Migraine With Exclusive Olfactory Aura: Case Report and Literature Review.

Objectives: To report the case of a patient enduring migraine attacks preceded by hallucinatory olfactory symptoms, with characteristics which typically define migraine with aura (MWA).

Background: MWA accounts for about 30-40% of the total cases of migraine and is almost always preceded by visual disorders; and in rare cases migraine attacks are preceded by olfactory hallucinations which have not been so far recognized as a type of aura.

Results: We describe a 51-year-old male whose migraine attacks are preceded, unusually for migraine sufferers, only by olfactory hallucinations; in 10% of the attacks, the olfactory symptoms are not followed by any pain but always appear with the same characteristics.

Very late-onset friedreich ataxia with laryngeal dystonia.

Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive gait and limb ataxia, cerebellar, pyramidal and dorsal column involvement, visual defects, scoliosis, pes cavus and cardiomyopathy. It is caused by a homozygous guanine-adenine-adenine (GAA) trinucleotide repeat expansion in intron 1 of the frataxin gene (FXN) on chromosome 9q13-q21.1.

Temporal disruption of upper-limb anticipatory postural adjustments in cerebellar ataxic patients.

Voluntary movements induce postural perturbations, which are counteracted by anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) that preserve body equilibrium. Little is known about the neural structures generating APAs, but several studies suggested a role of sensory-motor areas, basal ganglia, supplementary motor area and thalamus. However, the role of the cerebellum still remains an open question.

Botulinum neurotoxin-A does not spread to distant muscles after intragastric injection: A double-blind single-fiber electromyography study.

The purpose of this study was to perform a careful neurophysiological examination to identify subclinical signs of botulinum toxin spread distant to the injection site following intragastric injection for obesity treatment. Single-fiber electromyography of extensor digitorum communis and repetitive stimulation of abductor digiti minimi were performed before and 8 days after multiple intragastric injections of botulinum toxin A (Botox, 200 U per patient) or placebo. The study was performed in a randomized double-blind fashion.

Overview on pathophysiology and newer approaches to treatment of peripheral neuropathies.

Peripheral neuropathies are extremely heterogeneous nosological entities. One of the most common symptoms is pain, the underlying mechanisms of which are numerous and complex. Inflammation, reparative processes, and anatomical and gene expression alterations lead to chronic pain, the persistence of which is sustained by peripheral and central sensitisation mechanisms.

Serum folate concentrations in patients with cortical and subcortical dementias.

Folic acid is believed to play a role in protection from oxidant stress. Low levels of folic acid had been found in serum from patients with Alzheimer disease (AD). Folate concentration was evaluated in sera from 136 patients with cortical dementia [AD, n=108; frontotemporal dementia (FTD), n=28], 57 patients with subcortical dementia [Lewy body disease (LBD), n=9; corticobasal degeneration (CBD), n=5; progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), n=6; Parkinson disease with dementia (PD-Dem), n=37], and 76 nondemented, healthy age-matched people.