Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · May 2013
Cortical atrophy in presymptomatic Alzheimer's disease presenilin 1 mutation carriers.
Sporadic late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia has been associated with a 'signature' of cortical atrophy in paralimbic and heteromodal association regions measured with MRI. ⋯ Results demonstrate that cognitively normal individuals genetically determined to develop AD have a thinner cerebral cortex than non-carriers in regions known to be affected by typical late-onset sporadic AD. These findings provide further support for the hypothesis that cortical atrophy is present in preclinical AD more than 5 years prior to symptom onset. Further research is needed to determine whether this method could be used to characterise the age-dependent trajectory of cortical atrophy in presymptomatic stages of AD.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · May 2013
The NINDS-Canadian stroke network vascular cognitive impairment neuropsychology protocols in Chinese.
Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) affects up to half of stroke survivors and predicts poor outcomes. Valid and reliable assessement for VCI is lacking, especially for the Chinese population. In 2005, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and Canadian Stroke Network (NINDS-CSN) Harmonisation workshop proposed a set of three neuropsychology protocols for VCI evaluation. This paper is to introduce the protocol design and to report the psychometric properties of the Chinese NINDS-CSN VCI protocols. ⋯ The Chinese NINDS-CSN VCI protocols are valid and reliable for cognitive assessment in Chinese patients with mild stroke.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · May 2013
Clinical risk predictors for cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome after carotid endarterectomy.
Cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome (CHS) is an important complication of carotid endarterectomy (CEA), yet prior research has been limited to small cohorts and retrospective analyses, or studies using radiographic rather than clinical definitions. ⋯ Independent, prospective monitoring of a large cohort of CEA cases identified a brief time interval between ischaemic symptoms and endarterectomy as the clearest risk factor for CHS.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · May 2013
Efficacy of mitoxantrone in neuromyelitis optica spectrum: clinical and neuroradiological study.
To evaluate the efficacy of mitoxantrone (MTX) on clinical and neuroradiological parameters of patients who had a relapse of neuromyelitis optica spectrum (NMOS) within the 12 previous months. ⋯ In this observational NMO study, MTX decreased dramatically the frequency of relapses, which is directly related to progression of disability or even death in this disorder.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · May 2013
Is language impairment more common than executive dysfunction in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?
Systematic explorations of language abilities in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are lacking in the context of wider cognitive change. ⋯ Language impairments are at least as prevalent as executive dysfunction in ALS. While the two domains are strongly associated, executive dysfunction does not fully account for the profile of language impairments observed, further highlighting the heterogeneity of cognitive impairment in non-demented patients with ALS.