Reproductive life events and Alzheimer's disease in Italian women: a retrospective study.

The aim of our study was to understand the complex relationship between the major reproductive life events in women with Alzheimer's disease. In a retrospective, case-control study, 275 women with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 276 control patients from a hospital population were enrolled from July 2007 to December 2010. The AD patients presented with later menopause (P < 0.

Epidemiology and geographical variation of myasthenia gravis in the province of Pavia, Italy.

Background And Aims: Previous studies have reported a prevalence estimate of myasthenia gravis (MG) from 7.7 to 11.1 per 100,000 inhabitants in Europe.

A multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of levetiracetam in children and adolescents with newly diagnosed absence epilepsy.

Purpose: To evaluate the potential efficacy of levetiracetam as an antiabsence agent in children and adolescents with newly diagnosed childhood or juvenile absence epilepsy.

Methods: Patients were randomized in a 2:1 ratio to receive de novo monotherapy with levetiracetam (up to 30 mg/kg/day) or placebo for 2 weeks under double-blind conditions. Responder status (primary end point) was defined as freedom from clinical seizures on days 13 and 14 and from electroencephalographic (EEG) seizures during a standard EEG recording with hyperventilation and intermittent photic stimulation on day 14.

How parkinsonism influences life: the patients' point of view.

To explore the experience of living with parkinsonism, a survey form was sent to the members of a patients' association; 1,256 forms were analysed. The mean age was 65.75 ± 9.

Risk factors for tumor occurrence in patients with myasthenia gravis.

There is still uncertainty regarding risk factors for cancer occurrence in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG). The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of extrathymic neoplasms in patients with MG and the factors associated with tumor occurrence. The archives of four tertiary MG centers were consulted and patients were interviewed on the main clinical features of the disease, the presence and type(s) of extrathymic neoplasms and other autoimmune disorders, and their symptomatic and immunosuppressant treatments (with detailed schedules).

Disability and mortality in a cohort of multiple sclerosis patients: a reappraisal.

The aim of the study was to evaluate how the natural history of multiple sclerosis (MS) had changed over a 15-year period. We compared disability and mortality in a cohort of 83 MS patients hospitalised in the Neurological Institute of Pavia, northern Italy, from January 1, 1990, to December 31, 1991, with a similar cohort of 52 patients analysed in the past. After the follow-up, an unfavourable course (death or relevant disability) was observed in 41% of the patients in the new cohort, compared to 63.

Nontraumatic spinal cord injury: an Italian survey.

Objective: To describe the demographic and clinical characteristics and the clinical course of patients with nontraumatic spinal cord injury (SCI).

Design: A multicenter prospective study.

Setting: Thirty-two rehabilitation centers in several Italian regions.

Reproductive life milestones in women with Parkinson's disease.

Reproductive life milestones were studied in 150 unselected women with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) and in 300 postmenopausal healthy women (PM). Duration of reproductive life was found to be similar in the two groups. The women with PD reported significantly more premenstrual symptoms, fewer deliveries and abortions, and less use of contraception.

Accuracy of death certificates for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis varies significantly from north to south of Italy: implications for mortality studies.

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of death certificates (DCs) for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in different parts of Italy. Studies based on DC diagnosis for ALS have shown a reduced mortality comparing northern with southern Italy. These data are in contrast with results from other surveys on the incidence of ALS performed in Italy and other countries.