Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2012
Cognitive and mood effects of phenobarbital treatment in people with epilepsy in rural China: a prospective study.
Phenobarbital is an effective treatment for epilepsy but concerns remain over its potential neurocognitive toxicity. This prospective study evaluated the effects of phenobarbital treatment on cognition and mood in people with epilepsy in rural China. ⋯ In this study, phenobarbital was not found to have a major negative impact on cognitive function of people with convulsive seizures and some cognitive gains were observed, possibly due to improved seizure control.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2012
Assessment of cerebral small vessel disease predicts individual stroke risk.
Despite several known risk factors it is still difficult to foresee who will develop a stroke and who will not. Vascular brain damage, visualised with MRI, reflects how the brain tolerates the effects of vascular risk factors and may therefore be relevant in predicting individual stroke risk. ⋯ Assessment of small vessel disease with MRI beyond the classic stroke risk factors improved the prediction of subsequent stroke, especially in women with an intermediate stroke risk. These findings support the use of MRI as a possible tool for better identifying people at high risk of stroke.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2012
A sensitive scale to assess nociceptive pain in patients with disorders of consciousness.
To determine the sensitivity of the Nociception Coma Scale (NCS), the first scale developed to assess nociceptive pain in vegetative state and minimally conscious state patients, in comparing behavioural changes in response to noxious versus non-noxious stimulation. ⋯ We propose a new version of the NCS excluding the visual subscale, the NCS-R, which constitutes a highly sensitive tool to assess responses to nociceptive pain in severely brain injured patients.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2012
Comprehensive analysis of the TRPV4 gene in a large series of inherited neuropathies and controls.
TRPV4 mutations have been identified in Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 2 (CMT2), scapuloperoneal spinal muscular atrophy and distal hereditary motor neuropathy (dHMN). ⋯ In this comprehensive analysis of the TRPV4 gene, we identified mutations in <1% of patients with CMT2/dHMN. We found that TRPV4 likely harbours many missense and nonsense non-pathogenic variants that should be analysed in detail to prove pathogenicity before results are given to patients.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2012
Episodic memory and the medial temporal lobe: not all it seems. Evidence from the temporal variants of frontotemporal dementia.
Disproportionate medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) is an early finding in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Episodic memory impairment in AD is associated with the degree of MTA. Episodic memory impairment and MTA are also found in semantic dementia (SD) and in right temporal lobe atrophy (RTLA), the temporal variants of frontotemporal dementia, but their relationship is unclear. ⋯ Since episodic memory impairment is more severe in AD than in SD and RTLA, despite a comparable degree of MTA, atrophy of the medial temporal lobe alone cannot account for episodic memory dysfunction.