Publications by authors named "M D Macarena Villagran-Garcia"
Paraneoplastic Neurologic Syndromes Associated With Merkel Cell Carcinoma.
Neurol Neuroimmunol Neuroinflamm
November 2024
Article Synopsis
- The study focuses on understanding the clinical and immunologic characteristics of patients with paraneoplastic neurologic syndromes (PNSs) linked to Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC).
- A total of 47 patients were analyzed, revealing common neurological disorders such as Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) and encephalomyelitis, along with significant associations with specific neural antibodies.
- The findings indicate that many patients initially presented without identifiable skin tumors but had lymph node metastases, and those without a primary tumor had a lower mortality rate compared to those with identified tumors.
Soluble biomarkers for immune checkpoint inhibitor-related encephalitis: A mini-review.
Rev Neurol (Paris)
November 2024
Immune checkpoint inhibitors lead to effective antitumour responses but also to immune-related adverse events (irAEs), which affect the nervous system in 1-5% of patients. Encephalitis is the most frequent central nervous system irAE and is clinically relevant due to its high severity and mortality. Early diagnosis is crucial but is hampered by the broad list of alternative diagnoses, the lack of established diagnostic criteria, and the need of extensive diagnostic procedures (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAtaxia with anti-regulator of G-protein signaling 8 autoantibodies (RGS8-Abs) is an autoimmune disease recently described in four patients. The present study aimed to identify other patients with RGS8-Abs, describe their clinical features, including the link between RGS8-related autoimmune cerebellar ataxia (ACA) and cancer. Patients with RGS8-Abs were identified retrospectively in the biological collections of the French Reference Center for Paraneoplastic Neurological Syndrome and the University of California San Francisco Center for Encephalitis and Meningitis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study investigated immune checkpoint inhibitor-related encephalitis (ICI-encephalitis) to better understand its characteristics, identify diagnostic biomarkers, and explore factors predicting patient outcomes.* -
- It analyzed data from 67 patients (median age 69 years) diagnosed between 2015-2023, finding that 64% had focal syndromes (like limbic encephalitis) while 36% had meningoencephalitis, with the former showing worse treatment responses and higher mortality rates.* -
- The presence of PNS-related antibodies and abnormal MRI findings were more common in focal encephalitis cases, highlighting important distinctions that could guide future diagnostics and therapeutic strategies.*
Background: Herpes simplex virus encephalitis (HSE) frequently triggers secondary anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis (NMDARE), but markers predicting the occurrence of this entity (HSE-NMDARE) are lacking.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective description of patients with HSE-NMDARE diagnosed between July 2014 and August 2022 and compared them to both patients with regular forms of HSE and NMDARE.
Results: Among the 375 patients with NMDARE, 13 HSE-NMDARE were included.