Clinical utility of F-fluorodopa positron emission tomography in the movement disorder clinic: an Australian experience.

Background: Differentiating idiopathic Parkinson disease (iPD) from other causes of tremor and parkinsonism based on clinical grounds can be challenging, particularly early in the course of disease or in the case of atypical clinical presentations. F-fluorodopa (F-DOPA) is a positron emission tomography (PET) radioligand that can be used to demonstrate the presence and pattern of striatal presynaptic dopaminergic deficit and, thus, assist in the diagnosis of iPD and related disorders.

Aims: To determine the clinical utility of F-DOPA PET in an Australian movement disorder clinic setting.

A Heat Sensitivity Scale for People with Parkinson's Disease.

Background: People living with Parkinson's disease (PD) commonly experience heat sensitivity-worsening symptoms and restricted daily activities in heat.

Objective: This study aimed to develop a scale of heat sensitivity for people with PD.

Methods: Through a search of the scientific literature and online forums, we developed 41 items relating to experiences of heat for people with PD to assess heat sensitivity.

Positive signs from the history as an aid for early diagnosis in functional movement disorders: The prospective TASMAN study.

Background And Purpose: There has been a concerted move in recent times to shift from an exclusionary to a positive diagnosis of functional movement disorders (FMDs). To date, most of the focus has been on defining positive physical signs. Here the focus was on the diagnostic specificity of specific symptoms and patient characteristics.

Lived experience of driving in individuals with functional neurological disorder.

Background: Functional neurological disorder (FND) is a common neurological diagnosis that encapsulates a range of incapacitating clinical presentations. These include functional seizures, movement disorders, and sensory disturbances. Safe driving requires both cognitive skills and physical abilities, which may be impacted by FND symptoms.

A Critical Appraisal of the Whack-a-Mole and Swivel Chair Signs in the Diagnosis of Functional Movement Disorders.

Background: The demonstration of positive signs during neurological examination is a cornerstone of the diagnosis of functional movement disorders, however, the available data supporting the diagnostic value of some of these signs is limited.

Objectives: To determine the diagnostic value (sensitivity and specificity) of the "whack-a-mole" (WAM) and "swivel chair" (SC) tests in patients with functional movement disorders (FMD).

Methods: We enrolled patients with functional and organic movements in the WAM test if they exhibited tremor, dystonia, myoclonus, chorea, or tics.

Anomalies in the review process and interpretation of the evidence in the NICE guideline for chronic fatigue syndrome and myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is a disabling long-term condition of unknown cause. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a guideline in 2021 that highlighted the seriousness of the condition, but also recommended that graded exercise therapy (GET) should not be used and cognitive-behavioural therapy should only be used to manage symptoms and reduce distress, not to aid recovery. This U-turn in recommendations from the previous 2007 guideline is controversial.

Pectus Arcuatum: A Pectus Unlike Any Other.

Background: Pectus arcuatum is often mistaken for a type of pectus carinatum. However, pectus arcuatum is a unique clinical form of pectus caused by premature obliteration of the sternal sutures (manubrial sternum, four sternebrae and xiphoïd process), whereas pectus carinatum is due to abnormal growth of the costal cartilage. In order to better describe pectus arcuatum, we analysed the files of patients with pectus arcuatum followed in our centers.

Health Care Utilization in Functional Neurologic Disorders: Impact of Explaining the Diagnosis of Functional Seizures on Health Care Costs.

Background And Objective: The objectives of this study were to investigate health care utilization costs of patients with video-electroencephalography (VEEG)-confirmed functional seizures (FS), determine whether patients who received a satisfactory functional neurologic disorder (FND) diagnosis explanation had reduced health care utilization compared with those with a poor explanation; and to quantify the overall health care costs 2 years prediagnosis and postdiagnosis for those receiving a different explanation.

Methods: Patients with VEEG-confirmed pure FS (pFS) or mixed (functional seizure plus epileptic seizures) diagnosis between July 1, 2017, and July 1, 2019, were evaluated. Explanation of the diagnosis was determined "unsatisfactory" or "satisfactory" using self-developed criteria, and health care utilization data were collected using an itemized list.

Hazard Perception Skill and Driver Behavior in Patients With Functional Neurologic Disorders.

Background And Objectives: Driving in patients with functional neurologic disorders (FND) is a major concern, but current guidelines (where they exist) are based on expert consensus only due to a lack of relevant empirical evidence. This study aimed to provide such evidence by comparing drivers with FND with healthy controls on aspects of driving performance and behavior important to crash risk, including hazard perception skill.

Methods: Participants completed validated self-report questionnaires of driving behaviors (assessing lapses, errors, violations, and attentional issues) and 2 computer-based measures of hazard perception skill (both known to be associated with crash risk).

The antecedents and consequences of stereotype threat in Parkinson's disease.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine what factors make people with Parkinson's disease more susceptible to stereotype threat (i.e., the concern of being evaluated in line with negative group-based stereotypes) and the clinical consequences of this.

Functional Neurological Disorders in the medical education: An urgent need to fill the gaps.

Background: FND is a disabling disease that accounts for 5 to 10% of the reason for consultation in neurology. However, young physicians often say they have little or no training in their management.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to assess whether French junior neurologists, psychiatrists and physical and rehabilitation medicine (PRM) specialists received teaching on FND during their medical studies, including the residency, and to evaluate their knowledge and perception of the disorder.

'Tricked' sensory trick: a geste antagoniste in functional dystonia.

A sensory trick, or geste antagoniste, is a manoeuvre used by patients with dystonia to ameliorate their dystonic movements or posturing. Typically, a sensory trick is a confirmatory clue indicating an organic nature of the dystonia. In this report, we present an extremely rare case of a sensory trick in a patient with functional dystonia.

Effect of 2D vs. 3D laparoscopy on postoperative complications and operation time in a propensity-score-matched real-world data analysis.

Background: Postoperative complication rates using 3D visualization are rarely reported. The primary aim of our study is to detect a possible advantage of using 3D on postoperative complication rates in a real-world setting.

Method: With a sample size calculation for a medium effect size difference that 3D reduces significantly postoperative complications, data of 287 patients with 3D visualization and 832 with 2D procedure were screened.

Affective forecasting in Parkinson's disease.

Objectives: While emotional responses experienced appear to remain intact in Parkinson's disease (PD), no study has tested whether this extends to the prediction of emotional responses. The present study aimed to provide the first assessment of affective forecasting capacity in this cohort.

Methods: A positively and negatively valenced affective forecasting task and broader clinical battery were completed by a PD group ( = 28 and 37, respectively) and a demographically matched neurotypical control group ( = 38 and 39, respectively).

Parkinson's disease disrupts the ability to initiate and apply episodic foresight.

Objective: While Parkinson's disease is associated with impairments in many aspects of prospective cognition, no study to date has tested whether these difficulties extend to problems using episodic foresight to guide future-directed behavior. To provide the first examination of whether people with Parkinson's disease are impaired in their capacity to initiate and apply episodic foresight.

Method: People with Parkinson's disease ( = 42), and a demographically matched neurotypical comparison group ( = 42) completed a validated behavioral assessment that met strict criteria for assessing episodic foresight (Virtual Week-Foresight), as well as a broader neurocognitive and clinical test battery.