Publications by authors named "M R Spitz"
Frequency of anti-MOG antibodies in serum and CSF of patients with possible autoimmune encephalitis: Results from a Brazilian multicentric study.
Mult Scler Relat Disord
December 2024
Article Synopsis
- MOGAD encephalitis and ADEM present similar symptoms to autoimmune encephalitis (AE) linked with anti-neuronal antibodies, but their treatment and outcomes vary, and testing for anti-MOG antibodies is not routine.
- In a study of 481 patients with suspected AE, only 3.5% had anti-MOG antibodies, with a higher prevalence in children compared to adults.
- Patients with MOGAD exhibited fewer behavioral and movement disorders compared to those with AE, but had more symptoms related to demyelination, highlighting the need to consider MOGAD as a differential diagnosis in cases of possible AE.
An unusual pAIR: Anti-PKM2 antibody and occult pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Am J Ophthalmol Case Rep
December 2024
Purpose: To describe the clinical, laboratory and multimodal imaging findings in paraneoplastic autoimmune retinopathy (p-AIR) associated with anti-pyruvate kinase M2 antibody (anti-PKM2) and occult pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Observations: A 70 year old male with blurred vision, nyctalopia and concurrent difficulty with glucose control had retinal vascular attenuation and diffuse punctate pigment clumping in both eyes. Multimodal imaging demonstrated corresponding stippled hypofluorescence on fluorescein angiography, stippled hyperautofluorescence and a hyperautoflourescent macular ring with fundus autofluorescence, and focal hyperreflectivity at the level of the RPE-Bruch's membrane complex with diffuse loss of outer retinal layers on ocular coherence tomography.
Article Synopsis
- Current estimates of genetic variants linked to Parkinson's disease (PD) show limitations and biases across different populations, complicating patient recruitment for clinical trials focused on genetic therapies.
- The Rostock Parkinson's disease (ROPAD) study analyzes data from 12,580 PD patients across 16 countries, revealing that 14.8% had a genetic test positive for PD-related variants, particularly in specific genes like GBA1 and LRRK2.
- Findings indicate higher positivity rates in patients with earlier onset (age ≤ 50) or a positive family history, emphasizing the need for more extensive genetic investigation to improve patient stratification for future clinical trials.
Article Synopsis
- * The newly developed multi-ancestry PRS showed a strong correlation with LUAD risk, indicating that individuals in the highest PRS percentile had significantly increased risk compared to those in the lowest.
- * Findings suggest that those in the highest risk category have a lifetime risk of about 6.69%, and they reach the average population's 10-year risk for LUAD by age 41, highlighting the importance of multi-ancestry PRS for better risk assessment in this group.