Guillain-Barre Syndrome Followed by Covid-19 Infection, Vaccination and Other Precipitating Factors during the Pandemic.

Background And Aims: Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is usually triggered by an infection. Vaccination is mentioned as a possible trigger in a small number of GBS cases. The aim of this study was to notice GBS distinctness provoked by various triggers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Artery of Percheron infarction associated with COVID-19 in the young adult.

The artery of Percheron is a small vessel whose occlusion causes bilateral paramedian thalamic and rostral midbrain stroke. COVID-19 is an independent risk factor for acute small vessel ischemic stroke. We presented the case of a young adult patient with infarction in the artery of Percheron territory as a presenting feature of COVID-19.

Association of circadian rhythm genes ARNTL/BMAL1 and CLOCK with multiple sclerosis.

Prevalence of multiple sclerosis varies with geographic latitude. We hypothesized that this fact might be partially associated with the influence of latitude on circadian rhythm and consequently that genetic variability of key circadian rhythm regulators, ARNTL and CLOCK genes, might contribute to the risk for multiple sclerosis. Our aim was to analyse selected polymorphisms of ARNTL and CLOCK, and their association with multiple sclerosis.

The impact of betaplus program on patient treatment satisfaction with interferon beta-1b in multiple sclerosis: Multicentric cross-sectional survey in the western Balkan countries.

Background: Long-term treatment adherence to disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) may have significant impact on clinical outcomes in multiple sclerosis (MS). It has been recently emphasized that low treatment satisfaction (TS) may be an important factor for achieving high rates of treatment adherence. Interferon (IFN) beta-1b was the first DMD approved for the treatment of MS.

Urgent carotid stenting before cardiac surgery in a young male patient with acute ischemic stroke caused by aortic and carotid dissection.

Introduction: Acute aortic dissection (AD) is the most common life-threatening disorder affecting the aorta. Neurological symptoms are present in 17-40% of cases. The management of these patients is controversial.

Importance of angle correction in transcranial color-coded duplex insonation of arteries at the base of the brain.

Background/aim: Transcranial color-coded duplex (TCCD) sonography allows visualization of the vessels being examined and measurement of the angle of insonation. The published literature suggests that blood vessels are insonated at the angle lower than 30 degrees, hence no correction for the angle is necessary. The aim of this study was to determine the availability of intracranial blood vessels for insonation, and the percentage of arteries and their segments which can be insonated at the angles lower than 30 degrees.

Small internal jugular veins with restricted outflow are associated with severe multiple sclerosis: a sonographer-blinded, case-control ultrasound study.

Background: Recent evidence has indicated an association between chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) and multiple sclerosis. Small internal jugular veins (IJVs) (with a cross-sectional area of less than 0.4 cm²) have been previously described as difficult to catheterize, and their presence may potentially affect cerebrospinal venous drainage.

[Intimomedial thickness of the vertebral arteries complex: a new useful parameter for the assessment of atheroclerotic process?].

Background/aim: An integral part of Doppler ultrasound examination of cervical blood vessels is determination of intimomedial thicknes (IMT) of the common carotid. The aim of the study was to estimate the relations between IMT of the common carotid and vertebral arteries in order to determine if the value of IMT obtained on the vertebral artery could be applied in clinical practice.

Methods: We measured IMT in a randomized, prospective and cross-sectional study, performed on 50 persons both sexes (29 men and 21 women), at the age from 18 to 79 years (mean age 52.

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy.

Introduction: Fast and precise diagnostics of the disease from the large group of adult leukoencephalopathy is difficult but responsible job, because the outcome of the disease is very often determined by its name. Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is caused by the mutation of Notch 3 gene on chromosome locus 19p13. Beside the brain arterioles being the main disease targets, extracerebral small blood vessels are affected by the pathological process.

Living unrelated donor kidney transplantation--a fourteen-year experience.

Background: In countries without a national organization for retrieval and distribution of organs of the deceased donors, problem of organ shortage is still not resolved. In order to increase the number of kidney transplantations we started with the program of living unrelated - spousal donors. The aim of this study was to compare treatment outcome and renal graft function in patients receiving the graft from spousal and those receiving ghe graft from living related donors.

Interleukin 7 receptor alpha polymorphism rs6897932 and susceptibility to multiple sclerosis in the Western Balkans.

The interleukin 7 receptor alpha single nucleotide polymorphism rs6897932 was identified as a multiple sclerosis susceptibility-modifying polymorphism in genome-wide and gene scan studies, mainly in populations in western countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of interleukin 7 receptor alpha rs6897932 with multiple sclerosis in populations from the Western Balkans: Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. A total of 678 unrelated white patients and 597 unrelated, ethnically matched healthy controls were included in the study.

The tag SNP for HLA-DRB1*1501, rs3135388, is significantly associated with multiple sclerosis susceptibility: cost-effective high-throughput detection by real-time PCR.

Background: Recently a high-resolution HLA and SNP map was defined and the analysis provided informative tag SNPs that capture much of the common variation in the MHC region. This concept enables detection of smaller number of SNPs, making it "surrogate" markers for haplotype associated with certain disease. The SNP rs3135388 was proposed as a tagging SNP for DRB1*1501/DQB10602 alleles, associated with MS.

Temporal patterns of soluble adhesion molecules in cerebrospinal fluid and plasma in patients with the acute brain infraction.

The aim of this study was to define concentration changes of soluble adhesion molecules (sICAM-1, sVCAM-1 and sE-Selectin) in cerebrospinal fluid and plasma, as well as, number of peripheral blood leukocytes and the albumin coefficient in the patients with the acute brain infarction. We also, analyzed the correlation between the measured levels, the infarct volume and the degree of neurological and the functional deficit. The study included 50 patients with the acute cerebral infarction and the control group consisted of 16 patients, age and sex matched.

Etiology of ischemic stroke among young adults of Serbia.

Background/aim: Etiology of ischemic stroke (IS) among young adults varies among countries. The aim of the study was to investigate the causes and risk factors of IS in the young adults of Serbia.

Methods: A total of 865 patients with IS, aged 15 to 45 years, were treated throughout the period 1989-2005.

Association of MMP-3 5A/6A gene polymorphism with susceptibility to carotid atherosclerosis.

Objectives: Stromelysin-1 (MMP-3) as a key member of metalloproteinase family could have an important role in atherogenesis. The 5A/6A polymorphism in the promoter of MMP-3 gene affects the level of MMP-3 gene expression. We assessed whether the MMP-3 promoter low- and high-activity genotypes are related to susceptibility for carotid atherosclerosis (CA) in Serbian population.

Association of the MMP-3 5A/6A gene polymorphism with multiple sclerosis in patients from Serbia.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are proteolytic enzymes involved in remodeling of the extracellular matrix. MMPs are suggested to play a role in the influx of inflammatory cells into the CNS, disruption of the blood brain barrier, and to degrade myelin in vitro. In this study, we have investigated the possible association of MMP-3 5A/6A gene polymorphism with MS susceptibility and/or severity in patients from Serbia.

Matrix metalloproteinase-9 -1562 C/T gene polymorphism in Serbian patients with multiple sclerosis.

Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is suggested to play a role in MS by mediating T cell migration across subendothelial basement membrane and by contribution to myelin breakdown. We studied the association of MMP-9 -1562 C/T gene polymorphisms with MS susceptibility and severity in 187 patients from Serbia. The significant decrease in T allele carriership (p = 0.

Association of polymorphisms in CTLA-4, IL-1ra and IL-1beta genes with multiple sclerosis in Serbian population.

We have investigated separate as well as combined influence of IL-1beta TaqI, IL-1ra VNTR and CTLA-4 + 49 A/G polymorphisms on susceptibility, clinical course and progression of MS in 162 Serbian patients. We found significant independent relative risk for MS susceptibility in noncarriers of IL-1ra allele 2 (OR = 2.2, CI = 1.

Incidence of vascular hemiballism in the population of Belgrade.

Hemiballism is a relatively rare hyperkinetic disorder with unknown incidence. Stroke is the most common cause of hemiballism (vascular hemiballism), responsible for the disorder in 50% to 100% of cases. We studied the incidence of vascular hemiballism in the population of Belgrade (Serbia) 40 years of age or older during the period 1 January 1991 to 31 December 2002.

Prevalence of primary late-onset focal dystonia in the Belgrade population.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to estimate the prevalence of different subtypes of idiopathic focal dystonia in the population of Belgrade (Serbia), Yugoslavia. On December 31, 2001, the crude prevalence of all studied types of dystonia (focal, segmental, and multifocal) in Belgrade was 13.6 per 100,000 population (11.