[Assessing occipital nerve stimulation efficacy for chronic refractory headaches].

We prospectively followed a cohort of 26 subjects for an average period of 41 months who benefited from occipital nerve stimulation (ONS) in the context of chronic refractory headaches. In 17 patients treated, the frequency of headache decreased, and quality of life scores improved significantly. Among these patients, the "very good" response rate was 34 %.

[Neurology].

Ocrelizumab (Ocrevus), an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, has been approved for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Eculizumab (Soliris) has been approved in several countries for refractory forms of generalized seropositive severe myasthenia gravis. A form of gene therapy, patisiran, has shown positive results in transthyretin familial amyloidosis.

[Neurology].

Aducanumab reduces the burden of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease, with significant improvement of clinical scores. Endovascular thrombectomy is recommended in patients with acute stroke with proximal occlusion of the anterior circulation. CGRP antagonists and botulinum toxin are effective in migraine.

[Neurology].

In 2015, cerebral stimulation becomes increasingly established in the treatment of pharmacoresistant epilepsy. Efficacy of endovascular treatment has been demonstrated for acute ischemic stroke. Deep brain stimulation at low frequency improves dysphagia and freezing of gait in Parkinson patients.

[News in neurology 2013].

In 2013, perampanel is approved as an add-on treatment for generalised and focal seizures in pharmaco-resistant epilepsy. New anticoagulants are superior to antivitamin K in stroke secondary prevention in case of atrial fibrillation. DBS remains a valid therapeutic option for advanced Parkinson's disease.

[2012: news in neurology].

In 2012, intramuscular midazolam appears as effective as intravenous lorezepam for the first line treatment of convulsive status epilepticus. Perampanel, a new anti-epileptic drug, will be soon available. Two oral treatments are now available for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation setting.

[Drug-resistant headache: is it the end?].

Chronic primary headache often cause significant interference with function and quality of life despite acute and preventive medicines. New treatments are emerging for pharmacologically intractable cluster headache and migraine. Occipital nerve stimulation in chronic cluster headache and botulinum toxin in chronic migraine represent the most promising therapies.

[Therapeutic advances in neurology].

This article summarizes the main therapeutic advances of 2010 in the field of neurology. It focuses on aspects that are likely to change the care of patients in clinical practice. Among these, we discuss the new oral treatments that have proved to be effective in multiple sclerosis, the results of two large studies comparing endarterectomy and stenting in carotid stenosis, novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease as well as the results of several pharmacological studies in the field of epilepsy.

[What's new in neurology].

This article summarize principal news about treatments in the different specialities in neurology. We don't pretend to be exhaustive and to make a detailed analyse of all treatments, and preferred to present pertinent therapeutic advances, with an evidence-based point of view. We also mentioned some negative studies, to balance our purpose.

[Therapeutic advances in neurology].

The neurology field has been greatly improved in 2008. The therapeutic window of intravenous thrombolysis for acute ischemic stoke is extended to 4 h 30. New studies show that the clinical progression of Parkinson's disease might be slowed by some medication.

[Guidelines for the diagnostic evaluation of patients presenting in emergency for an acute non-traumatic headache].

Acute non-traumatic headache is a frequent complaint in emergency primary care. In the majority of cases, the cause is a primary headache, which can be invalidating, but should not lead to additional investigations. Secondary headaches are rare but their diagnosis is essential to avoid potentially lethal consequences.

[Acute migraine treatment].

Migraine is a chronic neurological disorder of recurring and painful episodic headache. Migraine is often associated with functional impairment and leads to important costs in lost productivity. Migraine is underrecognized and undertreated.

Anomia for people's names, a restricted form of transient epileptic amnesia.

A 37-year-old man consulted after two episodes of transient anomia for people's names over a period of 6 months. The first episode lasted about 10 min and was restricted to an inability to remember his 2-year-old son's first name. The second, was limited to an inability to recall his daughter's first name for 5 min with clear abnormal experiential quality.

Delayed segmental axial dystonia of the trunk on standing after lumbar disk operation.

We report four patients with various degrees of chronic, tonic, mildly painful, or non-painful, kyphoscolioses in orthostatism, which developed weeks, or months, after one or several laminectomies for lumbar disk hernia, in the absence of recurring radicular pain or acute lumbar pain. No family history or personal antecedent, of focal or generalized dystonia was found and the dystonia was not seen in any of the four patients pre-operatively, or during the immediate post-operative period. Only ill-defined lumbar 'discomfort', unlike their pre-operative lumbago, was reported by the patients, before and during the occurrence of the pathologic trunk posture on standing.

[Atypical cases of acute headaches of cerebrovascular origin].

Acute headaches can be an important signal of a cerebrovascular event. In some cases, as illustrated in this article, such headaches may have the same characteristics as migraine or be the main feature of unusual types of cerebrovascular disease. Headache should not be underestimated since misdiagnosis of cerebrovascular disease can lead to serious consequences.

[Sentinel headache: a premonitory symptom too often unrecognized in intracranial ruptured aneurysm].

Headache is a common complaint in emergency departments, but only a small percentage of patients have a serious disease. Nevertheless, some forms of headache, such as "warning headaches", need special attention. By far the most common symptom associated with aneurysmal minor bleed (warning leak) is a sudden headache that is considered to be a warning symptom of impending aneurysmal rupture.

[Stabilization treatments of migraine].

Pathophysiology and principles for diagnosis of migraine, in particular ways to obtain an accurate history between attacks, are presented in the introduction. Identification of migraine triggers is an extremely important part of migraine therapy. Selected pain-relieving drugs should include primarily simple analgesics and antiemetics, while sumatriptan should be reserved mainly for severe migraine attacks.

[Symptomatology of ischemic carotid complications].

Clinical features of the carotid artery syndromes are reviewed. Limited infarction cause typical clinical syndromes. However, in most cases, embolic occlusion is multiple and produces various clinical syndromes.