Preserved working memory performance along with subcortical modulation during peri-ictal phases in spontaneous migraine attacks.

Objective: To analyze cognitive performance and brain activation during a working memory task in patients with migraine during various phases of the migraine cycle and compare to healthy participants.

Background: Cognitive difficulties reported during migraine attacks remain poorly understood, despite evidence that the lateral frontoparietal network undergoes reversible disturbances and decreased activation during attacks. Recent findings in resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging suggest that brain areas involved in this network interact with subcortical regions during spontaneous migraine attacks.

Moyamoya Disease and Syndrome in Caucasian Patients.

Moyamoya disease is a unique cerebrovascular disease characterized by narrowing of the terminal portion of internal carotid arteries and circle of Willis, with consequent development of a network of collateral vessels in response to brain ischemia. Moyamoya vascular pattern can be idiopathic (Moyamoya disease), is more likely to occur in individuals of Asian ascent and in the pediatric age, or is associated with other diseases (Moyamoya syndrome). We present two cases of stroke in young adults, where workup revealed Moyamoya-type vascular changes.

SARS-CoV-2 Membrane Protein: From Genomic Data to Structural New Insights.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is composed of four structural proteins and several accessory non-structural proteins. SARS-CoV-2's most abundant structural protein, Membrane (M) protein, has a pivotal role both during viral infection cycle and host interferon antagonism. This is a highly conserved viral protein, thus an interesting and suitable target for drug discovery.

Traditional Neurosyphilis in 21st Century - Tabes Dorsalis, Dementia Paralytica, Aseptic Meningitis and Unilateral Oculomotor Nerve Palsy in an HIV-Negative Man.

Syphilis is potentially a multisystem chronic infection caused by . Late symptomatic neurosyphilis has been less reported in developed countries, most often seen in untreated patients or in patients with HIV coinfection. We present a case of complicated neurosyphilis with widespread neurological involvement (dementia paralytica, tabes dorsalis, leptomeningitis and left oculomotor nerve involvement) presenting in the 21st century in an urban area of a well-developed European country in an HIV-negative patient.

Persistent monocular visual loss in migraine patients.

The relationship between migraine and vision is complex. Besides migraine aura status and persistent visual aura without infarction, recognized by International Headaches Classification 3, cases of persistent monocular alterations have been described in migraineurs. To discuss the role of migraine as a risk factor for persistent monocular visual loss.

Guardians of the Cell: State-of-the-Art of Membrane Proteins from a Computational Point-of-View.

Membrane proteins (MPs) encompass a large family of proteins with distinct cellular functions, and although representing over 50% of existing pharmaceutical drug targets, their structural and functional information is still very scarce. Over the last years, in silico analysis and algorithm development were essential to characterize MPs and overcome some limitations of experimental approaches. The optimization and improvement of these methods remain an ongoing process, with key advances in MPs' structure, folding, and interface prediction being continuously tackled.

MoCA as a cognitive assessment tool for absence status epilepticus.

De novo absence status is clinically characterized by a confusional syndrome and neurophysiologically by the presence of periodic spike/polyspike-and-wave discharges on EEG. The treatment should be started promptly, and fast recovery is usually seen. However, cognitive symptoms can be very difficult to detect, and no consensus exists on how cognitive improvement can be clinically monitored.

Headache service quality: evaluation of quality indicators in 14 specialist-care centres.

Background: The study was a collaboration between Lifting The Burden (LTB) and the European Headache Federation (EHF). Its aim was to evaluate the implementation of quality indicators for headache care Europe-wide in specialist headache centres (level-3 according to the EHF/LTB standard).

Methods: Employing previously-developed instruments in 14 such centres, we made enquiries, in each, of health-care providers (doctors, nurses, psychologists, physiotherapists) and 50 patients, and analysed the medical records of 50 other patients.

Herlyn-Werner-Wunderlich and Prader-Willi syndromes: more than a coincidence?

A neonate with a prenatal diagnosis of left renal agenesis was born at 33 weeks gestation. A postnatal abdominal ultrasound confirmed the absence of the left kidney and revealed two non-divergent hemiuteri, consistent with the diagnosis of Herlyn-Werner-Wunderlich syndrome. During admission, significant axial hypotonia was noted, warranting additional investigations.

Neonatal McCune-Albright syndrome with systemic involvement: a case report.

Introduction: McCune-Albright syndrome is a rare sporadic disease characterized by fibrous bone dysplasia, café-au-lait skin spots and variable hyperfunctional endocrinopathies. McCune-Albright syndrome is caused by somatic postzygotic activating mutations in the GNAS gene that produce a broad spectrum of effects.

Case Presentation: We report a case of McCune-Albright syndrome with multi-organ manifestations in the neonatal period.

Evaluation of headache service quality indicators: pilot implementation in two specialist-care centres.

Background: Evaluating quality of health care is increasingly recognized as an important contributor to the advancement of health-care delivery. We recently developed a set of quality indicators for headache care, intended to be applicable across countries, cultures and settings so that deficiencies in headache care worldwide might be recognized and rectified. These indicators themselves require evaluation and proof of fitness for purpose.

[Successful cardiac resynchronization therapy in a patient with heart failure and ischemic mitral regurgitation: importance of septal flash].

We describe the case of a 76-year-old man with a history of ischemic heart disease and functional mitral regurgitation who over the previous six months had experienced worsening of functional class (NYHA III/IV) under optimal medical therapy, without ischemic symptoms and with negative ischemic tests. Mitral valve annuloplasty was considered. As the patient presented left bundle branch block on the surface ECG, cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) was also considered.

Mitral annular disjunction in myxomatous mitral valve disease: a relevant abnormality recognizable by transthoracic echocardiography.

Background: Mitral annular disjunction (MAD) consists of an altered spatial relation between the left atrial wall, the attachment of the mitral leaflets, and the top of the left ventricular (LV) free wall, manifested as a wide separation between the atrial wall-mitral valve junction and the top of the LV free wall. Originally described in association with myxomatous mitral valve disease, this abnormality was recently revisited by a surgical group that pointed its relevance for mitral valve reparability. The aims of this study were to investigate the echocardiographic prevalence of mitral annular disjunction in patients with myxomatous mitral valve disease, and to characterize the clinical profile and echocardiographic features of these patients.

Inferior and inferior-lateral location of left ventricular dyssynergy after myocardial infarction begets ischemic mitral regurgitation.

Introduction: Ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) after myocardial infarction (MI) results from changes in left ventricular geometry, which may involve the entire ventricular cavity (global remodeling) or predominantly affect the infarct zone (regional remodeling). The relative importance of these two distinct but not mutually exclusive mechanisms in generating IMR has been a matter of debate. The aim of our study was to assess the relative contribution of global versus inferior and inferior-lateral left ventricular dyssynergy in the development of significant IMR after MI.

"Mushroom cloud": a giant left ventricular pseudoaneurysm after a myocardial infarction due to myocardial bridging--a case report.

Left ventricular pseudoaneurysm is an uncommon complication after transmural myocardial infarction, occurring when a free wall rupture is contained by adhesions of the overlying pericardium preventing acute tamponade. In this report, an unusual case of a 61 year-old male with a giant apical left ventricular pseudoaneurysm after an unnoticed myocardial infarction is presented. On coronary angiogram myocardial bridging of the distal left anterior descending artery was judged to be the infarct related lesion.

Lipomatous hypertrophy of the interatrial septum: report of two cases where histological examination and surgical intervention were unavoidable.

Lipomatous hypertrophy of the interatrial septum (LHIS) is an increasingly recognized heart condition characterized by fatty deposits in the interatrial septum with sparing of the fossa ovalis. Its distinctive characteristic features by imaging techniques, benign nature, and the fact that most patients remain asymptomatic, has limited the need for histological confirmation and operative intervention in most cases. In this report, we describe two cases of LHIS where cardiac surgical intervention was indispensable: in the first patient, due to the presence of an additional left atrial tumour found out as mixoma and in the second, to relief a superior vena cava obstruction together with bypass grafts for severe coronary artery disease.

Load-independent parameters of diastolic and systolic function by speckle tracking and tissue doppler in hemodialysis patients.

Background: Assessment of diastolic function using conventional Doppler techniques is limited by their significant dependence on volume load status. Whether new echocardiographic methods are load-independent in evaluating left ventricular systolic and diastolic function remains controversial.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify load-independent echocardiographic parameters for systolic and diastolic function in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) and to evaluate agreement between the new methods.

Recurrent ATP1A2 mutations in Portuguese families with familial hemiplegic migraine.

Familial hemiplegic migraine is a rare autosomal dominant subtype of migraine with aura. Three genes have been identified, all involved in ion transport. There is considerable clinical variation associated with FHM mutations.

[Pregnancy and physical exercise: myths, evidence and recommendations].

In recent years there has been a great increase of scientific research regarding physical exercise during pregnancy. Nevertheless, many doubts persist leading to a decrease of its practice. We aimed to evaluate the main factors that influence the practice of physical activity during pregnancy and mothers' knowledge regarding its effects.

[Pregnancy and smoking: an opportunity to change behaviours].

Introduction: Maternal smoking during pregnancy is related not only to perinatal adverse events but also to important postnatal problems. Smoking is very prevalent in women with several socio-demographic factors playing an important role.

Aims: To assess the frequency of smoking as well as mothers' change in behaviours during pregnancy.

Kinesiophobia in migraine.

Unlabelled: Pain aggravation by movement and avoidance of movement (kinesiophobia) is often reported by patients during migraine attacks. Yet its specific contribution to migraine diagnosis is undetermined. To characterize the frequency and severity of kinesiophobia during migraine and its role in the diagnosis of primary headaches, we questioned 150 patients (126 women and 24 men, average age 38.

Evidence for central abnormality in respiratory control in primary lateral sclerosis.

Primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) is a very rare disease characterized by pure upper motor neuron findings. Although a number of previous reports have evaluated this condition, no study has addressed the respiratory function in PLS. Six patients meeting previously proposed diagnostic criteria for PLS were submitted to a number of respiratory tests: forced vital capacity, maximal pressures, phrenic nerve responses, needle electromyography of the respiratory muscles, percutaneous nocturnal oximetry (PNO) and polysomnography (two patients).