Visual Attention in Children With Migraine: The Importance of Prophylaxis.

This study aimed to compare the visual attention performance of children newly diagnosed with migraine, children undergoing migraine prophylaxis, and a healthy control group. Eighty-two children aged 8 to 12 years were divided into 3 groups: untreated migraine (n = 30), migraine prophylaxis (n = 22), and control (n = 30). All were subjected to a visual attention assessment with the Trail Making Test parts A and B, Letter-Cancellation Test, and the Brazilian Visual Attention Test 3rd edition.

Amitriptyline and aerobic exercise or amitriptyline alone in the treatment of chronic migraine: a randomized comparative study.

Unlabelled: To compare the preventive treatment benefits of amitriptyline and aerobic exercise or amitriptyline alone in patients with chronic migraine.

Method: Sixty patients, both genders, aged between 18 and 50 years, with a diagnosis of chronic migraine, were randomized in groups called amitriptyline and aerobic exercise or amitriptyline alone. The following parameters were evaluated: headache frequency, intensity and duration of headache, days of the analgesic medication use, body mass index (BMI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) scores.

Diffusion tensor imaging of the cervical spinal cord of patients with Neuromyelitis Optica.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated a correlation between Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) metrics, but the conclusions were based on evaluations of the entire cervical spinal cord.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to quantify the FA and MD values in the spinal cord of NMO patients, separating the lesion sites from the preserved sites, which has not been previously preformed. In addition, we attempted to identify a correlation with EDSS.

HIV peripheral neuropathy.

Peripheral neuropathies are the most common neurological manifestations occurring in HIV-infected individuals. Distal symmetrical sensory neuropathy is the most common form encountered today and is one of the few that are specific to HIV infection or its treatment. The wide variety of other neuropathies is akin to the neuropathies seen in the general population and should be managed accordingly.

Patients with neuromyelitis optica have a more severe disease than patients with relapsingremitting multiple sclerosis, including higher risk of dying of a demyelinating disease.

Unlabelled: Although neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is known to be a more severe disease than relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), few studies comparing both conditions in a single center have been done.

Methods: Comparison of our previously published cohort of 41 NMO patients with 177 RRMS patients followed in the same center, from 1994 to 2007.

Results: Mean age of onset was 32.

European ancestry predominates in neuromyelitis optica and multiple sclerosis patients from Brazil.

Background: Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is considered relatively more common in non-Whites, whereas multiple sclerosis (MS) presents a high prevalence rate, particularly in Whites from Western countries populations. However, no study has used ancestry informative markers (AIMs) to estimate the genetic ancestry contribution to NMO patients.

Methods: Twelve AIMs were selected based on the large allele frequency differences among European, African, and Amerindian populations, in order to investigate the genetic contribution of each ancestral group in 236 patients with MS and NMO, diagnosed using the McDonald and Wingerchuck criteria, respectively.

Latin American algorithm for treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis using disease-modifying agents.

Objective: It is estimated that circa 50,000 individuals have relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in Latin America. European and North-American algorithms for the treatment of multiple sclerosis do not foresee our regional difficulties and the access of patients to treatment.

Methods: The Latin American Multiple Sclerosis Forum is an independent and supra-institutional group of experts that has assessed the latest scientific evidence regarding efficacy and safety of disease-modifying treatments.

Efficacy and safety of eslicarbazepine acetate as add-on treatment in patients with focal-onset seizures: integrated analysis of pooled data from double-blind phase III clinical studies.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety profile of eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) added to stable antiepileptic therapy in adults with partial-onset seizures.

Methods: Data from 1,049 patients enrolled from 125 centers, in 23 countries, in three phase III double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled studies were pooled and analyzed. Following a 2-week titration period, ESL was administered at 400 mg, 800 mg, and 1,200 mg once-daily doses for 12 weeks.

Long-term safety and efficacy of eslicarbazepine acetate as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of partial-onset seizures in adults with epilepsy: results of a 1-year open-label extension study.

Objective: To evaluate the long-term safety, tolerability and efficacy of once-daily eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) as adjunctive therapy in adults with partial-onset seizures.

Methods: One-year open-label extension (OLE) study with ESL in patients who completed a randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled trial (study BIA-2093-302; Epilepsy Res. 89 (2010) 278-285).

The mutations m.5628T>C and m.8348A>G in single muscle fibers of a patient with chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia.

We identified a double mutation in a patient with chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia, located in the tRNA(Ala) (m.5628T>C) and tRNA(Lys) (m.8348A>G) genes.

Atypical manifestations in Brazilian patients with neuro-Behçet's disease.

Type and frequency of systemic and neurologic manifestations of Behçet's disease (BD) vary with ethnicity. In Brazil, BD occurs as sporadic cases. We describe clinical and radiological features of 36 Brazilian patients of mixed ethnicity with neuro-Behçet's disease (NBD).

Optimizing outcomes in multiple sclerosis: consensus guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of multiple sclerosis in Latin America.

Objective: The prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Latin America varies across different studies but an intermediate risk and increased frequency of the disease have been reported in recent years. The circumstances of Latin American countries are different from those of Europe and North America, both in terms of differential diagnoses and disease management.

Methods: An online survey on MS was sent to 855 neurologists in nine Latin American countries.

Cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome in Machado Joseph disease: core clinical features.

The cerebellum is no longer considered a purely motor control device, and convincing evidence has demonstrated its relationship to cognitive and emotional neural circuits. The aims of the present study were to establish the core cognitive features in our patient population and to determine the presence of Cerebellar Cognitive Affective Syndrome (CCAS) in this group. We recruited 38 patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3) or Machado–Joseph disease (MJD)-SCA3/MJD and 31 controls.

Epilepsy and Behçet's disease: cortical and hippocampal involvement in Brazilian patients.

Objective: To describe clinical, radiological and electrophysiological findings in epileptic neuro-Behçet's (NBD) patients.

Methods: A retrospective review of 178 medical records of Behçet's disease patients was conducted in Brazil. Information on gender, ethnicity/skin color, age at symptom onset and age at onset of neurologic manifestations, type of seizures, clinical manifestation of the disease, use of antiepileptic drugs and immunosupressors was collected from medical records of all epileptic NBD patients.

Migraine and cognition in children: a controlled study.

Objective: Evaluate the cognitive functions of children with migraine and compare them to A control group.

Method: 30 migraineur children and 30 control group children without migraine, age ranging from 8 to 12 years old, were subjected to a cognitive functions assessment with Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISCIII).

Results: Although both groups had a normal cognitive performance, children with migraine had significantly worse scores compared to the control group in the subtests of Information, Arithmetic, Vocabulary, Object Assembly and in the Indexes of Perceptual Organization, Resistance to Distraction and Processing Speed.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: considerations on diagnostic criteria.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder, compromising the motor neuron, characterized by progressive muscle weakness, with reserved prognosis. The diagnosis is based on inclusion and exclusion clinical criteria, since there is no specific confirmation test. The objective of this research is to critically examine the main diagnosis instrument - El Escorial revisited, from the World Federation of Neurology (1998).

Neuromyelitis optica treatment: analysis of 36 patients.

Objective: To analyze treatment response in Brazilian patients with neuromyelitis optica.

Design: Retrospective review.

Setting: Neuroimmunology Clinic of the Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

Conjugal amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Brazil.

Unlabelled: The origin of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) remains unknown, although it seems to be multifactorial. The role of environmental factors has been frequently investigated and suspicion of its influence can be obtained when clusters of a rare disease are described.

Objective: To describe conjugal cases of ALS in Brazil.

Neurological outcomes in patients with ischemic stroke receiving enoxaparin or heparin for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis: subanalysis of the Prevention of VTE after Acute Ischemic Stroke with LMWH (PREVAIL) study.

Background And Purpose: The Prevention of VTE after Acute Ischemic Stroke with LMWH (PREVAIL) study demonstrated that enoxaparin was superior to unfractionated heparin (UFH) in preventing venous thromboembolism in patients with ischemic stroke and was associated with a small but statistically significant increase in extracranial hemorrhage rates. In this PREVAIL subanalysis, we evaluate the long-term neurological outcomes associated with the use of enoxaparin compared with UFH. We also determine predictors of stroke progression.

ICAM-1 (Lys469Glu) and PECAM-1 (Leu125Val) polymorphisms in diffuse astrocytomas.

Cell adhesion molecules such as intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and platelet-endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1) play an important role in glioma invasion and angiogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether specific genetic polymorphisms of ICAM-1 and PECAM-1 could be associated with glioma development and progression. Single-nucleotide polymorphism in codon 469 of ICAM-1 and codon 125 of PECAM-1 were examined in 158 patients with astrocytomas and 162 controls using polymerase chain reaction and restriction enzyme analysis.