Arch Neurol Chicago
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Arch Neurol Chicago · Jul 2005
Evaluation of serum S100B as a surrogate marker for long-term outcome and infarct volume in acute middle cerebral artery infarction.
An easily accessible and valid surrogate marker for interventional stroke trials is needed. ⋯ Single S100B values obtained 48 and 72 hours after stroke onset provide the highest predictive values with respect to functional outcome and infarct volume in nonlacunar middle cerebral artery infarction. More complex measures of the S100B kinetic (ie, area under the curve or peak value) were not superior. Therefore, these single S100B measures appear to be useful surrogate end points in acute interventional stroke trials.
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Arch Neurol Chicago · Jun 2005
Comparative StudyAxonal injury and overall tissue loss are not related in primary progressive multiple sclerosis.
There is an increasing body of evidence that magnetic resonance imaging-occult tissue damage is an important component of primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) pathology. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) can be used to measure in vivo whole-brain N-acetylaspartate (WBNAA) concentrations, the decrease of whose levels is considered a marker of neuronal-axonal injury. ⋯ Axonal-neuronal damage in the brain of patients with PPMS seems to occur, at least partially, independently of the burden of magnetic resonance imaging-visible lesions. Whole-brain N-acetylaspartate values and normalized brain volumes were unrelated in this cohort, thereby suggesting that 1H-MRS and atrophy assessment may provide in vivo complementary information about the actual extent of brain damage in PPMS.
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Arch Neurol Chicago · Jun 2005
Case ReportsAnti-MuSK myasthenia gravis presenting with purely ocular findings.
Antibodies to a muscle-specific receptor tyrosine kinase (MuSK) have been found in approximately 40% of patients with generalized myasthenia gravis who are seronegative for the antiacetylcholine receptor antibody. Many of the patients with anti-MuSK antibodies have prominent oculobulbar symptoms or weakness of the neck and respiratory muscles, but patients with ocular myasthenia have not been described. ⋯ Ocular myasthenia gravis is a presentation of the anti-MuSK antibody syndrome.
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Arch Neurol Chicago · Apr 2005
Clinical TrialProgressive gray matter damage in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a longitudinal diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging study.
Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT MRI) has the potential to provide in vivo information about tissue microstructure. In multiple sclerosis (MS), DT MRI has disclosed the presence of occult structural damage in the normal-appearing brain tissues. ⋯ The DT MRI findings show progressive microstructural changes in the normal-appearing GM of patients with untreated relapsing-remitting MS. Such changes do not reflect a concomitant development of brain atrophy and confirm the importance of GM pathology in MS.