Publications by authors named "Malaty I"

Article Synopsis
  • Cervical dystonia (CD) is a common neurological condition, with about one-third of patients also experiencing tremors in their head and hands, complicating diagnosis and treatment.
  • Researchers analyzed data from over 3,100 CD patients across various continents using machine learning to identify clinical features predicting the presence and nature of neck tremor.
  • Key findings revealed that increased severity of CD, longer disease duration, and older age were strong predictors of neck tremor, with notable differences in tremor characteristics based on gender and the involvement of other body parts.
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The 5-2-1 criteria was developed to facilitate the identification and referral of patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) inadequately controlled by oral medications. The criterion was not developed to screen patients with PD for device-aided therapy eligibility. The robust design and validation of the 5-2-1 criteria minimizes over or inappropriate referrals, and supports physicians in the timely identification of patients with PD who may warrant further evaluation for treatment optimization.

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Background: Prior studies have indicated that female individuals outnumber male individuals for certain types of dystonia. Few studies have addressed factors impacting these sex differences or their potential biological mechanisms.

Objectives: To evaluate factors underlying sex differences in the dystonias and explore potential mechanisms for these differences.

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Background: There are several widely used clinical rating scales for documenting the severity and distribution of various types of dystonia.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to evaluate the performance of the most commonly used scales in a large group of adults with the most common types of isolated dystonia.

Methods: Global Dystonia Rating Scale (GDRS) and the Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale (BFM) scores were obtained for 3067 participants.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to identify long-term predictors of health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) in a diverse group of dystonia patients, focusing on factors like depression and anxiety.
  • - Results showed that higher levels of depression and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) at the beginning of the study were linked to lower HR-QoL after two years, while social anxiety disorder (SAD) influenced pain-related quality of life.
  • - The findings highlight the need to integrate mental health treatments, specifically for anxiety disorders, into dystonia management to improve overall patient quality of life.
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Introduction: Eight members of the International Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Society Tic and Tourette Syndrome Study Group formed a subcommittee to discuss further barriers to practice guideline implementation. Based on expert opinion and literature review, the consensus was that practice variations continue to be quite broad and that many barriers in different clinical settings might negatively influence the adoption of the American Academy of Neurology and the European Society for the Study of Tourette Syndrome published guidelines.

Objectives: 1) To identify how clinical practices diverge from the existing American Academy of Neurology and European Society for the Study of Tourette Syndrome guidelines, and 2) to identify categories of barriers leading to these clinical care gaps.

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Background: Reliably applied criteria to differentiate functional from primary tics are lacking. In the absence of biological markers, the development of new diagnostic criteria to assist clinicians is predicated on expert judgement and consensus. This study examines the level of diagnostic agreement of experts in tic disorders using video footage and clinical descriptions.

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Article Synopsis
  • - From 2020, there has been a notable rise in young individuals referred for severe tic-like behaviors, prompting health professionals to create diagnostic criteria for Functional Tic-like Behaviors (FTLBs) to aid various specialists in accurate identification and treatment.
  • - A consensus was reached among experts through a Delphi survey process, resulting in three major diagnostic criteria and two minor criteria for diagnosing FTLBs, with a definite diagnosis requiring all major criteria, and a probable diagnosis needing two major and one minor criterion.
  • - It is crucial to differentiate FTLBs from primary tics because they require different treatment approaches, though the proposed diagnostic criteria from the ESSTS lack thorough testing to confirm their effectiveness.
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Perceptions of Tourette syndrome (TS) and tic disorders are often driven by social media. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media consumption greatly increased, particularly in the adolescent population. In parallel with increased social media consumption, there has also been an increase in tic severity and functional tic-like behavior (FTLB).

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Over the past 3 years, a global phenomenon has emerged characterized by the sudden onset and frequently rapid escalation of tics and tic-like movements and phonations. These symptoms have occurred not only in youth known to have tics or Tourette syndrome (TS), but also, and more notably, in youth with no prior history of tics. The Tourette Association of America (TAA) convened an international, multidisciplinary working group to better understand this apparent presentation of functional neurological disorder (FND) and its relationship to TS.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to better understand blepharospasm, a type of dystonia, by examining its various clinical features through a systematic literature review and analyzing a larger cohort of patients.
  • Findings revealed that blepharospasm typically appears in women during their 50s and can involve both motor symptoms like increased blinking as well as non-motor symptoms such as eye discomfort and psychiatric issues like anxiety and depression.
  • The research also noted that a significant number of patients experienced the spread of dystonia to other body regions, with various factors such as symptom severity and family history contributing to this spread.
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Background: The dystonias are phenotypically and etiologically heterogenous disorders. Many proposals and a consensus recommendation have been provided for the diagnosis and classification of the dystonias, but these recommendations serve only as general guidelines. Current diagnosis and classification may still depend on clinical judgment causing different opinions.

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Purpose Of Review: This study aims to examine the treatments currently available for Tourette syndrome (TS) and to discuss evolving therapies, spanning behavioral, pharmacologic, complementary and alternative medicine, and neuromodulation approaches.

Recent Findings: Behavioral therapies have undergone several modifications to improve accessibility, including transitioning to a virtual format which is particularly important in the current pandemic. There are several recent or ongoing pharmacologic studies that have shown promise including the selective D1 receptor antagonist ecopipam and various cannabinoid compounds.

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Background: The burden of Parkinson's disease (PD) worsens with disease progression. However, the lack of objective and uniform disease classification challenges our understanding of the incremental burden in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (APD) and suboptimal medication control. The 5-2-1 criteria was proposed by clinical consensus to identify patients with advancing PD.

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A standardized definition of treatment failure in the management of tics is currently lacking. Such definition would prevent persistent use of unnecessary interventions and help clinicians to determine when to offer less established treatments (e.g.

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Background: Tic disorders belong to the broad spectrum of pediatric and adult movement disorders. The wide variability in clinical presentations, applied assessment tools, and treatments are poorly understood.

Objectives: To map practices and knowledge base of movement disorder clinicians concerning clinical features, pathophysiology, and treatment approaches in tic disorders.

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Background: Rasagiline has received attention as a potential disease-modifying therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD). Whether rasagiline is disease modifying remains in question.

Objective: The main objective of this study was to determine whether rasagiline has disease-modifying effects in PD over 1 year.

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Background: Several monogenic causes for isolated dystonia have been identified, but they collectively account for only a small proportion of cases. Two genome-wide association studies have reported a few potential dystonia risk loci; but conclusions have been limited by small sample sizes, partial coverage of genetic variants, or poor reproducibility.

Objective: To identify robust genetic variants and loci in a large multicenter cervical dystonia cohort using a genome-wide approach.

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Background And Purpose: Several clinical and demographic factors relate to anatomic spread of adult-onset isolated dystonia, but a predictive model is still lacking. The aims of this study were: (i) to develop and validate a predictive model of anatomic spread of adult-onset isolated dystonia; and (ii) to evaluate whether presence of tremor associated with dystonia influences model predictions of spread.

Methods: Adult-onset isolated dystonia participants with focal onset from the Dystonia Coalition Natural History Project database were included.

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Pimavanserin is approved for treatment of Parkinson disease (PD)-related psychosis, but its use has been associated with an increased risk of death during clinical trials, as well as during postmarketing surveillance. Previous reports on the association between pimavanserin and mortality have not taken into account limitations of data sources nor included comparable populations or comparisons to relevant treatment alternatives. To conduct a comparative pharmacovigilance assessment of pimavanserin vs treatment alternatives and by restricting surveillance data to more representative populations.

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Introduction: Influenza virus has been associated with cases of Parkinsonism, yet a direct relationship has not been confirmed in the literature. Different mechanisms of post-infectious Parkinsonism have been proposed including inflammatory, oxidative stress, and autoimmune. We report a first to our knowledge case of pediatric autoimmune Parkinsonism with autoantibodies to dopamine D2L receptor (anti-DRD2L antibodies), who underwent deep brain stimulation (DBS) of bilateral globus pallidi (GPi).

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