Disparities in the treatment of movement disorders using deep brain stimulation.

Objective: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a well-established treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD) and essential tremor (ET). Although the prevalence of PD and ET can vary by sex and race, little is known about the accessibility of neurosurgical treatments for these conditions. In this nationwide study, the authors aimed to characterize trends in the use of DBS for the treatment of PD and ET and to identify disparities in the neurosurgical treatment of these diseases based on ethnic, racial, sex, insurance, income, hospital, and geographic factors.

Disparities in Access to Deep Brain Stimulation and Responsive Neurostimulation Approaches to Drug-Resistant Epilepsy.

Background: Epilepsy affects 1% to 2% of the global population, and those who are resistant to medical treatment may be candidates for neuromodulation. In select populations, brain stimulation approaches including deep brain stimulation (DBS) and responsive neurostimulation (RNS) are used. Although studies have shown that patients from Black, Hispanic, lower income, and rural communities have less access to epilepsy care and have lower rates of epilepsy surgery, disparities in the use of brain stimulation for epilepsy treatment are currently not known.

Palliative Care Consultations in Patients with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Who Receives Palliative Care Consultations and What Does that Mean for Utilization?

Background: Palliative care has the potential to improve goal-concordant care in severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI). Our primary objective was to illuminate the demographic profiles of patients with sTBI who receive palliative care encounters (PCEs), with an emphasis on the role of race. Secondary objectives were to analyze PCE usage over time and compare health care resource utilization between patients with or without PCEs.

Autograft-derived spinal cord mass in the cervical spine following transplantation with olfactory mucosa cells for traumatic spinal cord injury: case report.

This study describes a patient with an autograft-derived spinal cord mass following transplantation of olfactory mucosa for treatment of cervical spine injury. The authors report the case of a 35-year-old man who suffered a complete spinal cord injury (SCI) at C5-6 in 2001. The patient underwent an olfactory mucosal cell implantation at the location of injury 4 years following initial trauma.

Impaired motor coordination and disrupted cerebellar architecture in Fgfr1 and Fgfr2 double knockout mice.

Fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) signaling determines the size of the cerebral cortex by regulating the amplification of radial glial stem cells, and participates in the formation of midline glial structures. We show that Fgfr1 and Fgfr2 double knockouts (FGFR DKO) generated by Cre-mediated recombination driven by the human GFAP promoter (hGFAP) have reduced cerebellar size due to reduced proliferation of radial glia and other glial precursors in late embryonic and neonatal FGFR DKO mice. The proliferation of granule cell progenitors (GCPs) in the EGL was also reduced, leading to reduced granule cell numbers.