Profiling of Anti-Signal-Recognition Particle Antibodies and Clinical Characteristics in South Korean Patients With Immune-Mediated Necrotizing Myopathy.

Background And Purpose: This study evaluated the diagnostic utility of an anti-signal-recognition particle 54 (anti-SRP54) antibody-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) as well as the clinical, serological, and pathological characteristics of patients with SRP immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM).

Methods: We evaluated 87 patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathy and 107 healthy participants between January 2002 and December 2023. The sensitivity and specificity of the ELISA for anti-SRP54 antibodies were assessed, and the clinical profiles of patients with anti-SRP54 antibodies were determined.

Serial Nerve Conduction Studies in Guillain-Barré Syndrome: Its Usefulness and Precise Timing.

Purpose: Nerve conduction study (NCS) is essential for subclassifying Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). It is well known that the GBS subclassification can change through serial NCSs. However, the usefulness of serial NCSs is debatable, especially in patients with early stage GBS.

Topographic Consideration on the Occurrence of Ipsilesional Facial Paresis in Lateral Medullary Infarction.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to identify course of the corticobulbar tract and factors associated with the occurrence of facial paresis (FP) in lateral medullary infarction (LMI).

Methods: Patients diagnosed with LMI who were admitted to tertiary hospital were retrospectively investigated and divided into two groups based on the presence of FP. FP was defined as grade 2 or more by the House-Brackmann scale.

Clinical significance of anti-NT5c1A autoantibody in Korean patients with inflammatory myopathies.

To explore the clinical significance of anti-cytosolic 5'-nucleoditase 1A (NT5c1A) antibody seropositivity in inflammatory myopathies, we measured anti-NT5c1A antibodies and analyzed their clinical features. Anti-NT5c1A antibodies were measured in the sera of 103 patients with inflammatory myopathies using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Positivity for anti-NT5c1A antibody was found in 13 (12.

Characteristics of Diverse Verbal Pain Descriptors in South Korean Patients With Peripheral Neuropathic Pain: '' (Tingling) and '' (Cold) as Key Neuropathic Pain Descriptors.

Background And Purpose: The description of pain is the most-important indicator leading to the adequate treatment of patients with neuropathic pain (NeP). The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize the unique features of Korean verbal descriptions in patients with peripheral NeP.

Methods: This study included 400 patients (167 males and 233 females) and their 1,387 pain-description responses.

Subgrouping of Peripheral Neuropathic Pain Patients According to Sensory Symptom Profile Using the Korean Version of the PainDETECT Questionnaire.

Background: A culturally validated Korean version of the PainDETECT Questionnaire (PD-Q) was used to identify neuropathic pain components (NeP) in patients suffering from chronic pain. The purpose of this study was to determine if the Korean PD-Q can be used to subgroup patients with peripheral NeP according to sensory symptom profiles.

Methods: This study included 400 Korean patients with peripheral neuropathic pain diagnosed as probable or definite NeP.

A novel method to quantify cutaneous vascular innervation.

Introduction: To develop a new method to quantify the density of nerves, vessels, and the neurovascular contacts, we studied skin biopsies in diabetes and control subjects.

Methods: Skin biopsies with dual immunofluorescent staining were used to visualize nerves and blood vessels. The density of nerves, vessels, and their neurovascular contacts were quantified with unbiased stereology.

'Sirim' (Cold) Pain as a Common Symptom in Korean Patients with Clinically Suspected Small-Fiber Neuropathy.

Background And Purpose: Diagnosing small-fiber neuropathy (SFN) is challenging because there is no gold-standard test and few diagnostic tests. This study investigated the clinical symptom profile and its associations with the results of quantitative sensory testing (QST) and the quantitative sudomotor axon reflex test (QSART) as well as the quality of life (QOL) in patients with clinically suspected SFN.

Methods: This study involved 63 patients with clinically suspected length-dependent SFN.

Clinical Heterogeneity of Anti-GM2-Ganglioside-Antibody Syndrome.

Background And Purpose: Antiganglioside antibodies are known to play a pathogenic role in Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Either an immunoglobulin (Ig)G- or IgM-type anti-GM2 antibody is detected in rare cases in GBS patients. However, the specific pathogenic role of these antibodies in GBS has not been reported previously.

Partial Conduction Block as an Early Nerve Conduction Finding in Neurolymphomatosis.

Background And Purpose: Neurolymphomatosis is a rare manifestation of hematological malignancy and is characterized by direct infiltration of the peripheral nervous system. The objective of this study was to identify the clinical and electrophysiological features of neurolymphomatosis.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 13 patients with neurolymphomatosis.

The Impacts of Influenza Infection and Vaccination on Exacerbation of Myasthenia Gravis.

Background And Purpose: Upper respiratory infection (URI), including influenza, may exacerbate the symptoms of myasthenia gravis (MG), which is an autoimmune disease that causes muscle weakness. There is also concern that the influenza vaccine may trigger or worsen autoimmune diseases. The objective of this study was to determine the impacts of influenza infection and vaccination on symptom severity in MG patients.

A multicenter prospective observational study on the safety and efficacy of tacrolimus in patients with myasthenia gravis.

Introduction: Several clinical studies using tacrolimus revealed reasonable therapeutic mechanisms and efficacy in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG). However, long-period studies in a large number of patients with MG are limited; therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic efficacies and safety of tacrolimus in patients with MG during a 12-month follow-up period.

Methods: Tacrolimus was administered to 150 patients with MG who were recruited based on the inclusion criteria.

Clinical Features of Post-Vaccination Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) in Korea.

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is the most common immune-mediated polyradiculoneuropathy and it is also the most commonly reported severe adverse event following immunization in adults. To evaluate the results of clinical and laboratory features of GBS after vaccination in Korea, we analyzed the claims-based data from 2002 to 2014 using materials collected for the Advisory Committee Vaccination Injury Compensation (ACVIC) meeting including, clinical features, nerve conduction studies (NCSs), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) profiles, treatment, and outcomes. Forty-eight compensated GBS cases (median age, 15 years; interquartile range [IQR], 13-51; male:female ratio, 1:1) of 68 suspected GBS were found following immunization and all of them with influenza immunizations with either monovalent (n = 35) or trivalent (n = 13).

Early Electrodiagnostic Features of Upper Extremity Sensory Nerves Can Differentiate Axonal Guillain-Barré Syndrome from Acute Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy.

Background And Purpose: Serial nerve conduction studies (NCSs) are recommended for differentiating axonal and demyelinating Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), but this approach is not suitable for early diagnoses. This study was designed to identify possible NCS parameters for differentiating GBS subtypes.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 70 patients with GBS who underwent NCS within 10 days of symptom onset.

Acute bulbar palsy as a variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Objective: To categorize a syndrome manifesting as prominent acute bulbar palsy (ABP) without limb motor weakness as a variant form of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and differentiate it from Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS) and pharyngeal-cervical-brachial (PCB) variants.

Methods: We analyzed cases of ABP without limb motor weakness based on a dataset containing clinical information and the results of antiganglioside antibodies assays for acute immune-mediated neuropathies.

Results: Eleven cases with an age at onset ranging from 18 to 65 years (mean 33.

Serum interleukin-27 expression in patients with myasthenia gravis.

Myasthenia gravis (MG)(1) is an autoimmune disease directed at the neuromuscular junction, and cytokines are thought to contribute to its immunopathogenesis. Interleukin-27 (IL-27)(2) plays a complex and pleiotropic role in immune responses associated with T helper cells. To assess the role of IL-27 in MG, we determined serum IL-27 levels in MG patients (n=32) compared to healthy controls (n=50).

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome as an initial neurological manifestation of primary Sjögren's syndrome.

It is well known that patients with peripheral neuropathy along with autonomic involvement can also exhibit autonomic hyperactivity. There are rare cases in which these patients developed posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES). Patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) may be more likely to exhibit autonomic hypofunction rather than autonomic hyperfunction, which is a rare event.

Serum Vitamin D Status as a Predictor of Prognosis in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke.

Background: Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations have been shown to predict risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. Although the prevalence of 25(OH)D deficiency is high in patients with acute stroke, the prognostic value of 25(OH)D in stroke has not been clearly established. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the baseline serum 25(OH)D level was associated with the functional outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Does delayed facial involvement implicate a pattern of "descending reversible paralysis" in Fisher syndrome?

Objective: Delayed facial palsy (DFP) has often been described during the recovery stage of Fisher syndrome (FS), but the implications of DFP in FS pathophysiology have not been reported previously. The aim of this study was to identify the incidence and clinical course of DFP in FS, and to determine its clinical/pathophysiological implications in FS.

Methods: About 71 FS patients were enrolled from seven university-based hospitals in Korea.

The usefulness of proximal radial motor conduction in acute compressive radial neuropathy.

Background And Purpose: The objective of this study was to determine diagnostic and prognostic values of proximal radial motor conduction in acute compressive radial neuropathy.

Methods: Thirty-nine consecutive cases of acute compressive radial neuropathy with radial conduction studies-including stimulation at Erb's point-performed within 14 days from clinical onset were reviewed. The radial conduction data of 39 control subjects were used as reference data.

Right-side propensity of cardiogenic emboli in acute ischemic stroke with atrial fibrillation.

Objectives: We attempted to determine the propensity for sidedness of cardiogenic emboli associated with atrial fibrillation (AF) by comparing the sides on which microembolic signals (MES) were detected via transcranial Doppler (TCD) monitoring and the location of infarcts on magnetic resonance imaging.

Design: Patients with AF on Holter monitoring and MES on TCD monitoring were selected from an ischemic stroke registry. Patients with prosthetic valves or cerebral/carotid artery stenosis were excluded.