SEEG-RF for revealing and treating Geschwind syndrome's epileptic network: A case study.

Stereotypic neural networks are repeatedly activated in drug-refractory epilepsies (DRE), reinforcing the expression of certain psycho-affective traits. Geschwind syndrome (GS) can serve as a model for such phenomena among patients with temporal lobe DRE. We describe stereo-electroencephalogram (SEEG) exploration in a 34-year-old male with DRE and GS, and his treatment by SEEG-radiofrequency (SEEG-RF) ablation.

The role of exposure to pesticides in the etiology of Parkinson's disease: a F-DOPA positron emission tomography study.

Susceptibility to Parkinson's disease (PD) is believed to involve an interaction between genetic and environmental factors. The role of pesticides as a risk factor of PD and neurodegeneration remains controversial. An asymmetric decrease in ligand uptake on F-DOPA positron emission tomography (PET), especially in the dorsal putamen, is a sensitive marker of PD.

Can early dopamine transporter imaging serve as a predictor of Parkinson's disease progression and late motor complications?

Background: The role of nuclear imaging in predicting Parkinson's disease (PD) progression is unclear. This study investigated whether the degree of reduced striatal dopamine transporter binding at diagnosis of PD predicts later motor complications and time to disease progression.

Methods: We retrospectively studied 41 patients with early PD who underwent I-FP-CIT SPECT and were followed thereafter with a mean disease duration of 9.

Perspective: Identification of genetic variants associated with dopaminergic compensatory mechanisms in early Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is slowly progressive, and heterogeneity of its severity among individuals may be due to endogenous mechanisms that counterbalance the striatal dopamine loss. In this perspective paper, we introduce a neuroimaging-genetic approach to identify genetic variants, which may contribute to this compensation. First, we briefly review current known potential compensatory mechanisms for premotor and early disease PD, located in the striatum and other brain regions.

Association of the ZFPM2 gene with antipsychotic-induced parkinsonism in schizophrenia patients.

Rationale: Antipsychotic-induced parkinsonism (AIP) is a severe adverse affect of antipsychotic drug treatment. Recently, our group performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for AIP severity, and identified several potential AIP risk variants.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to validate our original AIP-GWAS susceptibility variants and to understand their possible function.

Residual striatal dopaminergic nerve terminals in very long-standing Parkinson's disease: a single photon emission computed tomography imaging study.

Molecular imaging studies of Parkinson's disease (PD) progression mostly focus on the first 5 years after disease onset, demonstrating rapid initial nigrostriatal neuronal loss. The fate of residual functional dopaminergic nerve terminals in patients with long-standing PD has not yet been specifically explored. Therefore, we performed [(123)I]-FP-CIT single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in 15 patients with very long-standing PD (mean disease duration 20.

Early outcome of acute ischemic stroke in hyperlipidemic patients under atorvastatin versus simvastatin.

Background: Studies designed to evaluate the efficacy of atorvastatin on stroke suggest that, in addition to cholesterol lowering, this drug may play a role in poststroke neuroprotection. The objective of this historical-prospective study was to analyze the efficacy of atorvastatin (40-80 mg) or simvastatin (at an optimal dose) during the first 2 weeks after stroke in hyperlipidemic patients treated with simvastatin before stroke onset.

Methods: Medical records of all adult (aged >18 years) patients diagnosed with acute stroke were reviewed.

Use of a single [123I]-FP-CIT SPECT to predict the severity of clinical symptoms of Parkinson disease.

The aim of this study was to assess the ability of a single SPECT performed in the early stage of Parkinson's disease (PD) to predict disease severity in 19 patients with early PD. [(123)I]-FP-CIT striatal uptake was expressed as a ratio of specific:nonspecific uptake for defined brain areas. Clinical severity was determined by the UPDRS at baseline and 12-15 months following the SPECT procedure.

The use of 99mTc-recombinant human annexin V imaging for differential diagnosis of aseptic loosening and low-grade infection in hip and knee prostheses.

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to assess the pattern of annexin V uptake in hip and knee prostheses suspected of being infected.

Methods: A total of 7 patients undergoing revision surgery for hip or knee prostheses were studied; 5 patients had total hip replacements, and 2 had total knee replacements. Infection was confirmed by pathology, culture results, laboratory evaluation, and clinical follow-up.

I-123 MIBG cardiac scintigraphy and autonomic test evaluation in multiple sclerosis patients.

Autonomic symptoms are common in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and may cause significant disability. The purpose of this study was to evaluate direct cardiac sympathetic denervation in MS patients with I-123 MIBG cardiac scintigraphy compared with other parasympathetic electrophysiological examinations of autonomic dysfunction. Ten patients with MS and 7 age- and sex-matched control subjects were prospectively evaluated.

123I-FP-CIT SPECT imaging of dopamine transporters in patients with recurrent sudden falls: are such falls a distinct entity?

Unlabelled: Recurrent falls in older people are commonly associated with abnormalities that involve several parts of the central nervous system, especially with basal ganglion pathology. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the integrity of striatal dopamine transporters (DaTs) by use of (123)I-N-3-fluoropropyl-2beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-(4-iodophenyl)tropane ((123)I-FP-CIT) SPECT of striatal DaTs in patients with recurrent sudden falls.

Methods: Twenty-one patients without a definite neurologic diagnosis for recurrent sudden falls were enrolled in a cross-sectional study.

Drug-induced thyrotoxicosis: the surgical option.

Background: Drug-induced thyrotoxicosis is not uncommon. It may worsen life-threatening arrhythmias and may be refractory to medical treatment. Near-total thyroidectomy presents a valid alternative to medical therapy and should be considered early in the management of the disease.

Prospective evaluation of malignant middle cerebral artery infarction with blood-brain barrier imaging using Tc-99m DTPA SPECT.

Background: Malignant middle cerebral artery (MMCA) infarction is associated with severe brain edema which may lead to a rapid deterioration of consciousness, increase of intracranial pressure, brain midline shift and finally, herniation. We examined the correlation between the degree of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability and MMCA.

Methods: Twenty-five consecutive patients (17 men and 8 women, mean age 62.

In vivo imaging of apoptosis in patients with acute stroke: correlation with blood-brain barrier permeability.

Background: We wished to determine the ability of radiolabeled annexin V to concentrate at sites of ischemic injury in patients with acute cerebral stroke. Secondly, we sought to correlate annexin V imaging in these patients with the degree of blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown.

Methods: Twelve patients with acute stroke had a complete neurological examination, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) stroke scale and the Glasgow Coma Score (GCS).

Fat intolerance in developmentally impaired children with severe feeding intolerance.

Children with a variety of genetic, metabolic, and neurologic disorders can suffer from severe feeding intolerance that is unresponsive to medical, surgical, and nutritional therapy. Developmentally disabled tube-fed children with severe upper gastrointestinal symptoms that persisted after fundoplication who were unresponsive to all medical, surgical, and nutritional interventions underwent a thorough gastrointestinal evaluation, including gastroscopy, pH-metry, upper gastrointestinal barium series, and gastric emptying studies. They were placed on a low-fat diet, and the symptoms before and after the diet were compared.

Auditory hallucinations in acute stroke.

Auditory hallucinations are uncommon phenomena which can be directly caused by acute stroke, mostly described after lesions of the brain stem, very rarely reported after cortical strokes. The purpose of this study is to determine the frequency of this phenomenon. In a cross sectional study, 641 stroke patients were followed in the period between 1996-2000.

[123I]-FP/CIT SPECT imaging for distinguishing drug-induced parkinsonism from Parkinson's disease.

Parkinsonism in patients taking neuroleptic medications might be induced by dopamine receptor blockade alone or by dopamine blockade with nigrostriatal dysfunction. The differentiation between Parkinson's disease (PD) and drug-induced parkinsonism (DIP) is difficult to assess on clinical grounds alone. In this study, we have evaluated the clinical characteristics and striatal binding of (123)I-FP-CIT (N-omega-fluoropropyl-2beta-carboxymethoxy-3beta-{4-iodophenyl}tropane) in patients who developed DIP.

Prognostic significance of blood brain barrier permeability in acute hemorrhagic stroke.

Background: Blood brain barrier (BBB) disruption is accompanied by edema in the surrounding areas of the intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). The aim of the study was to clarify the correlation between BBB breakdown and outcome in ICH.

Patients: Twenty-seven patients with primary ICH were included in the study.

The hot skull sign on bone scans of obese patients resulting from disparate soft tissue attenuation.

We have frequently observed diffusely increased skull activity on bone scans of obese patients, who do not have evidence of metabolic or metastatic bone disease. Skull activity of 25 obese patients were compared to that of age and sex-matched nonobese 25 patients visually and quantitatively. The results clearly indicated that diffusely increased skull activity is significantly more common on bone scans of obese patients because of disparate attenuation of overlying soft tissues.

Preoperative technetium Tc 99m sestamibi SPECT imaging in the management of primary hyperparathyroidism in patients with concomitant multinodular goiter.

Hypothesis: Preoperative parathyroid and thyroid imaging using technetium Tc 99m sestamibi scintigraphy-single-photon emission computed tomography (Tc 99m MIBI SPECT) and technetium Tc 99m sodium pertechnetate, respectively, in patients with parathyroid adenomas and concomitant multinodular goiters enables the selection of those suitable for minimally invasive radio-guided surgery.

Design: One hundred thirty patients with primary hyperparathyroidism were treated surgically during a 30-month period. Forty-one of these 130 patients had an associated multinodular goiter.