Sympathetic and electrochemical skin responses in the assessment of sudomotor function: a comparative study.

Objectives: The sympathetic skin response (SSR) is a well-established test, whereas the electrochemical skin conductance (ESC) is still under evaluation. Our aim was therefore to assess the diagnostic accuracy of ESC to detect abnormal sudomotor function, using SSR as a reference test.

Methods: A cross sectional observational study was performed of 61 neurological patients assessed for possible sudomotor dysfunction and 50 age-matched healthy controls (HC).

Clinical Subtypes of Medication Overuse Headache - Findings From a Large Cohort.

Background: The International Classification of Headache Disorders lists different subtypes of medication overuse headache (MOH), according to the medication overused. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether the different subtypes correspond to clinically distinguishable phenotypes in a large population.

Method: This descriptive cross-sectional observational study included 660 patients with MOH referred to headache centers in Europe and Latin America as a part of the COMOESTAS project.

[Measles: Historical background and current situation].

Measles is still a major cause of child morbidity and mortality. In recent years, it has become a global public health problem, attributed to low vaccination coverage observed in different countries. In order to control it, a highly effective live virus vaccine is available, which was used for the first time in Chile in 1964, covering practically the whole country in a short period of time.

Economic benefits of treating medication-overuse headache - results from the multicenter COMOESTAS project.

Background: Medication-overuse headache is a costly disease for individuals and society.

Objective: To estimate the impact of medication-overuse headache treatment on direct and indirect headache-related health care costs.

Methods: This prospective longitudinal study was part of the COMOESTAS project (COntinuous MOnitoring of Medication Overuse Headache in Europe and Latin America: development and STAndardization of an Alert and decision support System).

Psychological, clinical, and therapeutic predictors of the outcome of detoxification in a large clinical population of medication-overuse headache: A six-month follow-up of the COMOESTAS Project.

Aim: To identify factors that may be predictors of the outcome of a detoxification treatment in medication-overuse headache.

Methods: Consecutive patients entering a detoxification program in six centres in Europe and Latin America were evaluated and followed up for 6 months. We evaluated anxious and depressive symptomatology (though patients with severe psychiatric comorbidity were excluded), quality of life, headache-related disability, headache characteristics, and prophylaxis upon discharge.

Changes in anxiety and depression symptoms associated to the outcome of MOH: A post-hoc analysis of the Comoestas Project.

Aims To evaluate the impact of treatment success on depression and anxiety symptoms in medication-overuse headache (MOH) and whether depression and anxiety can be predictors of treatment outcome. Methods All consecutive patients entering the detoxification program were analysed in a prospective, non-randomised fashion over a six-month period. Depression and anxiety were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.

The added value of an electronic monitoring and alerting system in the management of medication-overuse headache: A controlled multicentre study.

Background Medication-overuse headache (MOH) is a chronic disabling condition associated with a high rate of relapse. Methods We evaluated whether the adoption of electronic-assisted monitoring, advice and communication would improve the outcome over a follow-up of 6 months in a controlled, multicentre, multinational study conducted in six headache centres located in Europe and Latin America. A total of 663 MOH subjects were enrolled and divided into two groups: the Comoestas group was monitored with an electronic diary associated with an alert system and a facilitated communication option, and the Classic group with a paper headache diary.

Medication overuse headache in Europe and Latin America: general demographic and clinical characteristics, referral pathways and national distribution of painkillers in a descriptive, multinational, multicenter study.

Background: Medication overuse headache (MOH) is a very disabling and costly disorder due to indirect costs, medication and healthcare utilization. The aim of the study was to describe general demographic and clinical characteristics of MOH, along with the national referral pathways and national painkillers distribution in several European and Latin American (LA) Countries.

Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional observational study included 669 patients with MOH referred to headache-centers in Europe and LA as a part of the COMOESTAS project.

Clinical and Demographical Characteristics of Patients with Medication Overuse Headache in Argentina and Chile: Analysis of the Latin American Section of COMOESTAS Project.

Background: Data on the characteristics of Medication Overuse Headache (MOH) in Latin American (LA) are scarce. Here we report the demographic and clinical features of the MOH patients from Argentina and Chile enrolled in the multinational COMOESTAS project in the period 2008-2010.

Methods: The LA population was formed by 240 MOH subjects, 110 from Chile and 130 from Argentina, consecutively attending the local headache centres.

Andrographolide attenuates skeletal muscle dystrophy in mdx mice and increases efficiency of cell therapy by reducing fibrosis.

Background: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is characterized by the absence of the cytoskeletal protein dystrophin, muscle wasting, increased transforming growth factor type beta (TGF-β) signaling, and fibrosis. At the present time, the only clinically validated treatments for DMD are glucocorticoids. These drugs prolong muscle strength and ambulation of patients for a short term only and have severe adverse effects.

A consensus protocol for the management of medication-overuse headache: Evaluation in a multicentric, multinational study.

Introduction: The management of medication-overuse headache (MOH) is often difficult and no specific guidelines are available as regards the most practical and effective approaches. In this study we defined and tested a consensus protocol for the management of MOH on a large population of patients distributed in different countries.

Subjects And Methods: The protocol was based on evidence from the literature and on consolidated expertise of the members of the consensus group.

Disability, anxiety and depression associated with medication-overuse headache can be considerably reduced by detoxification and prophylactic treatment. Results from a multicentre, multinational study (COMOESTAS project).

Objective: The objective of this article is to investigate whether headache-related disability, depression and anxiety can be reduced by detoxification and prophylactic treatment in patients with medication-overuse headache (MOH).

Methods: Patients with MOH were included from six centres in Europe and Latin America in a seven-month cohort study. Before and six months after treatment, the degree of disability was measured by the Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS) questionnaire, while anxiety and depression were measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).

[Mitochondrial DNA heteroplasmy of the m.3243A>G mutation in maternally inherited diabetes and deafness].

Maternally Inherited Diabetes and Deafness (MIDD) is caused by mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), mainly m.3243A>G. Severity, onset and clinical phenotype of MIDD patients are partially determined by the proportion of mutant mitochondrial DNA copies in each cell and tissue (heteroplasmy).

Pure autonomic failure with cold induced sweating.

Pure autonomic failure (PAF) is a progressive autonomic neurodegenerative disorder. Cold induced sweating occurred in syndromes with mutations in CRLF1 and CLCF1 genes and in a case of cervical dissection. A patient with PAF developed sweating induced by cool ambient temperatures.

Cervical disc herniation producing acute Brown-Sequard syndrome: dynamic changes documented by intraoperative neuromonitoring.

Introduction: Brown-Sequard syndrome is an incomplete spinal cord lesion characterized by ipsilateral loss of motor function and contralateral loss of pain and temperature sensitivity, reflecting a hemi-compression or hemi-section of the spinal cord. Cervical disc herniation is an exceptional cause of this syndrome.

Material And Methods: We report a case of cervical disc herniation causing Brown-Sequard syndrome in a patient with an unusually rapid neurological deterioration associated to cervical extension, which was documented by neuromonitoring.

[Stem cells therapy in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis treatment. A critical view].

Introduction: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease. At present, there are not curative therapies for ALS. Pathogenic and progression mechanisms suggest the existence of oxidative stress, abnormal intracellular protein aggregation, mitochondrial dysfunction, axonal transport impairment, impairment of trophic support, altered glial cell function, and glutamate excitoxicity.

[Orthostatic tremor causing postural instability in Parkinson disease: report of one case].

Parkinson disease (PD) is a movement disorder characterized clinically by the variable combination of rigidity, bradykinesia, rest tremor and postural instability. Usually postural instability is a late-onset manifestation and is frequently associated with axial manifestations and with a poor prognosis. We report a 67-year-old female with orthostatic tremor as the etiology of her postural instability.

Transient orthostatic hypertension after partial cerebellar resection.

An effective baroreflex and autonomic pathways normally ensure that blood pressure (BP) is satisfactorily maintained, despite various stimuli in daily life that include postural changes. We describe a 20-year-old man with a cerebellar hematoma and acute hydrocephalus, who had a vermian and partial right cerebellar hemisphere resection followed by orthostatic hypertension (OHT) and mutism. On standing his systolic BP rose over 60 mmHg with a fivefold increase in plasma noradrenaline.

Intracellular amyloid formation in muscle cells of Abeta-transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans: determinants and physiological role in copper detoxification.

Background: The amyloid beta-peptide is a ubiquitous peptide, which is prone to aggregate forming soluble toxic oligomers and insoluble less-toxic aggregates. The intrinsic and external/environmental factors that determine Abeta aggregation in vivo are poorly understood, as well as the cellular meaning of this process itself. Genetic data as well as cell biological and biochemical evidence strongly support the hypothesis that Abeta is a major player in the onset and development of Alzheimer's disease.

Inclusion body myositis: a view from the Caenorhabditis elegans muscle.

Inclusion body myositis (IBM) is the most common myopathy in people over 50 years of age. It involves an inflammatory process that, paradoxically, does not respond to anti-inflammatory drugs. A key feature of IBM is the presence of amyloid-beta-peptide aggregates called amyloid deposits, which are also characteristic of Alzheimer's disease.

Skeletal muscle cells express the profibrotic cytokine connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2), which induces their dedifferentiation.

Fibrotic disorders are typified by excessive connective tissue and extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition that precludes normal healing processes of different tissues. Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) seems to be involved in the fibrotic response. Several muscular dystrophies are characterized by a progressive weakness and wasting of the musculature, and by extensive fibrosis.

Increase in decorin and biglycan in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: role of fibroblasts as cell source of these proteoglycans in the disease.

Fibrosis is a common pathological feature observed in muscles of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Biglycan and decorin are small chondroitin/dermatan sulfate proteoglycans in the muscle extracellular matrix (ECM) that belong to the family of structurally related proteoglycans called small leucine-rich repeat proteins. Decorin is considered an anti-fibrotic agent, preventing the process by blocking TGF-beta activity.

Cell surface and gene expression regulation molecules in dystrophinopathy: mdx vs. Duchenne.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is secondary to loss-of-function mutations in the dystrophin gene. The causes underlying the progression of DMD, differential muscle involvement, and the discrepancies in phenotypes among species with the same genetic defect are not understood. The mdx mouse, an animal model with dystrophin mutation, has a milder phenotype.

[Cerebrovascular disease in a Neurologic Intermediate Care Unit in Chile. Analysis of 459 consecutive patients].

Background: Stroke is the second cause of mortality and the first cause of morbidity in Chile and worldwide. Nowadays there is a major interest in introducing new therapies applying evidence based medicine for these patients.

Aim: To describe the clinical profile of patients attended after a stroke, to determine stroke subtypes and their risk factors.