BMC Neurology

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, and due to increasing life expectancy the number of patients is expected to grow. The diagnosis of AD involves the use of biomarkers determined by an amyloid PET scan or cerebrospinal fluid analyses that are either invasive or expensive, and not available in each hospital, thus limiting their usage as a front-line screener. The TearAD study aims to use tear fluid as a potential source for AD biomarkers. In previous reports, we demonstrated that AD biomarkers amyloid-beta and tau, are measurable in tear fluid and are associated with disease severity and neurodegeration...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Post-stroke depression (PSD), as one of the common complications after stroke, seriously affects the physical and mental health and functional prognosis of patients. Previous studies have shown that the increase of inflammatory mediators is associated with the occurrence of PSD. Lipocalin 2 (LCN2), as an acute phase protein, is involved in the development of acute ischemic stroke (AIS), and its expression is up-regulated in patients with depression, suggesting that there is a potential correlation between serum LCN2 and depression...

BACKGROUND: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects 1 in 100 children globally with a rapidly increasing prevalence. To the best of our knowledge, no data exists on the genetic architecture of ASD in India. This study aimed to identify the genetic architecture of ASD in India and to assess the use of whole exome sequencing (WES) as a first-tier test instead of chromosomal microarray (CMA) for genetic diagnosis. METHODS: Between 2020 and 2022, 101 patient-parent trios of Indian origin diagnosed with ASD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 5th edition, were recruited...

BACKGROUND: Rehabilitation improves functional recovery in subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) patients, and assessing patients for rehabilitation is the first step in this process. However, little is known about clinical practice in China regarding the assessment and provision of rehabilitation for patients with SAH. METHODS: To identify patients hospitalized with SAH and to analyze rehabilitation assessment rates, we used data for 11,234 SAH patients admitted to 861 hospitals from the China Stroke Center Alliance from August 2015 to July 2019...

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition is associated with a high risk of mortality in adults with ischemic stroke (IS). This study aimed to investigate the relationship between malnutrition and the risk of stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP) as only a few studies examined the relationship between malnutrition and the risk of SAP in IS. METHODS: Patients were included from emergency departments of five tertiary hospitals in the REtrospective Multicenter study for Ischemic Stroke Evaluation (REMISE) study from January 2020 to December 2020...

BACKGROUND: Over 55 million adults are living with dementia globally, which is projected to reach 157 million by 2050. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a syndrome of memory impairment with intact activities of daily living, may precede dementia by several years. Around 5-15% of individuals with MCI convert to dementia annually. Novel treatments which delay progression of MCI to dementia are urgently needed. Transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation (tVNS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique that targets the vagus nerve...

BACKGROUND: Currently, there are limited data on the accuracy of available risk scores to predict stroke recurrence in the Asian population. METHOD: A single-center, retrospective cohort study was conducted among patients with acute ischemic stroke during January 2014 - December 2018. Longitudinal data with three years of follow-up among these patients were collected and validated through both electronic and manual chart review. The area under the receiver-operating curve (AUROC) method or C-statistic and calibration plot were used to evaluate and compare the Stroke Prognosis Instrument II (SPI-II) and the Essen Stroke Risk Score (ESRS) in predicting the long-term risk of recurrent ischemic stroke...

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing Procalcitonin (PCT) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with high fever and suspected intracranial infection after neurosurgery and its clinical application value. METHODS: Between February 2021 and August 2022, CSF and serum samples were collected via lumbar puncture from patients with high fever and suspected intracranial infection in the Intensive Care Unit(ICU) of our hospital. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the factors influencing elevated PCT in CSF...

BACKGROUND: As a modulator of the sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor, siponimod is administered as a therapeutic intervention for multiple sclerosis. A previous phase 3 study first reported siponimod-associated macular edema. Since that report, there were only few relevant reports in clinical settings. Here, we report a case of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis developed macular edema after siponimod treatment. We also review the progress of sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor modulators, elaborate on accepted mechanisms in treating multiple sclerosis, and discuss the causation of siponimod-associated macular edema...

BACKGROUND: Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) is a devastating acute or subacute neurological disorder caused by thiamine deficiency. Wernicke encephalopathy is characterized by the triad of ocular signs, cerebellar dysfunction, and confusion. Visual loss and hearing loss are less common findings in WE. Here, we report a case of Wernicke encephalopathy in a nonalcoholic liver cirrhosis patient who presented with acute bilateral deafness and bilateral blindness. CASE PRESENTATION: A 60-year-old Chinese man presented with a history of bilateral blindness and bilateral hypoacousia for 3 days...

The wakefulness-sleep cycle sets the pace of our life. Sleep research examines the transition between wakefulness and sleep, its hormonal regulation, and its pathological disruption. Understanding sleep mechanisms would improve quality-of-life well beyond sleep itself. To this aim, we invite contributions for the Collection "sleep physiology and circadian rhythms".

BACKGROUND: Migraine and depression are two of the most common and debilitating conditions. From a clinical perspective, they are mostly prevalent in women and manifest a partial overlapping symptomatology. Despite the high level of comorbidity, previous studies hardly investigated possible common patterns in brain volumetric differences compared to healthy subjects. Therefore, the current study investigates and compares the volumetric difference patterns in sub-cortical regions between participants with migraine or depression in comparison to healthy controls...

BACKGROUND: A significant proportion of patients with epilepsy have an unknown etiology and lack effective targeted therapeutic drugs. Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO) induces hypoxia and microembolism, leading to cerebral neurological dysfunction and increased epilepsy risk. This study aims to assess the efficacy and safety of PFO closure for relieving epileptic seizures in patients with refractory epilepsy associated with PFO. METHODS/DESIGN: Recruitment takes place at the West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China, for an open-label, randomized controlled clinical trial...

BACKGROUND: Neuroprotective agents have the potential to improve the outcomes of revascularisation therapies in acute ischemic stroke patients (AIS) and in those unable to receive revascularisation. Afamelanotide, a synthetic α-melanocyte stimulating hormone analogue, is a potential novel neuroprotective agent. We set out to assess the feasibility and safety of afamelanotide for the first time in AIS patients. METHODS: AIS patients within 24 h of onset, with perfusion abnormality on imaging (Tmax) and otherwise ineligible for revascularisation therapies were enrolled...

BACKGROUND: Parsonage-Turner Syndrome (PTS) is a rare brachial plexopathy characterized by the sudden onset of pain in the shoulder girdle followed by upper limb weakness. PTS is frequently under-recognized or misdiagnosed as other more common neurological disorders presenting in a similar fashion, such as cervical radiculopathy which may require surgical intervention. Accurate diagnosis and prompt management implicate a good prognosis. Although electrophysiological studies are considered the most important for evaluating peripheral nerve injuries, it usually takes time, up to 3 weeks after the initial insult of the nerve for electromyogram (EMG) and nerve conduction studies (NCS) to display abnormalities...

BACKGROUND: Interventions using split belt treadmills (SBTM) aim to improve gait symmetry (GA) in Parkinson's disease (PD). Comparative effects in conjugated SBTM conditions were not studied systematically despite potentially affecting intervention outcomes. We compared gait adaptation effects instigated by SBTM walking with respect to the type (increased\decreased speed) and the side (more/less affected) of the manipulated belt in PD. METHODS: Eight individuals with PD performed four trials of SBTM walking, each consisted of baseline tied belt configuration, followed by split belt setting - either WS or BS belt's speed increased or decreased by 50% from baseline, and final tied belt configuration...

BACKGROUND: Low-grade gangliogliomas (GGs) are typically epileptogenic intracranial neoplasms. Yet, the presentation of simplex vertiginous experience and spontaneous downbeat nystagmus (DBN) has not been reported to date. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a 26-year-old male with focal onset impaired awareness seizures, characterized by vertigo due to right temporal lobe epilepsy caused by ganglioglioma. As rare presentations, a spontaneous, consistent DBN in the absence of vertiginous experience was noticed...

BACKGROUND: Focal cerebral arteriopathy (FCA) is a clinically important disease that often causes progressive arteriopathy. We report a case of FCA with progressive arteriopathy due to arterial shrinkage of the outer diameter found on T2-weighted three-dimensional sampling perfection with application optimized contrasts using different flip angle evolutions (3D-SPACE) imaging. CASE PRESENTATION: The patient was a 9-year-old girl who developed right hemiparesis. Acute infarction was detected in the basal ganglia...

BACKGROUND: Parkinsonism is strongly associated with ageing, and many studies have suggested that parkinsonian signs may affect up to half of older adults and is associated with a wide range of adverse health outcomes. We compared clinical and functional characteristics of oldest-old community-dwelling individuals with parkinsonism (parkinsonian group [PG]) to individuals without parkinsonism (non-parkinsonian group [NPG]. METHODS: The Pietà study is a population-based study conducted in Caeté, southeast Brazil, involving 607 individuals aged 75 + years submitted to an extensive clinical evaluation...

OBJECTIVES: Poor immune-nutritional status has been associated with an unfavorable outcome in critical illness. The Osaka prognostic score (OPS) and the Naples prognostic score (NPS), based on inflammatory and nutritional status, has been shown to predict prognosis following cancer and other diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the OPS and NPS and the short-term outcomes of patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of patients hospitalized with spontaneous ICH (n = 340) at The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University between August 2016 and August 2021...