Increased functional connectivity coupling with supplementary motor area in blepharospasm at rest.

Objective: To explore the abnormalities of brain function in blepharospasm (BSP) and to illustrate its neural mechanisms by assuming supplementary motor area (SMA) as the entry point.

Methods: Twenty-five patients with BSP and 23 controls underwent resting-state functional MRI, seed-based functional connectivity (FC), correlation analysis, receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis, and support vector machine (SVM) were applied to process the data.

Results: Patients showed that the left medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), left lingual gyrus, right cerebellar crus I, and right lingual gyrus/cerebellar crus I had enhanced FC with the left SMA, whereas the right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) had enhanced FC with the right SMA relative to controls.

Intracranial angioplasty with a self-expandable stent for intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Intracranial angioplasty with a self-expandable stent (SES) is an important endovascular therapy for symptomatic intracranial arterial stenosis. We sought to update the evaluation of the perioperative safety and long-term outcomes of self-expandable stent for the treatment of symptomatic intracranial arterial stenosis.

Methods: We comprehensively searched the published literature from each database through Sept 16, 2022, for the PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Clinical Trials databases.

Abnormal Network Homogeneity in the Right Superior Medial Frontal Gyrus in Cervical Dystonia.

Increasing evidence from modern neuroimaging has confirmed that cervical dystonia (CD) is caused by network abnormalities. Specific brain networks are known to be crucial in patients suffering from CD. However, changes in network homogeneity (NH) in CD patients have not been characterized.

Comparing Brain Functional Activities in Patients With Blepharospasm and Dry Eye Disease Measured With Resting-State fMRI.

Blepharospasm (BSP) and dry eye disease (DED) are clinically common diseases characterized by an increased blinking rate. A sustained eyelid muscle activity may alter the cortical sensorimotor concordance and lead to secondary functional changes. This study aimed to explore the central mechanism of BSP by assessing brain functional differences between the two groups and comparing them with healthy controls.

Abnormal regional homogeneity and its relationship with symptom severity in cervical dystonia: a rest state fMRI study.

Background: Although several brain networks play important roles in cervical dystonia (CD) patients, regional homogeneity (ReHo) changes in CD patients have not been clarified. We investigated to explore ReHo in CD patients at rest and analyzed its correlations with symptom severity as measured by Tsui scale.

Methods: A total of 19 CD patients and 21 gender-, age-, and education-matched healthy controls underwent fMRI scans at rest state.

Voxel-Wise Brain-Wide Functional Connectivity Abnormalities in Patients with Primary Blepharospasm at Rest.

Background: Primary blepharospasm (BSP) is one of the most common focal dystonia and its pathophysiological mechanism remains unclear. An unbiased method was used in patients with BSP at rest to observe voxel-wise brain-wide functional connectivity (FC) changes.

Method: A total of 48 subjects, including 24 untreated patients with BSP and 24 healthy controls, were recruited to undergo functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Abnormal Spontaneous Brain Activities of Limbic-Cortical Circuits in Patients With Dry Eye Disease.

Whether brain function is altered in patients with dry eye disease (DED) remains unclear. Twenty patients with DED and 23 healthy controls (HCs) were scanned using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Regional homogeneity (ReHo) and support vector machine (SVM) were used to analyze the imaging data.

Reduced Global-Brain Functional Connectivity of the Cerebello-Thalamo-Cortical Network in Patients With Dry Eye Disease.

The pathophysiology of patients with dry eye disease (DED) is associated with abnormal functional connectivity (FC). The present study aims to probe alterations of voxel-wise brain-wide FC in patient with DED at rest in an unbiased way. A total of 20 patients with DED and 23 controls matched by age, sex, and years of education underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans.

Reduced Global-Brain Functional Connectivity and Its Relationship With Symptomatic Severity in Cervical Dystonia.

Altered functional connectivity (FC) is related to pathophysiology of patients with cervical dystonia (CD). However, inconsistent results may be obtained due to different selected regions of interest. We explored voxel-wise brain-wide FC changes in patients with CD at rest in an unbiased manner and analyzed their correlations with symptomatic severity using the Tsui scale.

Abnormal spontaneous neural activity of brain regions in patients with primary blepharospasm at rest.

Background: Primary blepharospasm (BSP) is characterized by excessive involuntary eyelid spasms without significant morphological brain abnormalities. Its neural bases remain unclear. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) is a powerful tool for exploring cerebral function mechanisms in BSP.

Alterations of Interhemispheric Functional Connectivity and Degree Centrality in Cervical Dystonia: A Resting-State fMRI Study.

Background: Cervical dystonia (CD) is a neurological movement disorder characterized by involuntary head and neck movements and postures. Reports on microstructural and functional abnormalities in multiple brain regions not limited to the basal ganglia have been increasing in patients with CD. However, the neural bases of CD are unclear.

Voxel-Mirrored Homotopic Connectivity of Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Blepharospasm.

Several networks in human brain are involved in the development of blepharospasm. However, the underlying mechanisms for this disease are poorly understood. A voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) method was used to quantify the changes in functional connectivity between two hemispheres of the brain in patients with blepharospasm.

A systematic review of closure versus medical therapy for preventing recurrent stroke in patients with patent foramen ovale and cryptogenic stroke or transient ischemic attack.

The optimal treatment for secondary prevention in patients who have a patent foramen ovale (PFO) and history of cryptogenic stroke is still uncertain and controversial. In view of this, we performed a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to investigate whether PFO closure was superior to medical therapy for prevention of recurrent stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) in patients with PFO after cryptogenic stroke. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, and ClinicalTrials.

[Aberrance analysis of mitochondrial DNA in a family with hereditary ataxia in Guangxi province].

Objective: To investigate the point mutations of mitochondrial DNA in the families with hereditary ataxia.

Methods: Polymerase chain reaction and single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) were used to analyze the mitochondrial DNA extracted from human peripheral white blood cells from the families with HA and 35 normal controls. Sequencing was performed to search the point mutations in mitochondrial DNA of those subjects whose results of SSCP were abnormal.