Relationship between sodium and diffusion MRI metrics in multiple sclerosis.

Sodium MRI can measure sodium concentrations in people with multiple sclerosis, but the extent to which these alterations reflect metabolic dysfunction in the absence of tissue damage or neuroaxonal loss remains uncertain. Increases in total sodium concentration and extracellular sodium concentration are believed to be indicative of tissue disruption and extracellular space expansion. Conversely, increase in intracellular sodium concentration may represent early and transient responses to neuronal insult, preceding overt tissue damage.

Home-based, computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation for attention in pediatric onset multiple sclerosis: a randomized, multicenter pilot study.

Objective: Cognitive impairment affects approximately 30% of pediatric onset Multiple Sclerosis (POMS) patients with a negative impact on everyday life. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a home-based, computer-assisted training of attention in patients with POMS.

Methods: This was a randomized double-blind study.

Toward Quantitative Neurology: Sensors to Assess Motor Deficits in Dementia.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder which primarily involves memory and cognitive functions. It is increasingly recognized that motor involvement is also a common and significant aspect of AD, contributing to functional decline and profoundly impacting quality of life. Motor impairment, either at early or later stages of cognitive disorders, can be considered as a proxy measure of cognitive impairment, and technological devices can provide objective measures for both diagnosis and prognosis purposes.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for multiple sclerosis.

Over the past decades, several effective disease-modifying therapies have been approved for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS); however, achieving long-term disease remission remains challenging, particularly for patients with aggressive forms of MS. Intense immunosuppression followed by hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has been increasingly explored as a treatment strategy for aggressive MS. To date, more than 1800 MS patients have undergone HSCT worldwide.

Introduction to HSCT for neurologic diseases.

The use of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) as a treatment option for severe autoimmune diseases originated from animal studies, with promising results in human patients reported through clinical responses seen in individuals who underwent HSCT for other reasons. Currently, over 3800 HSCT procedures have been performed specifically for autoimmune disorders and the procedure has become a standard of care for conditions such as multiple sclerosis and systemic sclerosis. Despite the growing interest among the neurology community in using HSCT to treat refractory autoimmune disorders, several obstacles must still be overcome for the procedure to become widely accepted.