Cerebellar ataxia is a neurological syndrome characterized by the imbalance (e.g., truncal ataxia, gait ataxia) and incoordination of limbs while executing a task (dysmetria), caused by the dysfunction of the cerebellum or its connections.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: It has been speculated that stains are neuroprotective and are associated with a reduced risk of Parkinson's disease (PD), but only a few studies have investigated the influence of statins on the progression of PD.
Objective: To evaluate whether long-term statin use may affect motor progression in a large cohort of de novo patients with PD.
Methods: We conducted a 4-year retrospective observational cohort study to assess patients with PD.
Background And Purpose: Neuroinflammation and probably systemic inflammation, with abnormal α-synuclein deposition, participate in the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). The P2X7 receptor/NLRP3 inflammasome complex is upregulated in the brain of PD patients. By a prospective approach, the degree of systemic activation of such complex, and its regulatory mechanisms, were explored in treatment-naïve PD individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: If Parkinson's Disease (PD) may represent a risk factor for Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is debated and there are few data on the direct and indirect effects of this pandemic in PD patients.
Objective: In the current study we evaluated the prevalence, mortality and case-fatality of COVID-19 in a PD cohort, also exploring possible risk factors. We also aimed to investigate the effect of lockdown on motor/non-motor symptoms in PD patients as well as their acceptability/accessibility to telemedicine.
Background: Dementia in Parkinson's disease (PDD) is common presumably due to combined neuropathological substrates. Amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques are well described in PDD but their contribution in synucleinopathies is still controversial.
Objective: To investigate regional [18F]Florbetapir binding and its relative contribution to cognitive dysfunction in a cohort of PDD patients and to test whether PDD patients with comorbid amyloidopathy have different clinical and neuropsychological characteristics.
Objectives: To support the cognitive model of Freezing of Gait (FoG) we investigated FoG in a cohort of patients with Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB).
Materials And Methods: We assessed FoG frequency in 19 DLB patients compared to 19 control PD patients within 2 years from symptom onset and with at least 5 years follow-up. The two groups were matched by age and motor presentation at onset, severity of parkinsonism and disease duration.
Background In patients with acute ischemic stroke and atrial fibrillation, early anticoagulation prevents ischemic recurrence but with the risk of hemorrhagic transformation ( HT ). The aims of this study were to evaluate in consecutive patients with acute stroke and atrial fibrillation (1) the incidence of early HT, (2) the time to initiation of anticoagulation in patients with HT , (3) the association of HT with ischemic recurrences, and (4) the association of HT with clinical outcome at 90 days. Methods and Results HT was diagnosed by a second brain computed tomographic scan performed 24 to 72 hours after stroke onset.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Am Heart Assoc
November 2017
Background And Purposes: This study was designed to derive and validate a score to predict early ischemic events and major bleedings after an acute ischemic stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation.
Methods: The derivation cohort consisted of 854 patients with acute ischemic stroke and atrial fibrillation included in prospective series between January 2012 and March 2014. Older age (hazard ratio 1.
Background: Glucocerebrosidase (GBA) mutations have been described as the most prevalent in Parkinson's disease (PD) and in Lewy body dementia, accounting for up to 7 and 13.8% of cases, respectively. To elucidate the pathophysiology of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (iPD), the pathogenic mechanisms leading to Lewy body accumulation in GBA-associated parkinsonism (GBA-PD) are a matter of current research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Migraine, anxiety and depression often coexist. A "neurolimbic" model of migraine has been recently proposed accounting for a dynamic influence of pain, mood and anxiety on the migraine disease. However, very few data exist concerning clinical migraine features in patients reporting anxiety-depression symptoms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The pathogenesis of visual hallucinations (VHs) in Parkinson's disease (PD) has been considered multifactorial. In the pathophysiology of VHs a combination of impaired visual processing and attention has been reported. Imaging studies evidenced a role of the primary visual system and visual association areas as well as a dysfunctional activation of frontal areas in the occurrence of VHs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe side of motor symptom predominance may influence cognitive performance in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD): PD patients with right-side motor symptom predominance typically present difficulties in tasks of language and verbal memory, whereas PD patients with left-side motor symptom predominance typically present difficulties in visuospatial tasks. The current study aimed at investigating the relationship between motor symptom lateralization and cognitive performance in PD patients without the possible confounding effect of dopaminergic drugs, which may enhance or impair cognition on the basis of assessed function and disease stage. From the initial sample of 137 consecutive newly diagnosed drug-naïve (de novo) PD patients, clinical follow-ups and neurological examinations identified 108 right-handed patients with a unilateral motor presentation or a clear motor asymmetry (59 right-PD: 54.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF