Current Opinion in Neurology

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Hybrid PET- MRI is a technique that has the ability to improve diagnostic accuracy in many applications, whereas PET and MRI performed separately often fail to provide accurate responses to clinical questions. Here, we review recent studies and current developments in PET-MRI, focusing on clinical applications. RECENT FINDINGS: The combination of PET and MRI imaging methods aims at increasing the potential of each individual modality. Combined methods of image reconstruction and correction of PET-MRI attenuation are being developed, and a number of applications are being introduced into clinical practice...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The discovery of new disease-causing genes and availability of next-generation sequencing platforms have both progressed rapidly over the last few years. For the practicing neurologist, this presents an increasingly bewildering array both of potential diagnoses and of means to investigate them. We review the latest newly described genetic conditions associated with dystonia, and also address how the changing landscape of gene discovery and genetic testing can best be approached, from both a research and a clinical perspective...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) may play a key role for the management of patients with glioma. We highlighted the utility of MRS in the noninvasive diagnosis of gliomas with mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) genes, by providing an overview of the neurochemical alterations observed in different glioma subtypes, as well as during treatment and progression, both in vivo and ex vivo. RECENT FINDINGS: D-2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG) decrease during anticancer treatments was recently shown to be associated with altered levels of other metabolites, including lactate, glutamate and glutathione, suggesting that tumour treatment leads to a metabolic reprogramming beyond 2HG depletion...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Degenerative ataxias are rare and currently untreatable movement disorders, primarily characterized by neurodegeneration in the cerebellum and brainstem. We highlight MRI studies with the most potential for utility in pending ataxia trials and underscore advances in disease characterization and diagnostics in the field. RECENT FINDINGS: With availability of advanced MRI acquisition methods and specialized software dedicated to the analysis of MRI of the cerebellum, patterns of cerebellar atrophy in different degenerative ataxias are increasingly well defined...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The aim of this article is to review recent developments in the areas of the disease features and treatment of Wilson disease, and survey disorders that share its pathophysiology or clinical symptoms. RECENT FINDINGS: Knowledge of the clinical spectrum of Wilson disease has expanded with recognition of patients who present in atypical age groups - patients with very early onset (<5 years) and those in whom symptoms present in mid-to-late adulthood...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a progressive adult-onset neurodegenerative disease. Abnormally, phosphorylated forms of the microtubule-associated protein tau containing four repeat domains (4R-tau) aggregate in neurons. Additionally, increasing evidence suggests that secretion and uptake of fragments of abnormal 4R-tau may play a role in disease progression. This extracellular tau is a natural target for immunotherapy. RECENT FINDINGS: Three monoclonal antibodies targeting extracellular tau are in clinical stages of development...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We discuss the latest neuroimaging studies investigating the pathophysiology of Parkinson's tremor, essential tremor, dystonic tremor and Holmes tremor. RECENT FINDINGS: Parkinson's tremor is associated with increased activity in the cerebello-thalamo-cortical circuit, with interindividual differences depending on the clinical dopamine response of the tremor. Although dopamine-resistant Parkinson's tremor arises from a larger contribution of the (dopamine-insensitive) cerebellum, dopamine-responsive tremor may be explained by thalamic dopamine depletion...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Neuropsychiatric lupus (NPSLE) comprises a disparate collection of syndromes affecting the central and peripheral nervous systems. Progress in the attribution of neuropsychiatric syndromes to SLE-related mechanisms and development of targeted treatment strategies has been impeded by a lack of objective imaging biomarkers that reflect specific neuropsychiatric syndromes and/or pathologic mechanisms. The present review addresses recent publications of neuroimaging techniques in NPSLE...

PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW: Neuromodulatory approaches add to our armamentarium of therapeutic tools for the treatment of primary headaches. This review provides a comprehensive overview of current controlled studies on the different neuromodulation techniques and recommendations for clinical practice. RECENT FINDINGS: Evidence for efficacy of transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation (tVNS) is limited to acute use in migraine with ambiguous results and episodic cluster headache as well as chronic cluster headache if applied in addition to conventional treatment...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To outline recent applications of e-health data and digital tools for improving the care and management of healthcare for people with multiple sclerosis. RECENT FINDINGS: The digitization of most clinical data, along with developments in communication technologies, miniaturization of sensors and computational advances are enabling aggregation and clinically meaningful analyses of real-world data from patient registries, digital patient-reported outcomes and electronic health records (EHR)...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: In multiple sclerosis, currently approved disease-modifying treatments are effective in modulating peripheral immunity, and coherently, in reducing clinical/radiological relapses, but still, they perform poorly in preventing disease progression and overall disability accrual. This review provides an up-to-date overview of the neuropathology of progressive multiple sclerosis, including a summary of the main mechanisms of disease progression. RECENT FINDINGS: Clinical progression in multiple sclerosis is likely related to the accumulation of neuro-axonal loss in a lifelong inflammatory CNS environment (both adaptive and innate) and relative un-balance between damage, repair and brain functional reserve...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Patient-reported outcome (PRO) represents a unique opportunity to measure the impact of health research, and care on outcomes that matter most to people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). RECENT FINDINGS: How to incorporate PROs in MS clinical trials and, practice remains a matter of debate. The variety of measures available for use in MS has some benefits, but the lack of a set of standard measures has significant disadvantages. To help meeting the challenge, different PROs standard sets have been developed (PROMIS) for use across a broad range of chronic health conditions, and SymptoMScreen, specifically for MS...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Galectin interactions with glycoproteins and glycolipids modulate a variety of cellular responses that are now increasingly explored to better understand neuroinflammation processes and eventually find new therapeutic opportunities for neurological diseases. RECENT FINDINGS: Gal-1 confirmed its indirect neuroprotective roles through anti-inflammatory properties whereas Gal-3 remains elusive, showing anti-inflammatory or pro-inflammatory roles depending on damaging conditions and genetic background of mice models...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The present review will outline neuroprotective and neurotoxic effects of central nervous system (CNS) infiltrating T cells during viral infections. Evidence demonstrating differential roles for antiviral effector and resident memory T-cell subsets in virologic control and immunopathology in the CNS will be discussed. Potential therapeutic targets emanating from a growing understanding of T-cell-initiated neuropathology that impacts learning and memory will also be delineated...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To systematically review the clinical features, diagnosis, and management of anti-gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor Type A (GABAA) autoimmune encephalitis with a focus on recent data. RECENT FINDINGS: In a review of published reports, we identified 50 cases of anti-GABAA receptor encephalitis with clinical features reported. The median age at presentation was 47 years old (range, 2.5 months-88 years old), 64% were adults, 36% were children and it occurred in both males and females...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We reviewed present topics on neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-antibody-associated disease (MOGAD). RECENT FINDINGS: The number of NMOSD-related publications have increased year by year after the discovery of aquaporin 4 (AQP4)-antibody, and those on MOGAD started to surge since 2012-2013. Recent clinic-epidemiological surveys in NMOSD suggest that some racial differences in the prevalence and the clinical course...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To summarize the currently known side effects of the approved therapies of multiple sclerosis and to suggest monitoring procedures. RECENT FINDINGS: The progress in the treatment of multiple sclerosis with new very effective therapies is accompanied by a number of side effects. Some of these have already been described in the approval studies, but some only after approval in a real world situation. The reason for this is the short duration of the clinical studies, the very heterogeneous patient profile in the real world setting with a number of comorbidities, pretherapies, and wider age range...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Posttraumatic headache (PTH) attributed to mild traumatic brain injury is common and debilitating. In up to one-half of those with acute PTH, the PTH becomes persistent (PTH), enduring for longer than 3 months. The high incidence and persistence of PTH necessitate research into PTH pathophysiology and treatment. In this review, recent developments regarding the diagnostic criteria for PTH, the pathophysiology of PTH, and PTH treatment are discussed. RECENT FINDINGS: International Classification of Headache Disorders 3 diagnostic criteria for PTH attributed to head trauma require that 'a headache of any type' starts within 7 days of a head injury...