Diagnostic value of minor salivary glands biopsy for the detection of Lewy pathology.

The recent demonstration of the presence of Lewy pathology in the submandibular glands of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients prompted us to evaluate the diagnostic performance of minor salivary gland biopsy for PD. Minor salivary glands were examined for Lewy pathology using phosphorylated alpha-synuclein antibody in 16 patients with clinically diagnosed PD and 11 control subjects with other neurological disorders. Abnormal accumulation of alpha-synuclein was found in 3 out of 16 PD patients.

Gait disorders in parkinsonian monkeys with pedunculopontine nucleus lesions: a tale of two systems.

Gait and balance disorders unresponsive to dopaminergic drugs in Parkinson's disease (PD) are secondary to lesions located outside the dopaminergic system. However, available animal models of PD fail to display l-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA)-responsive parkinsonism and drug-resistant gait and balance disorders, and this lack of appropriate model could account for the deficit of efficient treatments. Because the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) plays an important role in locomotion control, we conducted the present study to investigate the consequences of combined dopaminergic and PPN lesions in a same animal.

[Ischemic stroke related to pauci-symptomatic acute aortic dissection. Risks of intravenous thrombolysis].

Introduction: Acute aortic dissection involving the cervical arteries often induces cerebral infarction. In this context, there is a high risk of hemorrhage and thrombolytics are contra-indicated.

Observation: We report two patients with a cerebral infarction which occurred after a pauci-symptomatic and undiagnosed aortic dissection treated with thrombolysis.