Athletes with neurologic disease.

Neurologic disease does not discriminate, even among athletes. Common neurologic diseases among athletes include multiple sclerosis, seizures, headaches, and sleep disorders. Although concrete guidelines for sport participation among athletes with neurologic diseases do not exist, evidence-based and consensus statements can aid healthcare providers in determining whether and to what extent such athletes should participate in sports.

Interdisciplinary treatment of post-concussion and post-traumatic headaches.

Introduction: Chronic headaches following concussion are debilitating and difficult to treat. Commonly employed initial therapeutic modalities include pharmacologic, physical, and psychological interventions. Despite these efforts, a subset of patients with chronic pain remains.

Managing patients with neurologic disorders who participate in sports activities.

Purpose Of Review: Patients with neurologic conditions have been discouraged from participating in organized sports because of theoretical detrimental effects of these activities to their underlying conditions. The purpose of this article is to review known risks associated with three specific clinical conditions most commonly encountered in a sports neurology clinic (epilepsy, migraines, and multiple sclerosis and to add to the neurologist's toolkit suggested interventions regarding management of athletes with these disorders.

Recent Findings: Increased participation in sports and athletics has positive benefits for patients with neurologic conditions and can be safely integrated into the lives of these patients with proper supervision from their treating neurologists.

Sports neurology topics in neurologic practice: A survey of AAN members.

We sought to assess neurologists' interest in sports neurology and learn about their experience in treating sports-related neurologic conditions. A survey was sent to a random sample of American Academy of Neurology members. A majority of members (77%) see at least some patients with sports-related neurologic issues.

Advanced neuroimaging of mild traumatic brain injury.

This article focuses on advancements in neuroimaging techniques, compares the advantages of each of the modalities in the evaluation of mild traumatic brain injury, and discusses their contribution to our understanding of the pathophysiology as it relates to prognosis. Advanced neuroimaging techniques discussed include anatomic/structural imaging techniques, such as diffusion tensor imaging and susceptibility-weighted imaging, and functional imaging techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, perfusion-weighted imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and positron emission tomography.

Transcranial Doppler investigation of hemodynamic alterations associated with blunt cervical vascular injuries in trauma patients.

Objectives: Blunt cervical vascular injuries, often missed with current screening methods, have substantial morbidity and mortality, and there is a need for improved screening. Elucidation of cerebral hemodynamic alterations may facilitate serial bedside monitoring and improved management. Thus, the objective of this study was to define cerebral flow alterations associated with single blunt cervical vascular injuries using transcranial Doppler sonography and subsequent Doppler waveform analyses in a trauma population.

Transcranial Doppler velocities in a large, healthy population.

Background: Transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasonography has been extensively used in the evaluation and management of patients with cerebrovascular disease since the clinical application was first described in 1982 by Aaslid and colleagues TCD is a painless, safe, and noninvasive diagnostic technique that measures blood flow velocity in various cerebral arteries. Numerous commercially available TCD devices are currently approved for use worldwide, and TCD is recognized to have an established clinical value for a variety of clinical indications and settings. Although many studies have reported normal values, there have been few recently, and none to include a large cohort of healthy subjects across age, race, and gender.

Cerebrovascular dynamics and vascular endothelial growth factor in acute mountain sickness.

Objective: To determine if serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and ultrasonic monitoring of vascular dynamics with dynamic vascular analysis at sea level and high altitude correlate with acute mountain sickness symptoms.

Methods: Nine volunteers participated in a staged ascent from sea level to 4300 m undergoing complete transcranial Doppler studies with dynamic vascular analysis. Serum VEGF levels, Lake Louise scores, Spielberger-1 scores, Subjective Exercise Experiences Scale positive scores, and Symptom Checklist-90 surveys were collected after 24 hours at each altitude.

Differentiating vascular pathophysiological states by objective analysis of flow dynamics.

Background And Purpose: There is an unmet need to classify cerebrovascular conditions physiologically and to assess cerebrovascular system performance. The authors hypothesized that by simultaneously considering the dynamic parameters of flow velocity, acceleration, and pulsatility index (PI) (impedance) in individual Doppler spectrum waveforms, they could develop an objective method to elucidate the pathophysiology of vascular conditions and classify cerebrovascular disorders. This method, dynamic vascular analysis (DVA), is described.