Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Mar 2005
Case Reports4-aminopyridine restores visual ocular motor function in upbeat nystagmus.
The effect of the potassium channel blocker 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) on spontaneous upbeat nystagmus (UBN) was investigated with the search coil technique during fixation in different gaze positions and smooth pursuit in a patient before and after ingestion of 10 mg 4-AP. UBN was reduced from 8.6 deg/s to 2.0 deg/s by 4-AP causing subjective relief from distressing oscillopsia, and impaired upward smooth pursuit was restored (gains: before medication 0.38; after medication 0.86). In the dark, UBN was slightly stronger and not affected by 4-AP. We propose that 4-AP improved the function of cerebellar pathways that mediate gaze holding and smooth pursuit by intensifying the excitability of cerebellar Purkinje cells.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Mar 2005
Historical ArticleHistorical note. Neuralgic amyotrophy.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Feb 2005
Axonal damage accumulates in the progressive phase of multiple sclerosis: three year follow up study.
Neurofilament phosphoforms (Nf) are principal components of the axoskeleton released during axonal injury. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of Nf phosphoforms might be useful surrogate markers for disability in multiple sclerosis (MS), aid in distinguishing clinical subtypes, and provide valuable prognostic information. ⋯ The increase in NfH during the progressive phase of the disease together with the correlation of NfH(SMI35) with all clinical scales at follow up suggests that cumulative axonal loss is responsible for sustained disability and that high NfH(SMI35) levels are a poor prognostic sign.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Feb 2005
Clinical TrialApomorphine in idiopathic restless legs syndrome: an exploratory study.
Dopaminergic and opioidergic drugs have been found to be effective in patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS). ⋯ Apomorphine may be an effective treatment for idiopathic RLS. Its effectiveness may reflect both to its dopaminergic and its opioidergic activity, and is not diminished significantly by blocking only one of these pathways. The trend to a worsening of the PLMW index with metoclopramide hints at a primarily dopaminergic effect of apomorphine in idiopathic RLS.