Randomized Trial of Botulinum Toxin Type A in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia - The SPASTOX Trial.

Background: Hereditary spastic paraplegia presents spasticity as the main clinical manifestation, reducing gait quality and producing incapacity. Management with botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) is not well elucidated. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of BoNT-A in patients with hereditary spastic paraplegias.

Is Ataxia an Underestimated Symptom of Huntington's Disease?

Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive disorder characterized by motor, cognitive and psychiatric features. Cerebellar ataxia is classically considered as uncommon in HD clinical spectrum. To determine the prevalence of cerebellar ataxia in patients with HD, both in the early and in the late stages of HD.

Is Diffusion Tensor Imaging a Good Biomarker for Early Parkinson's Disease?

To assess white matter abnormalities in Parkinson's disease (PD). A hundred and thirty-two patients with PD (mean age 60.93 years; average disease duration 7.

Exploratory structural assessment in craniocervical dystonia: Global and differential analyses.

Introduction: Our goal was to investigate the cortical thickness and subcortical volume in subjects with craniocervical dystonia and its subgroups.

Methods: We studied 49 subjects, 17 with cervical dystonia, 18 with blepharospasm or oromandibular dystonia, and 79 healthy controls. We performed a whole group analysis, followed by a subgroup analysis.

Cerebellar Gray Matter Alterations in Huntington Disease: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study.

Neuropathological and neuroimaging studies in Huntington disease (HD) have suggested a role for the cerebellum. Our goal was to perform a detailed evaluation of cerebellar morphology. We performed the Unified HD rating scale (UHDRS) and Montreal cognitive assessment (MOCA) in 26 HD patients and 26 healthy controls.

Pattern of Reduced Functional Connectivity and Structural Abnormalities in Parkinson's Disease: An Exploratory Study.

Background: MRI brain changes in Parkinson's disease (PD) are controversial.

Objectives: We aimed to describe structural and functional changes in PD.

Methods: Sixty-six patients with PD (57.

Differential Pattern of Cerebellar Atrophy in Tremor-Predominant and Akinetic/Rigidity-Predominant Parkinson's Disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is an akinetic-rigid disorder characterized by basal ganglia dysfunction and a possible cerebello-thalamo-cortical circuit involvement. This study aims to investigate the pattern of cerebellar involvement in PD and to assess whether it correlates with clinical parameters. MRI scans were acquired from 50 healthy controls (HC) and 63 patients; 44 were classified as tremor-predominant-PD (PDT) and 19 as akinetic/rigidity-predominant-PD (PDAR).

Does Side of Onset Influence the Pattern of Cerebral Atrophy in Parkinson's Disease?

Background: Imaging studies have revealed widespread neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD), but only a few considered the issue of asymmetrical clinical presentations.

Objective: To investigate if the side of onset influences the pattern of gray matter (GM) atrophy in PD.

Methods: Sixty patients (57.

White Matter Microstructure in Idiopathic Craniocervical Dystonia.

Background: Dystonias are hyperkinetic movement disorders characterized by involuntary muscle contractions resulting in abnormal torsional movements and postures. Recent neuroimaging studies in idiopathic craniocervical dystonia (CCD) have uncovered the involvement of multiple areas, including cortical ones. Our goal was to evaluate white matter (WM) microstructure in subjects with CCD using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) analysis.

Clinical predictors of cognitive impairment and psychiatric complications in Parkinson's disease.

Objective: To estimate the clinical and demographics aspects that may contribute to cognitive impairment and psychiatric symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD).

Method: All patients answered a structured standardized clinical questionnaire. Two movement disorders specialists performed the following scale: Unified Parkinson's disease rating score (UPDRS), the modified Hoehn and Yahr staging, Schwab and England Scale, SCOPA cognition (SCOPA-COG), SCOPA-Psychiatric complications (SCOPA-PC) and Non-Motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS).

Diffuse decreased gray matter in patients with idiopathic craniocervical dystonia: a voxel-based morphometry study.

Background: Recent studies have addressed the role of structures other than the basal ganglia in the pathophysiology of craniocervical dystonia (CCD). Neuroimaging studies have attempted to identify structural abnormalities in CCD but a clear pattern of alteration has not been established. We performed whole-brain evaluation using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to identify patterns of gray matter (GM) changes in CCD.

Misdiagnosis of hemifacial spasm is a frequent event in the primary care setting.

Unlabelled: Primary hemifacial spasm (HFS) is characterized by irregular and involuntary contraction of the muscles innervated by the ipsilateral facial nerve. Treatment controls symptoms and improves quality of life (QoL).

Objective: Evaluate the initial diagnosis and treatment of HFS prior to referral to a tertiary center.

Infratentorial gray matter atrophy and excess in primary craniocervical dystonia.

Background: Primary craniocervical dystonia (CCD) is generally attributed to functional abnormalities in the cortico-striato-pallido-thalamocortical loops, but cerebellar pathways have also been implicated in neuroimaging studies. Hence, our purpose was to perform a volumetric evaluation of the infratentorial structures in CCD.

Methods: We compared 35 DYT1/DYT6 negative patients with CCD and 35 healthy controls.