1,720,974 research outputs found
Clinical Features in Aromatic L-Amino Acid Decarboxylase (AADC) Deficiency: A Systematic Review
No full textAromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) deficiency is a rare congenital autosomal recessive metabolic disorder caused by pathogenic homozygous or compound heterozygous variants in the dopa decarboxylase (DDC) gene. Adeno-associated viral vector-mediated gene transfer of the human AADC gene into the putamina has become available. This systematic review on PubMed, Scopus databases, and other sources is aimed at describing the AADC whole phenotypic spectrum in order to facilitate its early diagnosis. Literature reviews, original articles, retrospective and comparative studies, large case series, case reports, and short communications were considered. A database was set up using Microsoft Excel to collect clinical, molecular, biochemical, and therapeutic data. By analysing 261 patients from 41 papers with molecular and/or biochemical diagnosis of AADC deficiency for which individuality could be determined with certainty, we found symptom onset to occur in the first 6 months of life in 93% of cases. Hypotonia and developmental delay are cardinal signs, reported as present in 73.9% and 72% of cases, respectively. Oculogyric crises were seen in 67% of patients while hypokinesia in 42% and ptosis in 26%. Dysautonomic features have been revealed in 53% and gastrointestinal symptoms in 19% of cases. With 37% and 30% of patients reported being affected by sleep and behavioural disorders, it seems to be commoner than previously acknowledged. Although reporting bias cannot be excluded, there is still a need for comprehensive clinical descriptions of symptoms at onset and during follow-up. In fact, our review suggests that most of the neurological and extraneurological symptoms and signs reported, although quite frequent in this condition, are not pathognomonic, and therefore, ADCC deficiency can remain an underdiscovered disorder
Charcot-marie-tooth disease with pyramidal features due to a new mutation of EGR2 gene
No full textSummary. Background and aim of the work: Childhood-onset peripheral neuropathies are often of genetic origin. Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT), is considered the commonest neuromuscular disorder. Due to its high clinical heterogeneity, especially in the pediatric age, the co-existence of central and peripheral symptoms and signs does not necessarily rule out a diagnosis of hereditary peripheral neuropathy. Methods: We describe the clinical, neurophysiological and genetic findings in a teen-age patient evaluated for acquired toe-walking and progressive difficulties in walking since the age of 5. Genetic testing was carried out with a targeted NGS panel. Identified variants are analyzed using Variant Studio program (Illumina). Rare variants and variants considered as pathogenic were analyzed by Sanger direct sequencing. Results: The coexistence of peripheral and pyramidal signs in the lower limbs, the absence of a significant pre/perinatal history, the unremarkable brain and spine MRI, together with the presence of a sensory-motor polyneuropathy in all four limbs, prompted the execution of genetic investigations with an NGS panel covering hereditary spastic paraplegias, motor neuron disease and Charcot-Marie-Tooth. We identified a previously undescribed variant (c.1142G>T, p.Arg381Leu) in the EGR2 gene. Conclusions: ERG2 gene has been described as a cause of various phenotypes, including a rare autosomal dominant form of CMT (CMT type 1D) representing approximately 1% of all CMT subgroups. We describe a novel pathogenic variant in EGR2 gene leading to the development of a complex association of peripheral and central neurological signs, underscoring the genetic and clinical heterogeneity of hereditary neuropathies of pediatric onset. (www.actabiomedica.it)
Novel phenotype in a family with infantile convulsions and paroxysmal choreoathetosis syndrome and PRRT2 gene mutation
No full textCMV-associated axonal sensory-motor Guillain-Barré syndrome in a child: Case report and review of the literature
No full textBACKGROUND:
Guillain-Barré syndrome is the most frequent cause of flaccid paresis in Western countries. Moreover, CMV infection is the most common antecedent viral infection in adult patients and the presence of specific IGM antiganglioside antibodies is often identified. Instead, Guillain-Barré syndrome following CMV infections is rarely reported in childhood and often presents severe symptoms at onset and longer recovery times.
MATERIAL AND METHODS:
One year of clinical, electrophysiological and serological follow-up of a 9-year old child with axonal sensory-motor Guillain-Barré syndrome following CMV infection is reported. Moreover, the literature data on paediatric sensory-motor axonal GBS and GBS secondary to CMV infection and antiganglioside antibodies are reviewed.
RESULTS:
Our patient presented with paraesthesias and a pattern of weakness showing proximal predominance and affecting the upper limbs more than the lower limbs. At nadir, unilateral facial palsy was also present and he was unable to walk. Electroneurography showed motor-sensory axonal damage. Both anti-CMV and anti-GM2 IgM were positive. After early treatment with IVIG and IV methylprednisolone the patient recovered deambulation. Six months later, his neurological examination was normal and electroneurography showed normal data.
CONCLUSION:
The sensory-motor axonal form of Guillain-Barré syndrome following CMV infection may present a good prognosis and a prompt full recovery also in children, if adequate treatment is started in time
Beneficial effects of the ketogenic diet on drug-resistant epileptic encephalopathy associated with a de novo NBEA pathogenic variant
No full textAlthough neurobeachin (NBEA) de novo genetic variants have been mainly reported in patients with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), they have also been recently associated with early childhood epilepsy. We report an 11-year-old boy who was first evaluated at 34 months of age because of drug-resistant epileptic encephalopathy. He also had developmental delay and prominent autistic features. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) disclosed a pathogenic NBEA c.5258_5279del, p.(Ala1753Valfs*13) variant, occurring de novo and a paternally-inherited heterozygous NBEA c.416T>C p.(Met139Thr) variant of uncertain significance (VUS). The patient showed good response to the ketogenic diet, suggesting that this therapy may be an effective option for patients with seizures who carry NBEA variants
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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