potential recommendations to address current barriers and optimize rigor and reproducibility. In particular, we emphasize the importance of large-scale neuroimaging initiatives such as the Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analyses consortium, the UK Biobank, Human Connectome Project, and others to provide unprecedented power to evaluate sex-specific phenotypes in major brain diseases.