Extra-Basal Ganglia Brain Structures Are Related to Motor Reserve in Parkinson's Disease.

Background: The "motor reserve" is an emerging concept based on the discrepancy between the severity of parkinsonism and dopaminergic degeneration; however, the related brain structures have not yet been elucidated.

Objective: We investigated brain structures relevant to the motor reserve in Parkinson's disease (PD) in this study.

Methods: Patients with drug-naïve, early PD were enrolled, who then underwent dopamine transporter (DAT) scan and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).

Daily Exercise Patterns and Their Differences between Parkinson's Disease Patients with and without Postural Instability.

Background: Due to the clinical impact of exercise in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), management should include personalized and effective exercises according to patient's PD stage. We investigated the detailed exercise behaviors of patients with mild to advanced PD and compared their patterns between PD with and without postural instability (PI).

Methods: We enrolled PD patients from September to December 2019.

Motor and Non-motor Symptoms Associated With Exercise Behavior in Parkinson's Disease Patients: Factors Differ Between Patients With and Without Postural Instability.

Exercise is an important treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD). Therefore, recognizing determinants of exercise behavior for PD based on disease stage is essential. We sought to find whether the determinants differ based on presence of postural instability (PI), which is indicative of disease stage in PD.

Extra-basal ganglia iron content and non-motor symptoms in drug-naïve, early Parkinson's disease.

Background: Although iron dyshomeostasis is associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) pathogenesis, the relationship between iron deposition and non-motor involvement in PD is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated basal ganglia and extra-basal ganglia system iron contents and their correlation with non-motor symptoms in drug-naïve, early-stage PD patients.

Methods: We enrolled 14 drug-naïve, early-stage PD patients and 12 age/sex-matched normal controls.

Extracerebellar Signs and Symptoms in 117 Korean Patients with Early-Stage Spinocerebellar Ataxia.

Background And Purpose: Spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) are the most common form of hereditary ataxias. Extracerebellar signs have been well described and are helpful in differentiating the SCA subtypes. However, there are few reports on the early-stage extracerebellar signs in various SCA subtypes.

The changes of exercise pattern and clinical symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease in the era of COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted everyday life of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, but its clinical impact has not been illustrated. In this study, we investigated the change in physical activity and subsequently clinical symptoms of PD during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We enrolled PD patients who were able to ambulate independently and had visited our clinic at Samsung Medical Centre from December 2019 to January 2020 (baseline) and in May 2020 (follow-up during the COVID-19 crisis), and divided them into either 'the sustained exercise group' or 'the reduced exercise group'.

The Dysfunctional Autonomic Function and "Dysfunctional" Fatigue in Drug Naïve Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Fatigue is a common and disabling non-motor symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD). Autonomic dysfunction is suggested as the possible pathophysiology of fatigue, but it has not been investigated in drug-naïve PD patients.

Objective: In the present study, the relationship between fatigue and autonomic dysfunction in drug-naïve PD patients was investigated.

Successful Pallidal Stimulation in a Patient with KMT2B-Related Dystonia.

Although the KMT2B gene was identified as a causative gene for early-onset generalized dystonia, the efficacy of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in KMT2B-related dystonia has not been clearly elucidated. Here, we describe a 28-year-old woman who developed generalized dystonia with developmental delay, microcephaly, short stature, and cognitive decline. She was diagnosed with KMT2B- related dystonia using whole-exome sequencing with a heterozygous frameshift insertion of c.

Sleep and libido in men with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to investigate the relationship between a low libido and objective sleep parameters as well as mood disturbances in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA).

Methods: We enrolled 436 untreated patients who were newly diagnosed with OSA (all male, mean age 42.8 years).

Characteristic lesion pattern and echocardiographic findings in extra-cardiac shunt-related stroke.

Among embolic strokes of undetermined source, under-recognized etiology such as extra-cardiac shunt could be a potential risk factor. We sought to characterize infarction patterns on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) findings in extra-cardiac shunt-related stroke. We enrolled 96 consecutive patients with cryptogenic stroke who had an extra- or intra-cardiac shunt.

Weight Change Is a Characteristic Non-Motor Symptom in Drug-Naïve Parkinson's Disease Patients with Non-Tremor Dominant Subtype: A Nation-Wide Observational Study.

Despite the clinical impact of non-motor symptoms (NMS) in Parkinson's disease (PD), the characteristic NMS in relation to the motor subtypes of PD is not well elucidated. In this study, we enrolled drug-naïve PD patients and compared NMS between PD subtypes. We enrolled 136 drug-naïve, early PD patients and 50 normal controls.

Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy in Congenital Toxoplasmosis: A Case Report.

Toxoplasmosis is a rare disease caused by intracellular protozoan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii. Though most patients with toxoplasmosis are asymptomatic, congenital toxoplasmosis in the fetus can cause ocular involvement such as chorioretinitis and central nervous system disease including intracerebral calcification, nystagmus, hydrocephalus and microcephaly. Also, these brain lesions can cause seizure secondarily.

Surgical treatment of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy in a patient with neurofibromatosis type 1.

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is the most common neurocutaneous disease. Main neurologic manifestations are represented by neoplasms such as optic gliomas, but epilepsy can occur by CNS lesions in less than 10%. Our patient was diagnosed, based on café-au-lait spots and axillary freckles.