Publications by authors named "Luis F Maia"

Article Synopsis
  • This study investigates how plasma brain-derived tau (BD-Tau) can predict outcomes for patients with acute ischemic stroke who undergo endovascular therapy (EVT), potentially improving prognosis after EVT trials initiated in 2015.
  • Two independent patient cohorts with large vessel occlusion were analyzed, measuring various plasma biomarkers pre- and post-EVT, with 90-day functional outcomes assessed using standardized scales.
  • Results show that while GFAP was strong for early imaging outcomes, BD-Tau was more effective for predicting long-term functional recovery, leading to the development of a predictive model that proved effective across both cohorts.
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  • Several neurological issues can persist in patients who have recovered from COVID-19, and this study focused on their outcomes at the 6-month mark.
  • The research involved over 1,000 patients and found that approximately 52% showed stable or improved functional status, while 46% experienced worse outcomes, with factors like age and hospitalizations influencing these results.
  • Among the neurological symptoms that persisted, fatigue and memory or concentration problems were the most common, highlighting the need for awareness of long-term effects in COVID-19 survivors.
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Objectives: To determine the cancer incidence after the first-ever cerebrovascular event (CVE) and compare it to the cancer incidence in the population from the same region.

Methods: We evaluated 1069 patients with a first-ever CVE (Ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke and Transient Ischaemic Attack) from a prospective population registry of stroke and transient focal neurological attacks, diagnosed between 2009 and 2011. We conducted a structured search to identify cancer-related variables and case-fatality for a period of 8 years following CVE.

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Introduction: We investigated the effects of matrix type and reagent batch changes on diagnostic performances and longitudinal trajectories of brain-derived tau (BD-tau).

Methods: We evaluated (i) Cohort 1: paired EDTA plasma and serum from Alzheimer biomarker-positive older adults versus controls (n = 26); and (ii) Cohort 2: n = 79 acute ischemic stroke patients with 265 longitudinal samples across four time points.

Results: In Cohort 1, plasma and serum BD-tau were strongly correlated (rho = 0.

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Objectives: (a) To characterize the frequency of objective cognitive deficits and self-perceived cognitive difficulties and (b) to explore demographic and clinical predictors of cognitive dysfunction and cognitive complaints.

Method: One hundred and ten adults diagnosed with COVID-19 between March and November 2020, aged ≤ 74 years underwent a brief neuropsychological evaluation 12 months after infection, which included: Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised, California Verbal Learning Test, and Symbol Digit Modalities Test. T scores < 38 were considered abnormal performance; cognitive dysfunction was defined as ≥ 2 abnormal tests.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Data was gathered from a registry created by the European Academy of Neurology, involving 1523 COVID-19 patients across multiple countries, focusing on their demographics, medical history, and neurological issues.
  • * Results showed that 79.6% of patients exhibited neurological symptoms, with cognitive dysfunction, stroke, and sleep disturbances being the most common; findings also indicated variations based on age and existing health conditions.
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Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Stroke prevention, early diagnosis, and efficient acute treatment are priorities to successfully impact stroke death and disability. Fluid biomarkers may improve stroke differential diagnostic, patient stratification for acute treatment, and post-stroke individualized rehabilitation.

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  • Single-cell transcriptomics has identified specific glial activation states linked to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, potentially leading to new therapies.
  • The study investigated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteome changes in mouse models of these diseases and found over 20 glial-derived proteins that increase with age.
  • These findings suggest that changes in the cellular transcriptome reflect corresponding shifts in CSF protein levels, highlighting the importance of identifying biomarkers that can monitor disease progression and treatment responses.
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Background And Purpose: Health risks associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection are undisputed. Moreover, the capability of vaccination to prevent symptomatic, severe, and fatal COVID-19 is recognized. There is also early evidence that vaccination can reduce the chance for long COVID-19.

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Background And Purpose: Despite the increasing number of reports on the spectrum of neurological manifestations of COVID-19 (neuro-COVID), few studies have assessed short- and long-term outcome of the disease.

Methods: This is a cohort study enrolling adult patients with neuro-COVID seen in neurological consultation. Data were collected prospectively or retrospectively in the European Academy of Neurology NEuro-covid ReGistrY ((ENERGY).

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Background: Early outcome prediction after acute ischemic stroke (AIS) might be improved with blood-based biomarkers. We investigated whether the longitudinal profile of a multi-marker panel could predict the outcome of successfully recanalized AIS patients.

Methods: We used ultrasensitive single-molecule array (Simoa) to measure glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neurofilament light chain (NfL), total-tau (t-tau) and ELISA for brevican in a prospective study of AIS patients with anterior circulation large vessel occlusion successfully submitted to thrombectomy.

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Peripheral neuropathy is a common problem in patients with Parkinson's disease. Peripheral neuropathy's prevalence in Parkinson's disease varies between 4.8-55%, compared with 9% in the general population.

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Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in the world. To address such a problem, early diagnosis and tailored acute treatment represent one of the major priorities in acute stroke care. Since the efficacy of reperfusion treatments is highly time-dependent, there is a critical need to optimize procedures for faster and more precise diagnosis.

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Article Synopsis
  • COVID-19 has been linked to acute neurological issues, affecting over 30% of hospitalised patients, but there is a lack of comprehensive studies on this topic.
  • A retrospective study in Northern Portugal examined 1,261 hospitalised COVID-19 patients from March to June 2020, revealing that 36.2% experienced neurological symptoms, with headaches, delirium, and impaired consciousness being the most common.
  • The research indicates that younger patients are more likely to exhibit neurological manifestations, and those affected have a significant risk of severe outcomes, highlighting the need for improved healthcare strategies for COVID-19 patients with neurological complications.
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a multi-organ disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), continues to challenge health and care systems around the globe. The pandemic has disrupted acute neurology services and routine patient care and has impacted the clinical course in patients with chronic neurological disease. COVID-19 appears to have exposed inequalities of societies and healthcare systems and had a disproportionate impact on already vulnerable communities.

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Background: Motor and cognitive deficits and consequently mobility problems are common in geriatric patients. The currently available methods for diagnosis and for the evaluation of treatment in this vulnerable cohort are limited. The aims of the ComOn (COgnitive and Motor interactions in the Older populatioN) study are (i) to define quantitative markers with clinical relevance for motor and cognitive deficits, (ii) to investigate the interaction between both motor and cognitive deficits and (iii) to assess health status as well as treatment outcome of 1000 geriatric inpatients in hospitals of Kiel (Germany), Brescia (Italy), Porto (Portugal), Curitiba (Brazil) and Bochum (Germany).

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Transthyretin amyloidosis due to V30M mutation (ATTR-V30M) is the most frequent hereditary ATTR amyloidosis. Besides neurophysiological measures, there are no biomarkers to detect preclinical disease or monitor disease progression. CSF or plasma neurofilament light chain (pNfL) have recently been considered sensitive biomarkers to quantitate neuro-axonal damage in several disorders of the peripheral and central nervous system.

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Some TTR mutants target the central nervous system (CNS). Familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP) with leptomeningeal involvement has been described in 9% of transthyretin (TTR) mutations and in valine for methionine at position 30 (V30M) patients. These individuals present dementia, ataxia, brain hemorrhages and focal neurological episodes (FNEs).

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A majority of current disease-modifying therapeutic approaches for age-related neurodegenerative diseases target their characteristic proteopathic lesions (α-synuclein, Tau, Aβ). To monitor such treatments, fluid biomarkers reflecting the underlying disease process are crucial. We found robust increases of neurofilament light chain (NfL) in CSF and blood in murine models of α-synucleinopathies, tauopathy, and β-amyloidosis.

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Abnormalities in brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients are thought to start long before the first clinical symptoms emerge. The identification of affected individuals at this 'preclinical AD' stage relies on biomarkers such as decreased levels of the amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and positive amyloid positron emission tomography scans. However, there is little information on the longitudinal dynamics of CSF biomarkers, especially in the earliest disease stages when therapeutic interventions are likely most effective.

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