Muscle Ultrasound Changes Correlate With Functional Impairment in Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

Objective: We investigated ultrasound patterns of muscle involvement in different types of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and their correlation with functional status to determine the pattern of muscle compromise in patients with SMA and the potential role of ultrasound to evaluate disease progression.

Methods: We examined muscles (biceps brachii, rectus femoris, diaphragm, intercostals and thoracic multifidus) of 41 patients with SMA (types 1 to 4) and 46 healthy age- and sex-matched control individuals using B-mode ultrasound for gray-scale analysis (GSA), area (biceps brachii and rectus femoris) and diaphragm thickening ratio. Functional scales were applied to patients only.

Ultrasonographic nerve enlargement in post-transplanted patient with hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis.

A 43-year-old male patient with a 7-year history of liver transplantation due to p.Val50Met hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRv) persisted with refractory neuropathic pain, distal weakness, and progressive worsening of dysautonomia. Nerve ultrasound was performed showing increased nerve cross-sectional area and enlarged fascicles in proximal sites in both arms, suggestive of amyloidosis.

Accuracy of muscle fasciculations for the diagnosis of later-onset spinal muscle atrophy.

Diagnosis of later-onset spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) can be challenging. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic properties of the detection of muscle fasciculations for SMA diagnosis in adolescents and adults with proximal muscle weakness. A cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study was performed, in which 10 subjects with SMA (5 with type II and 5 with type III) and 9 subjects with genetic muscle diseases were evaluated by physical examination, muscle ultrasound (MUS) and electromyography (EMG).

Childhood amyotrophic lateral sclerosis caused by excess sphingolipid synthesis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive, neurodegenerative disease of the lower and upper motor neurons with sporadic or hereditary occurrence. Age of onset, pattern of motor neuron degeneration and disease progression vary widely among individuals with ALS. Various cellular processes may drive ALS pathomechanisms, but a monogenic direct metabolic disturbance has not been causally linked to ALS.

Guidance for clinical neurophysiology examination throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Latin American chapter of the IFCN task force - COVID-19.

On 31st December 2019, China notified the World Health Organization of an outbreak of atypical pneumonia from patients at a local seafood market in Wuhan, Hubei, China, responsible for a new coronavirus called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that caused COVID-19 disease, which spread rapidly around the world. WHO declared a state of pandemic (11th March, 2020), which has caused more than 1 million infected and more than 110,000 deaths; it was observed that up to 29% of those infected were health care personnel. The main route of transmission of SARS-CoV2 is through respiratory secretions and direct contact with contaminated surfaces and material.

Electrophysiology of Cranial Nerve Testing: Cranial Nerves IX and X.

The cranial nerves IX and X emerge from medulla oblongata and have motor, sensory, and parasympathetic functions. Some of these are amenable to neurophysiological assessment. It is often hard to separate the individual contribution of each nerve; in fact, some of the techniques are indeed a composite functional measure of both nerves.

Validation of the Portuguese version of the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS).

The Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS) is a clinical assessment tool that focuses on the detailed measurement of delusions and hallucinations in patients with psychosis. The goal of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the PSYRATS. A sample of 92 outpatients suffering from schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders and presenting persistent psychotic symptoms was assessed using the PSYRATS and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS).

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Pulmonary Embolism: Diagnostic Accuracy of Unenhanced MR and Influence in Mortality Rates.

Objectives: We evaluated the diagnostic value for pulmonary embolism (PE) of the True fast imaging with steady-state precession (TrueFISP) MRI, a method that allows the visualization of pulmonary vasculature without breath holding or intravenous contrast.

Methods: This is a prospective investigation including 93 patients with suspected PE. All patients underwent TrueFISP MRI after undergoing CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA).

The Proximity between Hallucination and Delusion Dimensions: An Observational, Analytic, Cross-Sectional, Multicentre Study.

In psychiatric classifications, hallucinations (mainly auditory hallucinations) are one of the fundamental criteria for establishing a schizophrenia diagnosis or any of the related psychotic disorder's diagnoses. The conceptual proximity between delusions and hallucinations was maintained until the end of the XIX century, with several supporters during the XX century. Their limits were not yet definitely defined in terms of Descriptive Psychopathology, and much less so in terms of biochemical and anatomical models.

Application of a new bifunctionalized chitosan derivative with zwitterionic characteristics for the adsorption of Cu(2+), Co(2+), Ni(2+), and oxyanions of Cr(6+) from aqueous solutions: Kinetic and equilibrium aspects.

This study describes the synthesis of a new chitosan derivative (C2) with zwitterionic characteristics and its use for the removal of cationic species Cu(2+), Co(2+), and Ni(2+) and anionic species of Cr(6+) in a single aqueous solution. The new adsorbent was synthesized by quaternization of the amine group of chitosan and esterification of hydroxyl groups with EDTA dianhydride. These combined reactions gave both cationic and anionic characteristics to C2 with the release of quaternary ammonium groups and carboxylic groups.

Hallucinations and related concepts-their conceptual background.

Prior to the seventeenth century, the experiences we now name hallucinations were valued within a cultural context, they could bring meaning to the subject or the world. From mid-seventeenth to eighteenth centuries, they acquire a medical quality in mental and organic illnesses. However, the term was only fully integrated in psychiatry by Esquirol in the eighteenth-nineteenth centuries.

Laryngeal Electromyography Techniques and Clinical Use.

Laryngeal electromyography is considered a valuable diagnostic tool for voice disorders. The technique, described almost 70 years ago, evolved 3 decades later, mainly because of the growing interest of laryngologists and speech pathologists. In the authors' opinion, the reduced number of neurophysiologists involved in laryngeal electromyography groups is, at some instance, related to the difficulty to start the learning process and the multidisciplinary approach the field requires.

Interobserver agreement between radiologists and radiology residents and emergency physicians in the detection of PE using CTPA.

Objective: To assess interobserver agreement between thoracic radiologists, radiology residents, and emergency physicians in diagnosing pulmonary embolism (PE).

Materials And Methods: Emergency physicians, radiology residents, and thoracic radiologists evaluated 123 computed tomography pulmonary angiography images. Interobserver agreement was analysed using kappa statistics.

Tuberculous pneumonia: a study of 59 microbiologically confirmed cases.

Objective: To study the clinical, epidemiological, radiographic and endoscopic features of individuals with tuberculous pneumonia.

Methods: We evaluated 2,828 consecutive tuberculosis patients treated at a public health center between December of 2005 and February of 2007. Of those, 59 (2.

Surgical treatment of bronchial carcinoid tumors: a single-center experience.

Background: Bronchial carcinoid is an infrequent neoplasm with a neuroendocrine differentiation. Surgical treatment is the gold standard therapy, with procedures varying from sublobar resections to complex lung sparing broncoplastic procedures. This study evaluates the results of surgical treatment of bronchial carcinoids and its prognostic factors.

[Reversal of digital clubbing in surgically treated lung cancer patients].

Objective: To objectively evaluate the reversal of digital clubbing (DC) in a series of surgically treated lung cancer patients, and to review the literature on the subject.

Methods: Sixty-one patients with non-small cell lung cancer--40 with and 21 without DC--were treated by pulmonary resection. Eleven (18%) received additional postoperative radiation therapy.

Lung abscess: analysis of 252 consecutive cases diagnosed between 1968 and 2004.

Objective: To relate the experience of the staff at a health care facility specializing in the management of patients with aspiration lung abscess.

Methods: Diagnostic aspects and therapeutic results of 252 consecutive cases of lung abscess seen in patients hospitalized between 1968 and 2004.

Results: Of the 252 patients, 209 were male, and 43 were female.

Surgical approaches to the petrous apex: distances and relations with cranial morphology.

Different pathologies may be located at the petrous apex. The primary surgical approaches used to remove such lesions are the pterional, subtemporal, presigmoid, and retrosigmoid. Each has advantages and disadvantages, and the distance to the petrous apex varies with the approach.