Recurrent and Residual Shunts After Patent Foramen Ovale Closure: Results From a Long-Term Transcranial Doppler Study.

Objectives: Assess the evolution of right-to-left shunt (RLS) after transcatheter patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure.

Background: Despite the high number of interventional procedures performed worldwide, limited systematic data on the long-term abolition of RLS after percutaneous closure are available.

Methods: All patients treated at our Institution between February 2001 and July 2009 were included in this single center, prospective study, and were asked to repeat late contrast transcranial Doppler (cTCD).

Opioids can be useful in the treatment of headache.

The use of opioids in headache treatment is very controversial. In the migraine acute attack use of short-acting opioids is not recommended by the principal guidelines but is frequent in North American emergency departments. Their efficacy in migraine acute attack has not been extensively studied but seems to be similar to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and metoclopramide.

Isolated theory of mind deficits and risk for frontotemporal dementia: a longitudinal pilot study.

Objective: Recent data suggest that theory of mind (ToM) deficits represent an early symptom of the behavioural variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). However, longitudinal data on the natural history of subjects presenting with isolated ToM deficits are lacking. The aim of the study was to verify if isolated ToM deficits represent an at-risk state for prefrontal dysfunction and bvFTD.