Publications by authors named "Simona Bonavita"
Background And Objectives: Editors of scientific journals play a key role in the health-related research process. Our study aims to characterize the demographics, work habits, decision-making processes, and ethical challenges faced by editors of neurological journals and to evaluate associations between editor or journal characteristics and editorial decisions, as well as sources of conflict of interest.
Methods: Cross-sectional study involving editors from neurological journals that fell above the 50th percentile in the Scimago rankings.
Over the past 20 years, the treatment scenario of multiple sclerosis (MS) has radically changed, and an ever-increasing number of disease-modifying treatments has emerged. Among high-efficacy treatment agents, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have become a mainstay in a MS patient's treatment due to their targeted mechanism, high efficacy, and favorable risk profile. The latter varies from drug to drug and a skin cancer warning has emerged with sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor inhibitors.
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- The study investigates the effects of discontinuing dimethyl fumarate (DMF) during early pregnancy in women with multiple sclerosis (MS), analyzing 137 pregnancies from Italian MS Centers.
- Results show that disease activity typically decreases during pregnancy but increases postpartum; higher relapse rates before conception correlate with faster relapses after giving birth.
- Importantly, DMF exposure during early pregnancy did not negatively affect fetal outcomes, suggesting it is safe for the pregnancy context.
Article Synopsis
- People with rare neurological diseases (RNDs) often experience movement disorders, and a multidisciplinary rehabilitation approach, including telemedicine, can enhance treatment consistency and personalization.
- A scoping review was conducted to analyze available literature on telerehabilitation and teleassessment interventions for movement disorders in RNDs, resulting in 18 relevant studies focusing on various technologies like wearable sensors and virtual reality.
- Key findings indicated positive effects on gait, balance, and limb disability, but limitations such as small sample sizes and lack of standardized protocols were noted, highlighting the need for more rigorous research to improve remote rehabilitation and patient quality of life.
Article Synopsis
- This study looked at how many people with multiple sclerosis (MS) also have psoriasis (PsO), a skin condition, and tried to understand how the two might be connected.
- Out of 316 MS patients who were asked, about 5.85% had psoriasis confirmed by a skin doctor, and most of those with PsO had a more serious form of MS.
- The results suggest that doctors should work together to find the best treatments for patients who have both MS and psoriasis.
Background: in the early stages of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), initiating high-efficacy disease-modifying therapy (HE DMTs) may represent an optimal strategy for delaying neurological damage and long-term disease progression, especially in highly active MS patients (HAMS). Natalizumab (NAT) and Ocrelizumab (OCR) are recognized as HE DMTs with significant anti-inflammatory effects. This study investigates NEDA-3 achievement in treatment-naïve HAMS patients receiving NAT or OCR over three years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTreatment options for secondary progressive MS (SPMS) are limited, especially considering that the new drugs recently approved are licensed for actively relapsing patients. We aimed to compare the disability progression in a real-world cohort of SPMS patients treated with natalizumab (NTZ) or interferon beta-1b (IFNb-1b). This multicenter retrospective enrolled patients with a diagnosis of SPMS according to 2014 Lublin criteria, who received NTZ or IFNb-1b for at least 48 months between the 1st June 2012 and the 15th May 2018 at 33 Italian MS centers contributing to the Italian MS Registry NTZ or IFNb-1b.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The management of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has undergone transformative evolution with the introduction of high-efficacy disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), specifically anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies, such as ocrelizumab (OCR) and ofatumumab (OFA).
Materials And Methods: This is an independent retrospective cohort study in Relapsing MS (RMS) patients followed at eight Italian MS centers who initiated treatment with OCR or OFA in the participating centers and with at least 12 months on therapy. A generalized linear regression model inverse probability of treatment weight (IPTW) PS-adjusted was performed to evaluate the relationship between annualized relapse rate (ARR) and treatment groups.
Large-scale brain activity has long been investigated under the erroneous assumption of stationarity. Nowadays, we know that resting-state functional connectivity is characterized by aperiodic, scale-free bursts of activity (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChatGPT vs. neurologists: a cross-sectional study investigating preference, satisfaction ratings and perceived empathy in responses among people living with multiple sclerosis.
J Neurol
July 2024
Article Synopsis
- A study was conducted to compare the empathy and satisfaction levels of people with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS) towards responses from neurologists versus ChatGPT for common questions.
- The results showed that ChatGPT's responses were perceived as more empathetic than those from neurologists, although no significant difference in overall satisfaction was found.
- The study suggests that while AI like ChatGPT can enhance patient interactions, physicians need to adapt to digital advancements and guide patients in effectively using AI tools in healthcare.
Article Synopsis
- * A study involving 204 patients who completed two years of cladribine treatment found that 75.4% did not start new treatments in the year following therapy, and there was a significant reduction in relapse rates after treatment.
- * The results suggest that cladribine is effective in lowering relapse rates and has a favorable safety profile, with lymphopenia being the main side effect; however, further larger studies are needed to confirm its long
Article Synopsis
- Maternal COVID-19 is linked to worse outcomes for mothers, but its effects on pregnant women with multiple sclerosis (MS) had not been thoroughly examined prior to this study.
- This multicenter study focused on pregnant women with MS who contracted COVID-19, assessing their maternal and fetal health outcomes compared to a control group.
- Findings revealed that while COVID-19 increased the risk of maternal complications, it did not significantly affect rates of spontaneous abortion or fetal malformations.
Introduction: People with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) exhibit a spectrum of needs that extend beyond solely disease-related determinants. Investigating unmet needs from the patient perspective may address daily difficulties and optimize care. Our aim was to identify patterns of unmet needs among PwMS and their determinants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVitamin D is known for its role in modulating calcium and phosphate homeostasis and is implicated both in bone mineralization and immune system regulation. The immune-modulatory role of vitamin D and its impact on multiple sclerosis (MS) courses are still debated. The aim of this review was to check the effect of vitamin D supplementation on cytokine profile regulation in people with MS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The DYSPHAGIA IN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (DYMUS) questionnaire is the only specific tool developed to screen for dysphagia in people with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS). However, some limitations of DYMUS could potentially be addressed by the SWALLOWING DISTURBANCE QUESTIONNAIRE (SDQ), which has not yet been validated in pwMS. The objective of this study was to translate and validate the SDQ into the Italian language for use in pwMS to detect swallowing disturbances.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a transitional clinical stage prior to dementia. Patients with amnestic MCI have a high risk of progression toward Alzheimer's disease. Both amnestic mild cognitive impairment and sporadic Alzheimer's disease are multifactorial disorders consequential from a multifaceted cross-talk among molecular and biological processes.
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- The study explored the effects of extended interval dosing (EID) versus standard interval dosing (SID) of Ocrelizumab in patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Researchers analyzed data from 96 patients, half received SID and half received at least one EID, to assess any differences in confirmed disability progression (CDP).
- Results showed that EID did not lead to a higher risk of CDP compared to SID, indicating that delaying therapy did not negatively impact patient outcomes in the study cohort.
We present the case of a 48-year-old-woman with apparently isolated central nervous system Erdheim-Chester disease characterized by brainstem involvement. Erdheim-Chester disease is extremely rare and multisystem impairment should always be sought in the suspicion of such pathology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRepetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique also used as a non-pharmacological intervention against cognitive impairment. The purpose of the present review was to summarize what is currently known about the effectiveness of rTMS intervention on different cognitive domains in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and to address potential neuromodulation approaches in combination with electroencephalography (EEG) and neuroimaging, especially functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In this systematic review, we consulted three main databases (PubMed, Science Direct, and Scopus), and Google Scholar was selected for the gray literature search.
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- - Multiple sclerosis (MS) primarily impacts women of reproductive age, with increasing numbers seeking fertility management and assisted reproductive technology (ART) due to factors like sexual dysfunction and disease-modifying therapies (DMTs).
- - Research indicates that women with stable MS who wish to undergo ART can face increased relapse rates and MRI activity, which highlights the importance of careful management and the timing of fertility treatments.
- - Before starting ART, women with MS should have thorough health assessments, including vitamin and hormone levels, and should maintain a healthy lifestyle, while specific tests for infections and diseases are recommended to ensure a safe treatment process.
Telemedicine has proven successful in relieving the burden of chronic neurological disorders from the national health care systems by ensuring a highly customized and effective management plan. Although many studies focus on assessing telemedicine effectiveness, little is known about the economic implications of telemedicine applications in chronic neurological diseases (CNDs). This issue could account for a lack of widespread implementation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Brain connectome fingerprinting is progressively gaining ground in the field of brain network analysis. It represents a valid approach in assessing the subject-specific connectivity and, according to recent studies, in predicting clinical impairment in some neurodegenerative diseases. Nevertheless, its performance, and clinical utility, in the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) field has not yet been investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The diagnosis of the progression phase of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is still retrospective and based on the objectivation of clinical disability accumulation.
Objectives: To assess whether the Patient Reported Outcomes Measures (PROMs) scores predict the occurrence of disease progression within three years of follow-up.
Methods: Observational prospective multicenter study.