Nerve high-resolution ultrasound in a 2-year follow-up of radial nerve palsy related to humeral shaft fractures.

Background: High-resolution nerve ultrasonography (HRUS) could have an emerging importance in diagnosis and follow-up of axonopathic radial palsy associated with humeral shaft fractures due to closed trauma. The aim of our study was to establish the role of HURS in this context through a longitudinal multimodal analysis.

Methods: Clinical, electrodiagnostic (EDX) and HRUS evaluations were prospectively performed at month 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 from injury, in a continuous series of 19 patients collected in a 5-year study.

Notch Signal Mediates the Cross-Interaction between M2 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor and Neuregulin/ErbB Pathway: Effects on Schwann Cell Proliferation.

The cross-talk between axon and glial cells during development and in adulthood is mediated by several molecules. Among them are neurotransmitters and their receptors, which are involved in the control of myelinating and non-myelinating glial cell development and physiology. Our previous studies largely demonstrate the functional expression of cholinergic muscarinic receptors in Schwann cells.

Changes of clinical, neurophysiological and nerve ultrasound characteristics in CIDP over time: a 3-year follow-up.

Objectives: To evaluate, in a prospective study, high-resolution ultrasound (HRUS) changes of nerve segments in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and their relationships with clinical and electrodiagnostic (EDX) characteristics.

Methods: Twenty-three consecutive patients with CIDP were included in a 3-year follow-up (FU) study. Each patient underwent neurologic examination, EDX and HRUS study.

Nerve ultrasonography findings as possible pitfall in differential diagnosis between hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis with polyneuropathy and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.

Hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis with polyneuropathy (ATTRv-PN) is a rare form of treatable severe progressive sensory-motor and autonomic polyneuropathy. Albeit usually axonal, late-onset ATTRv-PN can show clear demyelinating features at electrodiagnostic studies, sometimes fulfilling CIDP diagnostic criteria. High-resolution nerve ultrasonography (HRUS) is an emerging useful supportive tool in the diagnosis of CIDP.

Muscle involvement in myasthenia gravis: Expanding the clinical spectrum of Myasthenia-Myositis association from a large cohort of patients.

Myastenia-Inflammatory Myopathy (MG-IM) association has been described in less than 50 cases, as isolated reports or in few case series. In most cases, MG and IM onset occur simultaneously even if the overlapping clinical manifestations could lead to delay the diagnosis in the early stage of disease. In these cases, thymic pathology is present in more than 50% of cases.

Upper Limb Robotic Rehabilitation After Stroke: A Multicenter, Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background And Purpose: After stroke, only 12% of survivors obtain complete upper limb (UL) functional recovery, while in 30% to 60% UL deficits persist. Despite the complexity of the UL, prior robot-mediated therapy research has used only one robot in comparisons to conventional therapy. We evaluated the efficacy of robotic UL treatment using a set of 4 devices, compared with conventional therapy.

Technological rehabilitation versus conventional rehabilitation following hip replacement: A prospective controlled study.

Background: Among new technological rehabilitation systems, there are proprioceptive platforms. These could be useful to improve static and dynamic balance.

Objective: To evaluate technological proprioceptive rehabilitation compared to conventional rehabilitation in patients after total hip arthroplasty (THA).

Nerve high-resolution ultrasonography in peripheral nerve injuries associated with supracondylar humeral fractures in children.

To evaluate nerve high-resolution ultrasonography (HRUS) as diagnostic tool in children with supracondylar humeral fractures (SHF)-related peripheral nerve injuries (PNIs), we selected at least one illustrative case for each upper limb nerve usually involved in SHF (i.e. median, radial and ulnar nerve), in which HRUS evaluation added a useful contribution in diagnostic and therapeutic choices.

Reliability, validity and discriminant ability of the instrumental indices provided by a novel planar robotic device for upper limb rehabilitation.

Background: In the last few years, there has been an increasing interest in the use of robotic devices to objectively quantify motor performance of patients after brain damage. Although these robot-derived measures can potentially add meaningful information about the patient's dexterity, as well as be used as outcome measurements after the rehabilitation treatment, they need to be validated before being used in clinical practice. The present work aims to evaluate the reliability, the validity and the discriminant ability of the metrics provided by a novel robotic device for upper limb rehabilitation.

Defocused Shock Wave Therapy for Chronic Soft Tissue Wounds in the Lower Limbs: A Pilot Study.

Chronic soft tissue wounds of the lower limbs are debilitating, painful and often unresponsive to advanced dressing treatments. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) could represent an alternative treatment. Ten patients with chronic soft tissue wounds of the legs, unresponsive to advanced dressing treatments for more than 3 mo, underwent three defocused ESWT sessions at 72-h intervals.

Peripheral nerve ultrasound changes in CIDP and correlations with nerve conduction velocity.

Objective: To evaluate the ultrasound (US) characteristics of peripheral nerves in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and their correlations with electrodiagnostic (EDX) characteristics.

Methods: Nineteen patients with CIDP and 19 healthy controls matched by age and body mass index were included in a blind case-control, observational study. All patients underwent a neurologic examination (including inflammatory neuropathy cause and treatment [INCAT] and Medical Research Council [MRC] sum score) and an EDX study.

M2 muscarinic receptor activation regulates Schwann cell differentiation and myelin organization.

Glial cells express acetylcholine receptors. In particular, rat Schwann cells express different muscarinic receptor subtypes, the most abundant of which is the M2 subtype. M2 receptor activation causes a reversible arrest of the cell cycle.

Direct interaction of Gas41 and Myc encoded by amplified genes in nervous system tumours.

In order to understand better the role of the human Tip60 complex component Gas41, we analysed its expression levels in brain tumours and searched for possible interactors. Two-hybrid screening of a human foetal brain library allowed identification of some molecular interactors of Gas41. Among them we found n-Myc transcription factor.

Acetylcholine inhibits cell cycle progression in rat Schwann cells by activation of the M2 receptor subtype.

Cultures of Schwann cells from neonatal rat sciatic nerves were treated with acetylcholine agonists and the effects on cell proliferation evaluated. (3)[H]-thymidine incorporation shows that acetylcholine (ACh) receptor agonists inhibit cell proliferation, and FACS analysis demonstrates cell-cycle arrest and accumulation of cells in the G1 phase. The use of arecaidine, a selective agonist of muscarinic M2 receptors reveals that this effect depends mainly on M2 receptor activation.

Rat Schwann cells express M1-M4 muscarinic receptor subtypes.

The expression of different muscarinic receptor subtypes was analyzed in immature Schwann cells obtained from sciatic nerve of 2-day neonatal rats. By using RT-PCR analysis, we demonstrated the presence of M1, M2, M3, and M4 receptor subtypes in cultured Schwann cells, with M2 displaying the highest expression levels. Muscarinic subtypes were also quantified by immunoprecipitation and [3H]QNB binding.