Rheumatoid meningitis is a rare and very serious extra-articular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis. We present a case of a 7()year-old female with no history of arthritis who developed stroke-like symptoms, seizures, psychosis and compulsive behavior. Serial brain magnetic resonance images (MRI) over four months demonstrated progressive interhemispheric meningeal thickening.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mechanism of high-frequency stimulation used in deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson's disease (PD) has not been completely elucidated. Previously, high-frequency stimulation of the rat entopeduncular nucleus, a basal ganglia output nucleus, elicited an increase in [K(+)](e) to 18 mm, in vitro. In this study, we assessed whether elevated K(+) can elicit DBS-like therapeutic effects in hemiparkinsonian rats by employing the limb-use asymmetry test and the self-adjusting stepping test.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDopaminergic cell transplantation is an experimental therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD). It has many potential theoretical advantages over current treatment strategies such as providing continuous local dopaminergic replenishment, eliminating motor fluctuations and medication-induced dyskinesias, slowing down disease progression or even reversing disease pathology in the host. Recent studies also show that dopaminergic cell transplants provide long-term neuromodulation in the basal ganglia that simulates the combined effects of oral dopaminergic therapy and surgical therapies like deep brain stimulation, the contemporary therapeutic approach to advanced PD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe electrophysiological correlates of parkinsonism in the basal ganglia have been well studied in patients with Parkinson's disease and animal models. Separately, striatal dopaminergic cell transplantation has shown promise in ameliorating parkinsonian motor symptoms. However, the effect of dopaminergic grafts on basal ganglia electrophysiology has not thoroughly been investigated.
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