High incidence of thyroid cancer among patients with acromegaly.

Purpose: Several studies have suggested that patients with acromegaly have an increased risk of thyroid, colorectal, breast and prostate cancers. In this study we determined the prevalence of malignant neoplasms in patients with acromegaly.

Methods: Cancer risk was evaluated in a cohort of 110 patients (M/F 48/62, age 58.

Intrathecal baclofen therapy for the symptomatic treatment of hereditary spastic paraplegia.

Objective: We study the effectiveness and safety of intrathecal baclofen therapy for the treatment of spasticity and gait improvement in patients suffering from hereditary spastic paraplegia.

Methods: Sixteen patients diagnosed with hereditary spastic paraplegia (mean age: 43 years) were enrolled in this open prospective study. The main inclusion criteria were: spastic paraparesis with a negative laboratory and imaging work-up (apart from spinal cord atrophy), unsuccessful trial of oral anti-spasticity drugs.

Bifocal cortical electrical stimulation for pain by interdural implantation of the electrodes.

Chronic electrical cortical stimulation (ECS) is an evolving therapy for alleviating treatment-refractory chronic pain syndromes. In this report, the authors describe a modified technique of ECS that involves resection of dural strips and interdural placement of the electrodes as a patch, and bifocal stimulation by implanting 2 electrode strips, that is, one over the motor and one over the sensory cortices. The technique was used in 4 patients with treatment-refractory pain syndromes: a 76-year-old woman with poststroke central pain, 2 women, (71 and 73 years old) with trigeminal pain, and a 44-year-old man with phantom limb pain.