Voxel-Based Morphometry and Relaxometry Demonstrate Macro- and Microstructural Damages in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3/Machado-Joseph disease (SCA3/MJD) is the most common SCA worldwide and comprises about 70% of SCA patients in Brazil. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences have been used to describe microstructural abnormalities in many neurodegenerative diseases and helped to reveal the excessive iron accumulation in many of these conditions. This study aimed to characterize brain changes in gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM), detected by voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and relaxometry in patients with SCA3/MJD.

Profiles of indigenous patients with epilepsy in a Brazilian village.

Introduction: Identifying epilepsy in local indigenous populations and describing its epidemiological, etiological, electroencephalographic, and therapeutic aspects can assist public health policies planning toward epilepsy in indigenous communities.

Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study investigated epilepsy among indigenous people residing in Jaguapirú Village, Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Participants had their clinical histories reviewed and physical examination performed, as well as one or more electroencephalograms (EEG) registered.

Validation of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder Screening Questionnaire (RBDSQ-BR).

Introduction: A diagnosis of rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) currently requires confirmation with polysomnography (PSG). However, PSG may not be sufficiently available. In these situations, a clinical diagnostic measure might be useful.

Which Factors in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3 Patients Are Associated with Restless Legs Syndrome/Willis-Ekbom Disease?

There is evidence of a higher prevalence of restless legs syndrome/Willis-Ekbom disease (RLS/WED) in individuals with spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3), although the factors underlying this association remain unknown. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of RLS/WED in SCA3 patients and to investigate which factors of SCA3 patients are associated with presence of RLS/WED. From February to August of 2006, we carried out clinical interviews in 40 controls and 40 SCA3 patients, diagnosed and followed up at Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo.

Impact of epilepsy surgery on quality of life and burden of caregivers in children and adolescents.

Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of pediatric epilepsy surgery on the quality of life (QOL), determining whether patients improve, worsen, or maintain their preoperative patterns, as it relates to the burden of caregivers, as well as evaluating potential related factors, from both the children and caregivers perspectives.

Material And Methods: This is a retrospective study of children and adolescents who underwent epilepsy surgery and were evaluated through clinical data, videoelectroencephalogram (V-EEG), neuroimaging findings, neuropsychological testing, and aspects of QOL. These assessments were performed prior to surgery and after six months and two years of follow-up.

Defecation reflex seizures: a case report with long-term VEEG monitoring, neuroimaging and comprehensive epilepsy evaluation.

Reflex seizures are consistently elicited by a specific afferent sensory stimulus or an activity undertaken by the patient. Among many known stimuli, defecation has rarely been reported. We describe the case of a child with reflex seizures triggered by defecation, considering the diagnostic challenge, epilepsy evaluation with video-EEG monitoring, as well as impact on neuropsychology, behaviour and quality of life.

Global cognitive performance is associated with sleep efficiency measured by polysomnography in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Aim: Sleep disorders can be associated with an increased risk for cognitive decline in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The aim of this study was to examine the association between cognitive status and presence of sleep symptoms and sleep disorders in PD patients.

Methods: We evaluated excessive sleepiness, other sleep symptoms, and performed polysomnography and neuropsychological evaluation in 79 patients.

Factors related to excessive sleepiness in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Excessive sleepiness (ES) can affect up to 60% of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, and it has a multifactorial etiology. It is related to the neurodegenerative processes affecting brain regions responsible for the sleep-wake cycle, the effects of drugs acting on the central nervous system, and the excessive sleep fragmentation of this population.

Objectives: To identify the factors associated with the presence of ES in patients with PD.

Sleep-disordered breathing among acute ischemic stroke patients in Brazil.

Objectives: Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is very common in acute stroke patients and has been related to poor outcome. However, there is a lack of data about the association between SDB and stroke in developing countries. The study aims to characterize the frequency and severity of SDB in Brazilian patients during the acute phase of ischemic stroke; to identify clinical and laboratorial data related to SDB in those patients; and to assess the relationship between sleep apnea and functional outcome after six months of stroke.

Short-term mortality and prognostic factors related to status epilepticus.

Objective: Status epilepticus (SE) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, and there is some controversy concerning predictive indicators of outcome. Our main goal was to determine mortality and to identify factors associated with SE prognosis.

Method: This prospective study in a tertiary-care university hospital, included 105 patients with epileptic seizures lasting more than 30 minutes.

Respiratory dysfunction in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A.

We aimed to investigate the relationship between neurological compromise, respiratory parameters in wakefulness and in sleep, physiology, and morphology of phrenic nerves in patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A (CMT1A). Sixteen patients with CMT1A were evaluated by spirometry, maximal expiratory and maximal inspiratory pressures (MEP, MIP), polysomnography, phrenic nerve compound muscle action potential (CMAP), and ultrasonography (roots C3,C4,C5 and phrenic nerves). Clinical disability was measured with Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy score (CMT-NS; range 0-36).

Excessive fragmentary myoclonus in patients with Parkinson's disease: prevalence and clinico-polysomnographic profile.

Objective And Background: Excessive fragmentary myoclonus (EFM) is characterized by subtle arrhythmic and excessive jerks that are usually asymmetric and asynchronous. EFM occurs in different areas of the body, mainly the face and distal parts of the arms and legs, and is detected by surface electromyography during sleep. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of EFM in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients at a tertiary level outpatient clinic as well as to describe the clinical and polysomnographic profiles of these patients.

SOS score: an optimized score to screen acute stroke patients for obstructive sleep apnea.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is frequent in acute stroke patients, and has been associated with higher mortality and worse prognosis. Polysomnography (PSG) is the gold standard diagnostic method for OSA, but it is impracticable as a routine for all acute stroke patients. We evaluated the accuracy of two OSA screening tools, the Berlin Questionnaire (BQ), and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) when administered to relatives of acute stroke patients; we also compared these tools against a combined screening score (SOS score).

Adherence of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome patients to continuous positive airway pressure in a public service.

Introduction: The standard therapy for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), but its correct and frequent use is essential to control the disease.

Purpose: To analyze adherence to CPAP among patients with OSAS treated in a multidisciplinary outpatient clinic of a public tertiary hospital.

Methods: This was a retrospective study evaluating 156 patients with OSAS who underwent polysomnography for CPAP titration from 2008 to 2011.

Predictors of uvulopalatopharyngoplasty success in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

Objective: Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) has been described as an option for treating obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), with variable success rates. The main purpose of our study was to correlate UPPP success to craniofacial bony structure and orofacial muscles function.

Methods: Clinical variables, including body mass index (BMI), age, and preoperative apnea-hypopnea index (AHI); cephalometric measurements of the craniofacial region and hyoid bone position; and muscle function variables including clinical protocol and tongue strength measures were evaluated in 54 patients who underwent UPPP in the last 7years.

The use of a mandibular repositioning device for obstructive sleep apnea.

The objective of this study was to verify the effect of a mandibular repositioning device (MRD) on polysomnographic parameters and on the mean electromyographic activity of the masseter and temporal muscles in individuals with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). This is a prospective cohort study conducted at multidisciplinary OSAS center in a tertiary referral center. Nineteen individuals with mild or moderate OSAS associated with Mallampati 3-4 were treated with an MRD during sleep.

Polysomnographic evaluation of propofol-induced sleep in patients with respiratory sleep disorders and controls.

Objectives/hypothesis: The treatment for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) depends on correct localization of upper airway obstruction, exception made for continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) with propofol allows this evaluation, but the drug effects on sleep parameters are not yet well established. Our objective was to study by polysomnography (PSG) whether propofol would change sleep parameters by means of a prospective cross-sectional clinical study in a tertiary hospital.

Cognitive and surgical outcome in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy associated with hippocampal sclerosis plus neurocysticercosis: a cohort study.

Background: Where neurocysticercosis (NCC) is endemic, chronic calcified neurocysticercosis (cNCC) can be observed in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy associated with hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE-HS). Considering that both disorders cause recurrent seizures or cognitive impairment, we evaluated if temporal lobectomy is cognitively safe and effective for seizure control in MTLE-HS plus cNCC.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of neuropsychological profile and surgical outcome of 324 MTLE-HS patients submitted to temporal lobectomy, comparing the results according to the presence or absence of cNCC.

A comparison of the Fujita classification of awake and drug-induced sleep endoscopy patients.

Unlabelled: Only a few studies have compared the outcomes of patients kept awake during endoscopic examination and subjects submitted to drug-induced sleep endoscopy.

Objective: This study aimed to compare the endoscopic findings of patients submitted to outpatient endoscopy and endoscopic examination with sedation by propofol based on the Fujita Classification.

Method: This cross-sectional cohort study enrolled 34 patients.

Supine sleep and positional sleep apnea after acute ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage.

Objective: Obstructive sleep apnea is frequent during the acute phase of stroke, and it is associated with poorer outcomes. A well-established relationship between supine sleep and obstructive sleep apnea severity exists in non-stroke patients. This study investigated the frequency of supine sleep and positional obstructive sleep apnea in patients with ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke.