Long-term results of stem cell transplantation for MS: a single-center experience.

Objective: To report long-term results of a phase I/II study conducted in a single center in order to investigate the effect of hemopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods: Clinical and MRI outcomes of 35 patients with aggressive MS treated with HSCT are reported after a median follow-up period of 11 (range 2-15) years.

Results: Disease progression-free survival (PFS) at 15 years is 44% for patients with active CNS disease and 10% for those without (p=0.

Idiopathic scoliosis: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study.

Study Design: Various neurophysiological parameters of the motor system were investigated in 43 female patients with Idiopathic Scoliosis (IS) and 31 sex and age matched controls using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

Objective: To investigate whether asymmetries in excitatory and inhibitory brain processes, as studied by TMS, are a causative factor in IS.

Summary Of Background Data: Previous studies associated IS with pathological asymmetries of the cerebral cortex and the brain stem at the level of the corticospinal tracts.

Autologous stem cell transplantation for progressive multiple sclerosis: update of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation autoimmune diseases working party database.

Over the last decade, hematopoietic stem cells transplantation (HSCT) has been increasingly used in the treatment of severe progressive autoimmune diseases. We report a retrospective survey of 183 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, recorded in the database of the European Blood and Marrow Transplantation Group (EBMT). Transplant data were available from 178 patients who received an autologous graft.

The effect of valproate on silent period and corticomotor excitability.

Objective: To investigate, by transcranial magnetic stimulation, the effects of valproate on silent period and corticomotor excitability.

Methods: thirty patients with generalized epilepsy were studied at baseline, and re-examined 4 (S1) and 25 (S2) weeks after the administration of valproate (mean dose: 1040 +/- 284 mg). Transcranial magnetic stimulation was performed with a figure of eight coil (recording, first dorsal interosseous).

Lorazepam-induced effects on silent period and corticomotor excitability.

TMS studies on the CNS effects of benzodiazepines have provided contradictory results. The objective of this study is to describe the effects of lorazepam on silent period (SP) and corticomotor excitability. Twelve healthy male subjects (median age 35 years) were studied at baseline, following i.

[The contribution of nuclear medicine procedures in the diagnosis of dementia of Alzheimer's type. Imaging beta amyloid plaques].

Pathogenesis of dementia of Alzheimer's type (DAT) is unknown. Progressive deposition of beta-amyloid plaques (beta-AlphaPs) is one of the major pathological features of DAT and precedes cognitive decline in these patients. Noninvasive detection of beta-AlphaPs could, therefore, may be a potential diagnostic test for the early detection of DAT patients.

A comparison of the dietary and total intake of micronutrients in a group of pregnant Greek women with the Dietary Reference Intakes.

Objective: We compared the dietary and total (diet and supplement) intake of micronutrients with the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) from the USA in a population of pregnant Greek women.

Methods: Two hundred pregnant women participated in a nutritional survey, 98 in the second trimester and 102 in the third trimester in a random sampling. To examine dietary intake we used two questionnaires, the nutritional questionnaire for pregnant women from the California Department of Health Services, and a semi-quantitative questionnaire (Walter Willet) with modifications for use in Greece.

Acute respiratory failure and sleep-disordered breathing in Arnold-Chiari malformation.

We report on the case of a 32-year-old man who was admitted after an episode of acute respiratory failure. Clinical and laboratory investigations revealed nocturnal hypoventilation with predominately obstructive sleep apneas accompanied by lower cranial nerve palsies, cerebellar and mild pyramidal signs. Magnetic resonance imaging disclosed Arnold-Chiari type I malformation with syringomyelia.

Endothelial function markers in parkinsonian patients with hyperhomocysteinemia.

Hyperhomocysteinemia is considered a risk factor for vascular disease causing endothelial damage and consequently atherogenesis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of elevated homocysteine on certain biochemical markers of endothelial function in patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). Blood homocysteine levels were assessed in 57 PD patients and 40 matched normal controls.

Add-on topiramate in the treatment of refractory partial-onset epilepsy: clinical experience of outpatient epilepsy clinics from 11 general hospitals.

An open, prospective, observational study was performed to assess efficacy and adverse-event profile of topiramate as add-on therapy in epilepsy. Outpatient neurology clinics from 11 general hospitals in Greece participated in the study. In total, 211 patients with treatment resistant partial-onset seizures who met the inclusion criteria, were studied.

Changes in blood neurotransmitter and steroid levels during evoked vertigo.

Hypothesis And Background: Experimental evidence suggests that steroids as well as various neurotransmitters are critically involved in the functioning of the vestibular system in health and disease. Yet there are no pertinent human data. We hypothesized that changes in the serum levels of cortisol and plasma levels of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters may occur during evoked vertigo.

The repeatability of corticomotor threshold measurements.

Threshold (Th) is a neurophysiological parameter frequently used in TMS studies. The present study was designed to investigate the repeatability of the Th measurements by reexamining healthy subjects over various time points. Overall, 82 subjects (median age: 19 years, range: 12-65) entered the study.

Frequency distribution of dextromethorphan O-demethylation in a Greek population.

Objective: To determine the CYP2D6 phenotype in a Greek population by using dextromethorphan (DM) as a probe drug.

Methods: DM (30 mg) was given orally to 102 unrelated Greek subjects and 8-hour urine samples were collected. Concentrations of DM and its metabolite dextrorphan (DX) were determined using a validated HPLC assay.

Silent period to transcranial magnetic stimulation: construction and properties of stimulus-response curves in healthy volunteers.

Silent period (SP) is widely used in transcranial magnetic stimulation studies. Methodologically, SP is usually elicited at stimulus intensities corresponding to a certain percentage of corticomotor threshold. Because this approach might lead to factitious SP changes, the present study was designed to develop, in a stepwise manner, a method for investigating SP independently of corticomotor threshold.

Neuropsychological EEG activation in patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy.

We studied the effects of higher mental activity on the EEG, i.e., neuropsychological EEG activation (NPA), in patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME).

Auditory event-related potentials in Parkinson's disease in relation to cognitive ability.

Auditory event-related potentials were evaluated in 45 nondemented patients with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease and 40 matched normal controls. All patients were neuropsychologically assessed by means of the Raven Colored Progressive Matrices, four subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale (Digit Span Forward, Logical Memory, Visual Memory, Associate Learning), and the Wisconsin Card-sorting Test. The P300 component of the auditory event-related potentials was significantly prolonged in the patients with Parkinson's disease.

Sensorineural hearing loss and word deafness caused by a mesencephalic lesion: clinicoelectrophysiologic correlations.

Objective: To assess the role of inferior colliculi as a generator of Wave V of brainstem auditory evoked potentials and in modulating the olivocochlear efferent auditory system.

Study Design: Case review.

Setting: University and tertiary referral centers.

High-dose immunosuppression and autologous hematopoietic stem cell rescue for severe multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis is a relatively common and seriously disabling disease of autoimmune pathogenesis, for which there is currently no cure. Available therapies include immunomodulating agents and standard-dose immunosuppressants, which may be helpful but are not curative. Recently, studies in animal models have indicated that control of autoimmune disease can be obtained by high-dose immunosuppression followed by hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (rescue).

Myasthenia gravis: correlation of age with clinical course and anti-AChr antibody levels.

We studied the significance of age as a factor affecting prognosis and anti-AChR antibody levels in myasthenia gravis, comparing patients with symptom onset before 50 (37 patients) and at or after 50 (33 patients). More of the older patients, compared to younger ones (69.9% versus 32.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for multiple sclerosis. A retrospective multicenter study.

Rationale: Phase I/II studies of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for multiple sclerosis ( MS) were initiated, based on results of experimental transplantation in animal models of multiple sclerosis and clinical observations in patients treated concomitantly for malignant disease.

Patients: Eighty-five patients with progressive MS were treated with autologous HSCT in 20 centers and reported to the autoimmune disease working party of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT). 52 (61 %) were female, median age was 39 [20-58] years.

Greek validation of the seven-minute screening battery for Alzheimer's disease in the elderly.

The increasing prevalence ofAlzheimer's disease (AD) suggests that there is an increasing need for accurate and easily administered screening instruments. The Seven-Minute Screen is a neurocognitive screening battery consisting of four brief tests (enhanced cued recall, temporal orientation, verbal fluency, and clock drawing). We studied 55 outpatients with probable AD, 40 healthy volunteers of comparable age, sex, and education and 31 elderly patients with other neuropsychological disorders.

Amantadine sulfate infusion effect on N30 somatosensory evoked potentials in Parkinson's disease.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of amantadine sulfate infusion on the N30 component of the median nerve short-latency somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Twenty patients with advanced PD and severe motor fluctuations received a 6-day course of amantadine sulfate infusion (400 mg/day) plus their usual levodopa medication. Patients were assessed clinically by means of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS-III and -IV).

Extrapyramidal symptoms and signs in Alzheimer's disease: prevalence and correlation with the first symptom.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and clinical correlates of extrapyramidal signs (EPS) in outpatients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD); to examine the appearance of EPS in association with the first symptom that led the patient or family to ask for medical help; to examine the association of the prevalence of EPS with gender, age at onset of the disease, duration of the disease, severity of dementia, functional disability, and potential use of neuroleptics; and to address the issue of the possible role of EPS as a predictive factor for the clinical course of the disease.

Patients And Methods: We examined 126 patients meeting NINCDS-ADRDA* criteria for probable AD and 29 healthy, nondementia controls of comparable age and gender. Thirteen of the patients taking neuroleptics at the time of the examination were excluded from the main study group and formed a separate subgroup of AD/neuroleptics-positive.

Correlation of rCBF (SPECT), CSF tau, and cognitive function in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer's type, other types of dementia, and control subjects.

Background: The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) during life remains difficult and a definite diagnosis of AD relies on histopathological confirmation at post-mortem or by cerebral biopsy. It is well known that levels of tau proteins are consistently and significantly increased in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of Alzheimer's patients versus levels in normal controls. However, the sole use of this biochemical marker as a test for AD is hampered by mediocre specificity, since tau concentrations may also be elevated in certain other neurological disorders (OND).