Acta neurologica Belgica
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Acta neurologica Belgica · Jun 2021
ReviewDopa-responsive dystonia, DRD-plus and DRD look-alike: a pragmatic review.
Dopa-responsive dystonia (DRD) and DRD plus are diseases of the dopamine pathway with sizeable genetic diversity and myriad presentations. DRD has onset in childhood or adolescence with focal dystonia, commonly affecting lower limb, diurnal fluctuations with evening worsening of symptoms and a demonstrable sleep benefit. DRD "plus" has "atypical features" which include infantile onset, psychomotor delay, cognitive abnormalities, oculogyric crisis, seizures, irritability, spasticity, hypotonia, ptosis, hyperthermia and cerebellar dysfunction. ⋯ Although levodopa is the mainstay of therapy, response to this drug can be unsatisfactory in DRD plus and DRD look-alike and other drugs are tried. Simultaneous management of HPA leads to remarkable improvement in both motor and cognitive functions. The aim of this review is to help neurology practitioners in treating patients with DRD, DRD-plus and DRD look-alike as many of them have excellent outcome with appropriate therapy.
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Acta neurologica Belgica · Apr 2021
ReviewSARS-CoV-2: its potential neurological manifestations and plausible mechanism: a review article.
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first identified in late December 2019. The disease began in Wuhan, Hubei province in China and since then it has spread quickly to many countries all over the world. COVID-19 is caused by a novel coronavirus, named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). ⋯ Patients, particularly those who suffer from a severe illness, have a central nervous system (CNS) involvement and neurological manifestations. There is precise and targeted documentation of neurological symptoms with details of clinical, neurological, and electrophysiological findings. This review article thus gives an insight into the neuro-invasive potential of COVID-19 and discusses the possible pathogenesis.
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Since December 2019, the world is affected by an outbreak of a new disease named COVID-19, which is an acronym of 'coronavirus disease 2019'. Coronaviruses (CoV) were assumed to be associated with mild upper respiratory tract infections, such as common cold. ⋯ In this review, we will give a summary of the neurological manifestations due to SARS and MERS, as those might predict the neurological outcome in the novel COVID-19. Additionally, we provide an overview of the current knowledge concerning neurological manifestations associated with COVID-19, to the extent that literature is already available as the pandemic is still ongoing.
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Acta neurologica Belgica · Oct 2020
ReviewFacing acute neuromuscular diseases during COVID-19 pandemic: focus on Guillain-Barré syndrome.
In December 2019, a cluster of cases with 2019 Novel Coronavirus pneumonia from Wuhan, China, aroused worldwide concern due to an escalating outbreak in all the countries in the world. Coronavirus belongs to a family of single-stranded RNA viruses, which includes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV), that have caused human epidemics with high fatality. The spectrum of the novel coronavirus disease (SARS-Co-2 or COVID-19) ranges from asymptomatic infections to fatal pneumonia, and differs from other viral pulmonary infections. ⋯ Extensive reports from China documented central and peripheral nervous system involvement in patients with COVID-19, and identified in angiotensin converting enzyme2 (ACE2), which is present in multiple human organs, the functional receptor for this virus. Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) has recently been associated to COVID-19 rising concern among physicians. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge on GBS during or after COVID-19 infection, attempting to clarify the pathophysiology of the associated respiratory dysfunction and failure.
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COVID-19 is predominantly a respiratory disease. However, some cases exhibit other features including Central Nervous System symptoms. In the older adult, COVID-19 may present with atypical symptoms, including delirium and its complications. ⋯ An acute change in condition, behaviour, or mental status should prompt a delirium screen. As regards the treatment, it is advisable to use non-pharmacological interventions first where possible. Medication may be needed for patients with agitation where there is intractable distress or high risk to self/others.