Publications by authors named "Laura Brambilla"

Background: Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a chronic pain syndrome more prevalent in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), often presenting with earlier onset and more intense pain compared to non-MS patients. The management of TN in MS is complex due to the interaction between demyelination and neurovascular factors.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 35 MS patients treated for TN with 65 procedures between 2010 and 2023 was conducted.

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This study presents a preliminary examination of the effects of environment changes post-excavation on heavily corroded archaeological Roman iron nails using neutron tomography and image registration techniques. Roman nails were exposed to either a high relative humidity environment, or fast thermal drying as primary experiments to show the power of this imaging technique to monitor and quantify the structural changes of corroded metal artifacts. This research employed a series of pre- and post-treatment tomography acquisitions (time-series) complemented by advanced image registration methods.

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Introduction: Cannabinoids are approved for spasticity and pain in multiple sclerosis (MS). In 2017 the prevalence of current users in the Italian general population was 10.2%, while data on Italian MS patients are limited.

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Purpose: Medical Device Regulation (EU) 2017/745 requires the principal mode of action (MoA) to be demonstrated by experimental data. The MoA of Ialuril Prefill (combined as HA+CS+CaCl: sodium hyaluronate 1.6%, sodium chondroitin sulphate 2% w/v and calcium chloride 0.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study involving 68 multiple sclerosis patients treated with alemtuzumab tracked the production of T and B lymphocytes over a 48-month period.
  • Initially, new T lymphocyte levels dropped significantly three months after treatment, but by 36 months, they peaked, indicating a strong recovery of thymic function.
  • B cell production also increased, exceeding baseline levels as soon as three months after starting the treatment, with variations in cellular recovery patterns unrelated to factors like age, sex, previous treatments, or disease outcomes.
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Background: Spasticity and urinary disturbances can profoundly impact the daily lives of persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). Cannabis has been associated with improvement in sphincteric disturbances. To our knowledge, few studies have evaluated the effect of nabiximols oromucosal spray (Sativex®) on urinary disturbances by instrumental methods.

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The urogenital microbiota is dominated by that, together with , creates a physiological barrier counteracting pathogen infections. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a multi-strain probiotic formulation ( PBS067, LRH020, and subsp. BL050) to inhibit adhesion and growth of urogenital pathogens.

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  • IgG antibodies against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG-IgG) are linked to myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein associated disorders (MOGAD), which may flare up over time, but there's limited info on predicting these relapses.* -
  • This study analyzed 102 MOGAD patients by measuring MOG-IgG titres over time and found that higher titres during remission indicated a greater risk of future relapses.* -
  • The findings suggest that monitoring MOG-IgG levels could help identify patients who might need long-term treatment to prevent relapse, especially those with persistent positivity or high remission titres.*
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Objectives: To investigate the relationship between N20-P25 peak-to-peak amplitude (N20p-P25p) of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) and the occurrence of abnormalities of the peripheral and/or central sensory pathways and of myoclonus/epilepsy, in 308 patients with increased SEPs amplitude from upper limb stimulation.

Methods: We compared cortical response (N20p-P25p) in different groups of patients identified by demographic, clinical, and neurophysiological factors and performed a cluster analysis for classifying the natural occurrence of subgroups of patients.

Results: No significant differences of N20p-P25p were found among different age-dependent groups, and in patients with or without PNS/CNS abnormalities of sensory pathways, while myoclonic/epileptic patients showed higher N20p-P25p than other groups.

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Multi-light acquisitions and modeling are well-studied techniques for characterizing surface geometry, widely used in the cultural heritage field. Current systems that are used to perform this kind of acquisition are mainly free-form or dome-based. Both of them have constraints in terms of reproducibility, limitations on the size of objects being acquired, speed, and portability.

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Background: Patients with neuroimmunological conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS) often receive disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) or immunosuppressants which may reduce the response to vaccines. BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) is the first COVID-19 vaccine authorized in Italy. Its clinical efficacy and serological response were not evaluated in MS patients receiving DMTs or immunosuppressants.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to identify risk factors for contracting SARS-CoV-2 in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) using data from the Italian MS Register (IMSR).
  • A case-control design was used, comparing PwMS with confirmed COVID-19 to those without, evaluating demographic factors and the impact of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) through logistic regression models.
  • Results indicated that younger age, female sex, specific comorbidities, and certain DMTs, especially natalizumab, significantly increased the risk of COVID-19 in PwMS.
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Background And Purpose: Real-world data on alemtuzumab are limited and do not provide evidence of its effectiveness after various disease-modifying therapies (DMTs). Our aim was to provide real-world data on the impact of clinical variables and previous DMTs on clinical response to alemtuzumab.

Methods: Sixteen Italian multiple sclerosis centers retrospectively included patients who started alemtuzumab from January 2015 to December 2018, and recorded demographics, previous therapies, washout duration, relapses, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score, and magnetic resonance imaging data.

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Primary-progressive (PP) and secondary-progressive (SP) multiple sclerosis (MS) are characterized by neurological deficits caused by a permanent neuronal damage, clinically quantified by the expanded disability status scale (EDSS). Neuronal tissue damage is also mediated by immune infiltrates producing soluble factors, such as cytokines and chemokines, which are released in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The mechanisms regulating the production of a soluble factor are not completely defined.

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Gait deterioration caused by prolonged walking represents one of the main consequences of multiple sclerosis (MS). This study aims at proposing quantitative indices to measure the gait deterioration effects. The experimental protocol consisted in a 6-min walking test and it involved nine patients with MS and twenty-six healthy subjects.

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Objective: To report clinical and laboratory characteristics, treatment, and clinical outcomes of patients admitted for neurologic diseases with and without coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Methods: In this retrospective, single-center cohort study, we included all adult inpatients with confirmed COVID-19 admitted to a neuro-COVID unit beginning February 21, 2020, who had been discharged or died by April 5, 2020. Demographic, clinical, treatment, and laboratory data were extracted from medical records and compared (false discovery rate corrected) to those of neurologic patients without COVID-19 admitted in the same period.

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Objective: To evaluate disease activity according to rituximab (RTX) induction and maintenance regimens in a multicenter real-life dataset of NMOSD patients.

Methods: This is an observational-retrospective multicentre study including patients with NMOSD treated with RTX in 21 Italian and 1 Swiss centers. Demographics, relapse rate and adverse events over the follow-up were summarized taking into account induction strategy (two-1 g infusions at a 15-day interval (IND-A) vs.

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Background: Rituximab, an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody leading to B lymphocyte depletion, is increasingly used as an off-label treatment option for multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness and safety of rituximab in relapsing-remitting (RR) and progressive MS.

Methods: This is a multicenter, retrospective study on consecutive MS patients treated off-label with rituximab in 22 Italian and 1 Swiss MS centers.

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This cross-sectional study aims to identify the predictors of work-related difficulties in a sample of employed persons with multiple sclerosis as addressed with the Multiple Sclerosis Questionnaire for Job Difficulties. Hierarchical linear regression analysis was conducted to identify predictors of work difficulties: predictors included demographic variables (age, formal education), disease duration and severity, perceived disability and psychological variables (cognitive dysfunction, depression and anxiety). The targets were the questionnaire's overall score and its six subscales.

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Background: Sympathovagal imbalance has been associated with poor prognosis in chronic diseases, but there is conflicting evidence in multiple sclerosis.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the autonomic nervous system dysfunction correlation with inflammation and progression in multiple sclerosis.

Methods: Heart rate variability was analysed in 120 multiple sclerosis patients and 60 healthy controls during supine rest and head-up tilt test; the normalised units of low frequency and high frequency power were considered to assess sympathetic and vagal components, respectively.

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Purpose: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a progressive neurological disease characterized by an unpredictable risk to develop relevant disability over time. Few studies focused on the core psychological features of difficulties in adjustment to MS. This qualitative study aims to explore the illness experience of people with difficulties in adjustment to MS, paying more attention to both illness representation and shifting perspective.

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