Aspiration Screening in Motor Neuron Disease: Preliminary Results From Utilization of the Yale Swallow Protocol.

Purpose Dysphagia is a common symptom experienced by patients with motor neuron disease (MND). The Yale Swallow Protocol (YSP) is a validated screening instrument for identifying patients at risk for aspiration. The purpose of this exploratory cross-sectional, multicenter study was to investigate how the YSP results in identifying aspiration risk in patients with MND in comparison with aspiration observed during a videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS).

A Shortage of Neurologists - We Must Act Now: A Report From the AAN 2019 Transforming Leaders Program.

In nearly every US state, a large mismatch exists between the need for neurologists and neurologic services and the availability of neurologists to provide these services. Patients with neurologic disorders are rising in prevalence and require access to high-level care to reduce disability. The current neurology mismatch reduces access to care, worsens patient outcomes, and erodes career satisfaction and quality of life for neurologists as they face increasingly insurmountable demands.

Effects of mexiletine on hyperexcitability in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Preliminary findings from a small phase II randomized controlled trial.

Background: To collect preliminary data on the effects of mexiletine on cortical and axonal hyperexcitability in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in a phase 2 double-blind randomized controlled trial.

Methods: Twenty ALS subjects were randomized to placebo and mexiletine 300 or 600 mg daily for 4 wk and assessed by transcranial magnetic stimulation and axonal excitability studies. The primary endpoint was change in resting motor threshold (RMT).

Thymectomy may not be associated with clinical improvement in MuSK myasthenia gravis.

Introduction: A randomized trial demonstrated benefit from thymectomy in nonthymomatous acetylcholine receptor (AChR)-antibody positive myasthenia gravis (MG). Uncontrolled observational and histologic studies suggest thymectomy may not be efficacious in anti-muscle-specific kinase (MuSK)-MG.

Methods: The therapeutic impact of thymectomy was evaluated from data collected for a multicenter, retrospective blinded review of rituximab in MuSK-MG.

Rituximab as treatment for anti-MuSK myasthenia gravis: Multicenter blinded prospective review.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of rituximab in treatment of anti-muscle-specific kinase (MuSK) myasthenia gravis (MG).

Methods: This was a multicenter, blinded, prospective review, comparing anti-MuSK-positive patients with MG treated with rituximab to those not treated with rituximab. The primary clinical endpoint was the Myasthenia Gravis Status and Treatment Intensity (MGSTI), a novel outcome that combines the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) postintervention status (PIS) and the number and dosages of other immunosuppressant therapies used.