Enhancing chronic migraine preventive therapy: low-level 810 nm laser acupuncture as an add-on treatment for patients with unsatisfactory pharmacological effect, a pilot single-blind randomized controlled trial.

Background: Laser acupuncture is a proven non-invasive treatment with effects comparable to traditional acupuncture in different types of headaches, but there is still insufficient evidence for chronic migraine (CM) in adults. We aim to investigate the efficacy and safety of laser acupuncture (LA) as an add-on preventive therapy on CM.

Methods: A single-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted from January 2022 to November 2023.

Pituitary gigantism presenting with depressive mood disorder and diabetic ketoacidosis in an Asian adolescent.

Hyperglycemia is seldom described in young patients with pituitary gigantism. Here, we describe the case of a 17-year-old Taiwanese boy who developed depressive mood disorder and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) at the presentation of pituitary gigantism. The boy complained of lethargy and dysphoric mood in June 2008.

Queckenstedt's test affects more than jugular venous congestion in rat.

Jugular venous compression by the Queckenstedt's test (Q-test) increases the intracranial pressure, but the effects of isolated jugular venous congestion are not well known. Intraventricular pressure (IVP) was compared during direct obstruction of the common jugular veins (bilateral CJV clipping) and during external compression of bilateral CJV flows (Q-test) in a rat model. Intracerebroventricular catheters were inserted into the right lateral ventricle of nine male Sprague-Dawley rats (371.

Transient visual disturbances in adolescents: migrainous feature or headache-accompanied phenomenon?

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence, characteristics and clinical correlates of transient visual disturbances (TVDs) in adolescents with headaches.

Methods: We surveyed headache-related TVDs in the past three months in two middle schools. All the ninth-grade students filled-in the questionnaires including demographics, a validated headache questionnaire, and visual phenomenon questions embedding the Visual Aura Rating Scale (VARS).

Queckenstedt's test headache response is associated with increased jugular venous flow volume during migraine attack.

Cephalic venous congestion induced by Queckenstedt's (Q)-test, i.e., transient compression of bilateral internal jugular veins (IJV), can aggravate headache intensity during migraine attacks, especially in patients with throbbing pain.

Comparison of self-reported cutaneous allodynia and brushing allodynia during migraine attacks.

This study compares the results of brushing allodynia (BA) during migraine attacks to those of self-reported cutaneous allodynia. We recruited 100 patients (20 with chronic migraine, 80 with episodic migraine) and performed a gauze-brushing test to detect BA. A previous experience of cutaneous allodynia was queried.

Allele-specific all-or-none PCR product diagnostic strategy for Charcot-Marie-Tooth 1A and hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies.

Background: We designed allele-specific primers to amplify genomic DNA of patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth 1A (CMT1A) and hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies (HNPP).

Methods: Genomic DNA analysis was performed on 40 unrelated CMT1A duplication patients, 25 unrelated HNPP deletion patients, and 50 unaffected control individuals. The CMT1A and HNPP patients had previously been identified with microsatellite mapping.

Ultrasonographic evaluation of vertebral venous valves.

To date, vertebral venous valves have not been studied clinically or by sonography. This report reveals that these valves could be studied noninvasively by using sonographic techniques. Real-time sonography clearly showed the opening and closing of the two cusps of vertebral venous valves at the junction of the vertebral vein and the brachiocephalic vein, which move synchronously with the internal jugular venous valves.