Publications by authors named "Luigi Romito"

Conventional DBS (cDBS) for Parkinson's disease uses constant, predefined stimulation parameters, while the currently available adaptive DBS (aDBS) provides the possibility of adjusting current amplitude with respect to subthalamic activity in the beta band (13-30 Hz). This preliminary study on one patient aims to describe how these two stimulation modes affect basal ganglia dynamics and, thus, behavior in the long term. We collected clinical data (UPDRS-III and -IV) and subthalamic recordings of one patient with Parkinson's disease treated for one year with aDBS, alternated with short intervals of cDBS.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Objectives: The study aimed to see how the size and placement of lesions affect patient outcomes, and to compare two different methods (probabilistic vs. deterministic tractography) for mapping brain pathways involved in tremor control.
  • * Results: Using probabilistic tractography provided a more comprehensive view of brain pathways than deterministic methods, and while lesion volume was positively linked to tremor improvement, the overlap with the targeted brain pathway did not show a strong correlation, suggesting that multiple factors contribute to treatment success.
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Background: The evidence in the effectiveness of deep brain stimulation in children with medication-refractory non-degenerative monogenic dystonia is heterogeneous and long-term results are sparse.

Objectives: The objective is to describe long-term outcomes in a single-center cohort and compare our results with a meta-analysis cohort form literature.

Methods: We performed a retrospective single-center cohort study including consecutive pediatric patients with non-degenerative genetic or idiopathic dystonia treated with globus pallidus internus deep brain stimulation at our center and a systematic review and individual-patient data meta-analysis with the same inclusion criteria.

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Background: Spinocerebellar ataxia 21 (SCA21) is a rare neurological disorder caused by heterozygous variants in . A growing, yet still limited number of reports suggested that hyperkinetic movements should be considered a defining component of the disease.

Case Series: We describe two newly identified families harboring the recurrent pathogenic p.

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MRI-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) lesioning is an innovative, safe and effective treatment which provides an innovative development in the field of minimally invasive stereotactic neurosurgery. Based on the application of focused ultrasound energy under full MR planning and thermal imaging control, unilateral lesioning of the thalamus, subthalamic nucleus, and globus pallidus is indicated for the treatment of movement disorders, including essential tremor, Parkinson's disease, and dystonia. We started to apply this technique in February 2019 for the treatment of patients with movement disorders.

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Frontal circuits play a critical role in motor, cognitive and affective processing, and their dysfunction may result in a variety of brain disorders. However, exactly which frontal domains mediate which (dys)functions remains largely elusive. We studied 534 deep brain stimulation electrodes implanted to treat four different brain disorders.

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Background: VPS16 pathogenic variants have been recently associated with inherited dystonia. Most patients affected by dominant VPS16-related disease display early-onset isolated dystonia with prominent oromandibular, bulbar, cervical, and upper limb involvement, followed by slowly progressive generalization.

Cases: We describe six newly reported dystonic patients carrying VPS16 mutations displaying unusual phenotypic features in addition to dystonia, such as myoclonus, choreoathetosis, pharyngospasm and freezing of gait.

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Background: Functional motor disorders (FMD) are a frequent neurological condition affecting patients with movement disorders. Commonly described in younger adults, their manifestation can be also associated to an elderly onset.

Objective: To assess the prevalence and describe the clinical manifestations of FMD with elderly and younger onset and their relationship with demographical and clinical variables.

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Background: Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) thalamotomy is increasingly used to treat drug-resistant essential tremor (ET). Data on MRgFUS thalamotomy in dystonic tremor (DT) are anecdotal.

Objectives: To investigate efficacy, safety, and differences in target coordinates of MRgFUS thalamotomy in DT versus ET.

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Background: Heterozygous mutations in the gene, encoding the lysosomal enzyme β-glucocerebrosidase (GCase), are the most frequent genetic risk factor for Parkinson's disease (PD). -related PD (GBA-PD) patients have higher risk of dementia and reduced survival than non-carriers. Preclinical studies and one open-label trial in humans demonstrated that the chaperone ambroxol (ABX) increases GCase levels and modulates α-synuclein levels in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

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Background: Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and gene mutations (GBA-PD) develop nonmotor complications more frequently than noncarriers. However, an objective characterization of both cardiovascular and sudomotor autonomic dysfunction using extensive clinical and instrumental measures has never been provided so far. Survival is reduced in GBA-PD regardless of age and dementia, suggesting that other hitherto unrecognized factors are involved.

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Frontal circuits play a critical role in motor, cognitive, and affective processing - and their dysfunction may result in a variety of brain disorders. However, exactly which frontal domains mediate which (dys)function remains largely elusive. Here, we study 534 deep brain stimulation electrodes implanted to treat four different brain disorders.

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ATP5F1B is a subunit of the mitochondrial ATP synthase or complex V of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Pathogenic variants in nuclear genes encoding assembly factors or structural subunits are associated with complex V deficiency, typically characterized by autosomal recessive inheritance and multisystem phenotypes. Movement disorders have been described in a subset of cases carrying autosomal dominant variants in structural subunits genes ATP5F1A and ATP5MC3.

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Introduction: Functional Motor Disorders (FMDs) represent nosological entities with no clear phenotypic characterization, especially in patients with multiple (combined FMDs) motor manifestations. A data-driven approach using cluster analysis of clinical data has been proposed as an analytic method to obtain non-hierarchical unbiased classifications. The study aimed to identify clinical subtypes of combined FMDs using a data-driven approach to overcome possible limits related to "a priori" classifications and clinical overlapping.

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We report a Dystonia-Deafness syndrome patient treated by pallidal Deep Brain Stimulation with significant long-term benefits. Our study expands and confirms the complex phenotypic spectrum of ACTB gene-related disorders and supports the effectiveness of pallidal stimulation on motor outcomes and quality of life in dystonia due to ACTB p.Arg183Trp heterozygosity.

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