Publications by authors named "Alakkas A"

Article Synopsis
  • L-2 hydroxyglutaric aciduria (L-2-HGA) is a rare genetic disorder that leads to various neurological symptoms and requires careful diagnosis for effective treatment.
  • In a case series of three patients, symptoms included febrile seizures, hyperactivity, and intellectual challenges, with one case showing cervical dystonia.
  • Brain MRIs of two patients revealed distinctive patterns associated with L-2-HGA, emphasizing the need for increased awareness and early diagnosis to enable the use of management strategies like riboflavin, levocarnitine, and dietary changes.
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Background: Dystonia is a genetic or non-genetic movement disorder with typical patterned and twisting movements due to abnormal muscle contractions that may be associated with tremor. Genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity leads to variable clinical presentation.

Methodology: Next-generation sequencing technologies are being currently used in the workup of patients with inherited dystonia to determine the specific cause in the individuals with autosomal dominant, recessive, X-linked or mitochondrial inheritance patterns.

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Deutetrabenazine (DTBZ) is used for the treatment of tardive dyskinesia (TD) and chorea in Huntington's Disease (HD). Four pivotal clinical trials showed the efficacy of DTBZ in these conditions. Long term follow-up studies confirmed evidence of overall safety and continued efficacy of this drug.

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Background: Parkinson disease (PD) psychosis (PDP) is a disabling non-motor symptom. Pharmacologic treatment is limited to pimavanserin, quetiapine, and clozapine, which do not worsen parkinsonism. A Food and Drug Administration black box warning exists for antipsychotics, suggesting increased mortality in elderly patients with dementia.

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A 35-year-old woman with a history of sexual trauma was brought in by her family for further evaluation of depressive symptoms and progressive decline in activities of daily living. She was admitted to the inpatient psychiatric unit for the treatment of suspected catatonia. After failure to respond to standard medical treatment, she received an extensive workup, which ultimately revealed a PSEN1 mutation consistent with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

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Recognition of the role of hyperglycaemia in seizures is vital, because they tend to refractory to antiepileptic drugs and respond to insulin therapy and hydration.

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HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HANDs) persist even with virologic suppression on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), and the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms are not well understood. We performed structural magnetic resonance imaging and MR spectroscopy (MRS) in HIV+ individuals without major neurocognitive comorbidities. Study participants were classified as neurocognitively unimpaired (NU), asymptomatic (ANI), mild neurocognitive disorder (MND), or HIV-associated dementia (HAD).

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