Acute neurology: a suggested approach.

Acute neurological problems are common, accounting for 10-20% of medical admissions. In the coming years, there will be increased neurology involvement in the acute care of these patients complementing traditional outpatient-based services. Models of acute neurology are reliant on close collaboration between the emergency department, acute medicine and neurology and should integrate with existing hyperacute stroke pathways.

Allocentric Spatial Memory Testing Predicts Conversion from Mild Cognitive Impairment to Dementia: An Initial Proof-of-Concept Study.

The hippocampus is one of the first regions to exhibit neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and knowledge of its role in allocentric spatial memory may therefore aid early diagnosis of AD. The 4 Mountains Test (4MT) is a short and easily administered test of spatial memory based on the cognitive map theory of hippocampal function as derived from rodent single cell and behavioral studies. The 4MT has been shown in previous cross-sectional studies to be sensitive and specific for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD.

Fifty Percent Prevalence of Extracampine Hallucinations in Parkinson's Disease Patients.

Extracampine hallucinations (EH), the sense of a presence or fleeting movement in the absence of an associated visual percept, have been reported in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients but their prevalence, characteristics, and temporal relationship to visual hallucinations (VH) remain unclear. Given that, VH are predictive of cognitive impairment in PD, improved understanding of EH may have significant prognostic implications. The objective of this study is to evaluate the prevalence and characteristics of EH in a large unselected population with PD and to assess the temporal relationship between EH, VH, and memory decline.

Simultaneous PET-MRI Studies of the Concordance of Atrophy and Hypometabolism in Syndromic Variants of Alzheimer's Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia: An Extended Case Series.

Background: Simultaneous PET-MRI is used to compare patterns of cerebral hypometabolism and atrophy in six different dementia syndromes.

Objectives: The primary objective was to conduct an initial exploratory study regarding the concordance of atrophy and hypometabolism in syndromic variants of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The secondary objective was to determine the effect of image analysis methods on determination of atrophy and hypometabolism.

Autoimmune limbic encephalitis presenting as relapsing psychosis.

A 34-year-old woman with a history of relapsing psychosis presented with a 15-month history of impassivity and social withdrawal associated with cognitive impairment. The subsequent recurrence of psychomotor agitation, auditory hallucinations and delusional thinking resulted in an emergency admission under psychiatric services. Initial investigations, including MRI of the brain and cerebrospinal fluid studies were unremarkable and she was treated for a primary psychiatric disorder.

Sheehan syndrome associated with raised intracranial pressure.

Unlabelled: Intracranial hypertension (IH) has been associated with hypocortisolism caused by either primary adrenocortical insufficiency or corticosteroid withdrawal.

Method: The authors describe a case of IH in association with Sheehan syndrome (SS) in a postpartum 29-year-old woman.

Results: The clinical manifestations of IH resolved with corticosteroid replacement.