11 research outputs found
Nutritional optic and peripheral neuropathy: a case report.
INTRODUCTION: The link between nutritional status and either optic or peripheral neuropathies is well established with tobacco, ethanol, deficiencies in thiamine, vitamin A, B12, B3 and B6 and protein-energy malnutrition all being causative.
CASE PRESENTATION: We describe the case of a 32-year-old Afro-Caribbean of Jamaican origin presenting with blurred vision and a painful burning sensation in his feet. The clinical features were consistent with optic and peripheral neuropathy.
CONCLUSIONS: The patient followed a strict vegan diet and consumed no animal products. A review of the literature highlights similarities between this case and Strachan's syndrome, a combination of optic and peripheral neuropathy and cutaneous excoriation, providing further evidence for the association between this clinical presentation, dietary deficiency and, as recently postulated, previous residence in a tropical or sub-tropical climate
Juvenile levodopa-responsive Parkinsonism with early orobuccolingual dyskinesias and cognitive impairment
A 13-year old girl presented with slowly progressive rest tremor of the hands, bradykinesia, and rigidity. The symptoms improved with dopaminergic medications, but severe drug-induced dyskinesias developed early. She subsequently developed cognitive slowing and difficulty initiating saccadic eye movements. She went on to have deep brain stimulation surgery. Experts discuss the syndromal diagnosis and predict the underlying pathology. The pathological diagnosis is given and clinical learning points are considered. (C) 2010 Movement Disorder Societ
Longitudinal MRI in progressive supranuclear palsy and multiple system atrophy: rates and regions of atrophy
Dyskinesia and impulsive compulsive behaviour in Parkinson’s disease are not related: Insights from a study with a wearable sensor
Introduction
Previous studies have suggested an association between Impulsive Compulsive Behaviour (ICB) and dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, none of these studies have employed an objective home-based measure of dyskinesia.
Objectives
To evaluate in advanced PD the relationship between ICB and dyskinesia, objectively measured with a wearable device.
Methods
In this cross-sectional study, ICB and other neuropsychiatric symptoms were assessed by means of structured clinical interview and specific screening instruments. Presence and severity of motor fluctuations and dyskinesia were rated with patient's and clinician's based rating instruments. Motor fluctuations and dyskinesia were also measured at home for 5-days using a validated wearable devise, the Parkinson's KinetiGraph™(PKG).
Results
We included 89 subjects with PD (29 females, 62 ± 7 years, disease duration 10.3 ± 4.5), of whom 36 (40%) had ICB. Patients with and without ICB did not differ by presence and severity of dyskinesia measured by clinical scales and PKG. There was no association between the presence of ICB and dyskinesia in the whole sample.
Conclusion
Our data suggest that ICB and dyskinesia are common but unrelated disorders in advanced PD
Characteristics of two distinct clinical phenotypes in pathologically proven progressive supranuclear palsy: Richardson's syndrome and PSP-parkinsonism.
The clinical diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) relies on the identification of characteristic signs and symptoms. A proportion of pathologically diagnosed cases do not develop these classic features, prove difficult to diagnose during life and are considered as atypical PSP. The aim of this study was to examine the apparent clinical dichotomy between typical and atypical PSP, and to compare the biochemical and genetic characteristics of these groups. In 103 consecutive cases of pathologically confirmed PSP, we have identified two clinical phenotypes by factor analysis which we have named Richardson's syndrome (RS) and PSP-parkinsonism (PSP-P). Cases of RS syndrome made up 54% of all cases, and were characterized by the early onset of postural instability and falls, supranuclear vertical gaze palsy and cognitive dysfunction. A second group of 33 (32%) were characterized by asymmetric onset, tremor, a moderate initial therapeutic response to levodopa and were frequently confused with Parkinson's disease (PSP-P). Fourteen cases (14%) could not be separated according to these criteria. In RS, two-thirds of cases were men, whereas the sex distribution in PSP-P was even. Disease duration in RS was significantly shorter (5.9 versus 9.1 years, P < 0.001) and age at death earlier (72.1 versus 75.5 years, P = 0.01) than in PSP-P. The isoform composition of insoluble tangle-tau isolated from the basal pons also differed significantly. In RS, the mean four-repeat:three-repeat tau ratio was 2.84 and in PSP-P it was 1.63 (P < 0.003). The effect of the H1,H1 PSP susceptibility genotype appeared stronger in RS than in PSP-P (odds ratio 13.2 versus 4.5). The difference in genotype frequencies between the clinical subgroups was not significant. There were no differences in apolipoprotein E genotypes. The classic clinical description of PSP, which includes supranuclear gaze palsy, early falls and dementia, does not adequately describe one-third of cases in this series of pathologically confirmed cases. We propose that PSP-P represents a second discrete clinical phenotype that needs to be clinically distinguished from classical PSP (RS). The different tau isoform deposition in the basal pons suggests that this may ultimately prove to be a discrete nosological entity
Book reviews and Book notices
Book reviews and Book notice from Volume 1, Number 1, 1967 of Earth Science Journal
Effectiveness and safety of opicapone in Parkinson's disease patients with motor fluctuations: the OPTIPARK open-label study
Background
The efficacy and safety of opicapone, a once-daily catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitor, have been established in two large randomized, placebo-controlled, multinational pivotal trials. Still, clinical evidence from routine practice is needed to complement the data from the pivotal trials.
Methods
OPTIPARK (NCT02847442) was a prospective, open-label, single-arm trial conducted in Germany and the UK under clinical practice conditions. Patients with Parkinson’s disease and motor fluctuations were treated with opicapone 50 mg for 3 (Germany) or 6 (UK) months in addition to their current levodopa and other antiparkinsonian treatments. The primary endpoint was the Clinician’s Global Impression of Change (CGI-C) after 3 months. Secondary assessments included Patient Global Impressions of Change (PGI-C), the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-8), and the Non-Motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS). Safety assessments included evaluation of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs).
Results
Of the 506 patients enrolled, 495 (97.8%) took at least one dose of opicapone. Of these, 393 (79.4%) patients completed 3 months of treatment. Overall, 71.3 and 76.9% of patients experienced any improvement on CGI-C and PGI-C after 3 months, respectively (full analysis set). At 6 months, for UK subgroup only (n = 95), 85.3% of patients were judged by investigators as improved since commencing treatment. UPDRS scores at 3 months showed statistically significant improvements in activities of daily living during OFF (mean ± SD change from baseline: − 3.0 ± 4.6, p < 0.0001) and motor scores during ON (− 4.6 ± 8.1, p < 0.0001). The mean ± SD improvements of − 3.4 ± 12.8 points for PDQ-8 and -6.8 ± 19.7 points for NMSS were statistically significant versus baseline (both p < 0.0001). Most of TEAEs (94.8% of events) were of mild or moderate intensity. TEAEs considered to be at least possibly related to opicapone were reported for 45.1% of patients, with dyskinesia (11.5%) and dry mouth (6.5%) being the most frequently reported. Serious TEAEs considered at least possibly related to opicapone were reported for 1.4% of patients.
Conclusions
Opicapone 50 mg was effective and generally well-tolerated in PD patients with motor fluctuations treated in clinical practice.
Trial registration
Registered in July 2016 at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02847442)
