Publications by authors named "Belen Pilo-de-la-Fuente"

Background: People with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (pwSPMS) experience increasing disability, which impacts negatively on their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Our aims were to assess the impact of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) on functional status and HRQoL and describe the clinical profile in this population.

Methods: DISCOVER is an observational, cross-sectional, multicenter study with retrospective data collection in real-world clinical practice in Spain.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study explored how serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (sGFAP) levels could predict worsening disability in multiple sclerosis (MS), enrolling 725 patients across 13 European hospitals from 1994 to 2023.
  • - Higher levels of sNfL were significantly associated with increased risks of relapse-associated worsening (RAW), progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA), and reaching an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score of 3, while elevated sGFAP levels were linked to a higher risk of reaching the EDSS score.
  • - Combining both sNfL and sGFAP levels indicated that low values represented low risk for worsening
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Background: Data on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) incidence in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) during the first wave have been published but are scarce for the remaining waves. Factors associated with COVID-19 infection of any grade are also poorly known. The aim of this study was to analyze the incidence, clinical features, and risk factors for COVID-19 infection of any grade in patients with MS (pwMS) during waves 1-5.

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Background: Lymphopenia is a major concern in MS patients treated with dimethyl-fumarate (DMF) as it increases the risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. A pronounced reduction in absolute lymphocyte counts (ALCs) early after treatment initiation has been suggested to be associated with the occurrence of lymphopenia thereafter.

Objectives: To identify risk factors for DMF-induced lymphopenia and evaluate whether the degree of decrease in the ALCs three months after initiation of DMF treatment is a predictor of the subsequent development of lymphopenia.

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Background: Potential increase of cancer incidence is one of the main safety concerns of the disease-modifying therapies employed in Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

Objective: Detailed description of patients who developed cancer among a prospective cohort of Spanish MS patients on dimethyl fumarate (DMF) treatment.

Methods: We describe patients who developed cancer among a cohort of 886 MS patients on DMF treatment (2681 patient-years), with a median time of exposure of 39.

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Introduction: Migraine is one of the most common causes of transient visual loss. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) provides fast and non-invasive imaging of the retinal vessels. We report one case of monocular retinal oligemia demonstrated using OCTA during a migraine attack with aura.

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Background: Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) has demonstrated efficacy in phase III studies. However, real-world data are still limited.

Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the profile of patients who receive DMF and to assess the effectiveness of DMF regarding relapses, disability progression, magnetic resonance imaging activity, and NEDA (No Evidence Disease Activity)-3 status in a Spanish population in a real-world setting.

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: The presence of the so called disc at risk (a small disc with no cupping) has been considered the main risk factor for the development of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). However its role as a prognostic factor has not been studied. Our aim was to determine the weight of disc configuration as a risk and a prognostic factor for NAION.

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The possible role of gammaaminobutyric acid (GABA) in the pathophysiology of restless legs syndrome (RLS) is suggested by the symptomatic improvement achieved with GABAergic drugs. Thalamic GABA levels have shown positive correlation with periodic limb movements indices and with RLS severity. We tried to investigate the possible association between the most common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the GABA receptors (GABR) genes rho1, 2, and 3 (GABRR1, GABRR2, GABRR3), alpha4 (GABRA4), epsilon (GABRE), and theta (GABRQ) with the risk of developing RLS.

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Background/objectives: Several studies have raised the possibility of an association between alcohol consumption and the risk of developing restless legs syndrome (RLS). Moreover, an important percentage of patients under alcohol detoxification therapy develop RLS symptoms that fulfil the criteria for idiopathic RLS during alcohol withdrawal. We have aimed to establish the possible association between two common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the alcohol-dehydrogenase 1B (ADH1B) gene and the risk for RLS.

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A recent meta-analysis suggests an association between the rs11558538 single nucleotide polymorphism in the histamine-N-methyl-transferase (HNMT) gene and the risk for Parkinson's disease. Based on the possible relationship between PD and restless legs syndrome (RLS), we tried to establish whether rs11558538 SNP is associated with the risk for RLS. We studied the genotype and allelic variant frequencies of HNMT rs11558538 SNP 205 RLS patients and 410 healthy controls using a TaqMan assay.

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Purpose: To report the correlation between visual function and subfoveal choroidal thickness (SChT) in a case of POEMS syndrome.

Case Report: A 53 year old man diagnosed with POEMS syndrome was referred due to blurred vision. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.

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Several recent works suggest a possible role of vitamin D deficiency in the etiology or restless legs syndrome (RLS). We analyzed the possible relationship of 2 common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the vitamin D3 receptor (VDR) gene with the risk for RLS.We studied the genotype and allelic variant frequencies of VDR rs2228570 and VDR rs731236 SNPs in 205 RLS patients and 445 healthy controls using a TaqMan essay.

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Several neurochemical, neuropathological, neuroimaging, and experimental data, suggest that iron deficiency plays an important role in the pathophysiology of restless legs syndrome (RLS). Heme-oxygenases (HMOX) are an important defensive mechanism against oxidative stress, mainly through the degradation of heme to biliverdin, free iron, and carbon monoxide. We analyzed whether HMOX1 and HMOX2 genes are related with the risk to develop RLS.

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Aim: To analyze the neurological attention of a county hospital of recent creation, with a special emphasis in the health care indicators, both in hospital out-patients consultations and in patients admitted to the hospital.

Patients And Methods: We have made a descriptive analysis of the neurological attention developed by our Neurology Section between the years 2008 and 2013. We also made a comparative analysis of health care indicators corresponding to the years 2012 and 2013 (5th and 6th years of clinical activity) of our hospital with those of two other hospitals with similar features, other three hospitals of secondary level, and four of tertiary level.

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Several biochemical, neuropathological, and experimental data suggest a possible role of nitric oxide (NO) in the pathophysiology of restless legs syndrome (RLS). Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS or NOS1) gene (rs7977109 and rs693534) have been found to be associated with the risk for RLS in Germans, although only one of them (rs7977109) remained as significant after multiple comparison tests. The aim of our study was to replicate the possible association between these SNPs and risk for RLS in the Spanish population.

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Diplopia is a very disturbing condition that has been reported as a complication of several surgical procedures. The following review aims to identify the ocular and nonocular surgical techniques more often associated with this undesirable result. Diplopia is reported as an adverse outcome of some neurosurgical procedures, dental procedures, endoscopic paranasal sinus surgery, and several ophthalmic procedures.

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Objective: A glutamatergic dysfunction has been postulated to play a role in restless legs syndrome (RLS) pathophysiology, as glutamate concentrations have been found to increase in the thalamus of RLS patients. The aim of our study was to investigate the possible association between the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs3794087 in the solute carrier family 1 (glial high affinity glutamate transporter), member 2 gene, SLC1A2, related with glutamate transport and the risk for RLS.

Methods: We studied the allelic and genotype frequencies of the SNP rs3794087 in 205 patients with RLS and 328 healthy controls using TaqMan genotyping.

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