Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Jan 2015
Review Meta AnalysisPharmacological treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
A wide variety of pharmacological agents are used in the management of neuropsychiatric symptoms, which are common in Alzheimer's disease (AD), but results from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on the efficacy and safety of these agents are conflicting. ⋯ ChEIs and atypical antipsychotics could improve neuropsychiatric symptoms in AD patients, but with bad safety outcomes.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Jan 2015
ReviewOverlapping CNS inflammatory diseases: differentiating features of NMO and MS.
Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) has long been considered as a variant of multiple sclerosis (MS) rather than a distinct disease. This concept changed with the discovery of serum antibodies (Ab) against aquaporin-4 (AQP4), which unequivocally differentiate NMO from MS. Patients who test positive for AQP4-Abs and present with optic neuritis (ON) and transverse myelitis (TM) are diagnosed with NMO and those who show an incomplete phenotype with isolated ON or longitudinally extensive TM (LETM) or less commonly brain/brainstem disease are referred to as NMO spectrum disorders (NMOSD). ⋯ Here we review distinct features of AQP4-positive NMO and MS, which might then be useful in the diagnosis of antibody-negative overlap syndromes. We identify discriminators, which are related to demographic data (non-white origin, very late onset), clinical features (limited recovery from ON, bilateral ON, intractable nausea, progressive course of disability), laboratory results (cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pleocytosis with eosinophils and/or neutrophils, oligoclonal bands, glial fibrillary acidic protein in the CSF) and imaging (LETM, LETM with T1 hypointensity, periependymal brainstem lesions, perivenous white matter lesions, Dawson's fingers, curved or S-shaped U-fibre juxtacortical lesions). We review the value of these discriminators and discuss the compelling need for new diagnostic markers in these two autoimmune demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Jan 2015
Electrophysiological diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome subtype: could a single study suffice?
Serial electrophysiology has been suggested as essential for accurate diagnosis in Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). However, whether more adapted electrophysiological criteria may allow a single study to be sufficient is unknown. ⋯ A single electrophysiological study may suffice to establish the ultimate electrodiagnosis of GBS subtype if the proposed modified electrodiagnostic criteria are used.