The idiopathic intracranial hypertension prospective cohort study: evaluation of prognostic factors and outcomes.

Background: There are limited longitudinal data evaluating outcomes in idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH). We aimed to evaluate the long-term outcomes in a real-world cohort of patients with IIH and sought to establish the prognostic factors.

Methods: A longitudinal prospective cohort study was conducted over 9 years (2012-2021).

Going electronic: an Epic move.

Medicine and dentistry have historically existed as separate entities, resulting in the creation of separate patient health records, which may limit patient care and safety. The General Dental Council emphasise the need to 'make and keep contemporaneous, complete and accurate patient records' as part of the expected standards of the dental team, with no suggested preference on paper or electronic notes. Despite offering clear advantages in primary care dental practice for efficiency, patient accessibility and financial benefit, the comparatively limited uptake of electronic records in dentistry in the secondary care setting has created barriers for patients and clinicians in delivery of evidence-based oral care.

Development of P301S tau seeded organotypic hippocampal slice cultures to study potential therapeutics.

Intracellular tau inclusions are a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration and other sporadic neurodegenerative tauopathies. Recent in vitro and in vivo studies have shown that tau aggregates may spread to neighbouring cells and functionally connected brain regions, where they can seed further tau aggregation. This process is referred to as tau propagation.

Headache for ophthalmologists: current advances in headache understanding and management.

Patients with headache and head pain are often referred to ophthalmologists. These symptoms can either be associated with underlying ophthalmic conditions, or more often are headache disorders unrelated to the eyes. Understanding the phenotype of the headache is critical for advice, safe discharge or onward referral.

Calculating the economic burden of presumed microbial keratitis admissions at a tertiary referral centre in the UK.

Purpose: Microbial keratitis (MK) is the most common non-surgical ophthalmic emergency admission in the UK. However, few prospective health-economic studies of MK have been performed, and no specific healthcare resources group (HRG) code exists. This study is designed to determine the feasibility of a data collection tool derived from the microbiology ophthalmology group (MOG) clinical record form, to enable quantification of direct costs of inpatient care, as well as prospective capture of epidemiological data relating to outcomes of MK.

Acquired nystagmus.

Nystagmus is the repetitive to and fro movement of the eyes, which may be physiological or pathological. The movements can be horizontal, vertical, torsional or a combination of these movements. It starts by a slow movement of the eye away from the visual target.

Optical coherence tomography confirms shunt malfunction and recurrence of raised intracranial pressure in optic atrophy.

Background: Investigating potential cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt malfunction can be a challenge. Optical coherence tomography (OCT), a non-invasive imaging technique, is used to monitor changes at the optic nerve head in papilloedema. Conventional teaching suggests that in the presence of optic atrophy the optic nerve head may not re-swell in response to a relapse in raised intracranial pressure (ICP).

Reviewing the Recent Developments in Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension.

There is increasing evidence and appreciation of idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) in medicine. The pathological processes underlying raised intracranial pressure are being studied, with new insights found in both hormonal dysregulation and the metabolic neuroendocrine axis. These will potentially lead to novel therapeutic targets for IIH.

Photopsia.

'Photopsia' describes the symptom of visual disturbances that are typically flash-like, sudden in onset and brief, and occurring without light entering the eye. Patients reporting photopsia often pose a diagnostic challenge, given the wide range of possible neurological and ophthalmological causes. We review the common causes of photopsia, discuss the assessment and workup of this symptom, and stress the importance of close interdisciplinary liaison to help with its diagnosis and management.

The United Kingdom Neuro-Ophthalmology Superheroes Day 2019.

A key theme of the United Kingdom Neuro-ophthalmology Superheroes Day was to address emerging topics in Neuro-Ophthalmology and the meeting included speakers from around the world. Rapid cases introduced topics which included non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy, imaging in optic nerve disorders, paediatric optic neuritis, mitochondrial disorders and idiopathic intracranial hypertension.

Intraorbital aneurysm of the ophthalmic artery.

Intraorbital ophthalmic artery (OA) aneurysms are rare. They can be asymptomatic or present with visual disturbances, exophthalmos and headaches. We present a case of a 57-year-old man who presented with reduced vision, diplopia and exophthalmos.

Stiffness memory nanohybrid scaffolds generated by indirect 3D printing for biologically responsive soft implants.

Cell and tissue stiffness is an important biomechanical signalling parameter for dynamic biological processes; responsive polymeric materials conferring responsive functionality are therefore appealing for in vivo implants. We have developed thermoresponsive poly(urea-urethane) nanohybrid scaffolds with 'stiffness memory' through a versatile 3D printing-guided thermally induced phase separation (3D-TIPS) technique. 3D-TIPS, a combination of 3D printing with phase separation, allows uniform phase-separation and phase transition of the polymer solution at a large interface of network within the printed sacrificial preform, leading to the creation of full-scale scaffolds with bespoke anatomical complex geometry.

Mind the gap: 11 years of train-related injuries at the Royal London Hospital Major Trauma Centre.

Introduction This study presents an extensive retrospective database of patients with polytrauma following train-related injuries and highlights the key lessons learnt in this rare clinical presentation. Materials and methods We retrospectively collected data from 127 patients who presented to Royal London Hospital after sustaining train related trauma. We analysed demographics, accident report data, aetiologies and clinical management interventions.

The headache of temporomandibular disorders.

This article endeavours to revise the key guidance and evidence on temporomandibular disorders (TMD), with a particular focus on myofascial pain. It highlights the important role that primary care dental practitioners play in providing holistic care during the patient's journey to manage this painful condition. I hope to give an insight into my own personal experiences to highlight the challenges patients can face in seeking appropriate support.

A high-throughput model for investigating neuronal function and synaptic transmission in cultured neuronal networks.

Loss of synapses or alteration of synaptic activity is associated with cognitive impairment observed in a number of psychiatric and neurological disorders, such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease. Therefore successful development of in vitro methods that can investigate synaptic function in a high-throughput format could be highly impactful for neuroscience drug discovery. We present here the development, characterisation and validation of a novel high-throughput in vitro model for assessing neuronal function and synaptic transmission in primary rodent neurons.

Epilepsy-associated GRIN2A mutations reduce NMDA receptor trafficking and agonist potency - molecular profiling and functional rescue.

Mutations in the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) gene GRIN2A cause epilepsy-aphasia syndrome (EAS), a spectrum of epileptic, cognitive and language disorders. Using bioinformatic and patient data we shortlisted 10 diverse missense mutations for characterisation. We used high-throughput calcium-flux assays and patch clamp recordings of transiently transfected HEK-293 cells for electrophysiological characterization, and Western blotting and confocal imaging to assay expression and surface trafficking.

Comparison of peri-operative and 12-month lifestyle outcomes in minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion versus conventional lumbar fusion.

Aim: To compare the results of minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MI-TLIF) versus conventional lumbar interbody fusion in terms of peri-operative and long-term outcome measures.

Design: Retrospective secondary data analysis.

Subjects: The study involved patients who had primary single-level spinal interbody fusion between October 2012 and May 2014 with 1-year follow-up, resulting in 36 patients for MI-TLIF and 60 patients for open surgery.

The practice of defensive medicine among hospital doctors in the United Kingdom.

Background: Defensive medicine is defined as a doctor's deviation from standard practice to reduce or prevent complaints or criticism. The objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence of the practice of defensive medicine in the UK among hospital doctors and the factors affecting it.

Methods: A quantitative study was designed, with a detailed seventeen point questionnaire.

The N-methylated peptide SEN304 powerfully inhibits Aβ(1-42) toxicity by perturbing oligomer formation.

Oligomeric forms of β-amyloid (Aβ) have potent neurotoxic activity and are the primary cause of neuronal injury and cell death in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Compounds that perturb oligomer formation or structure may therefore be therapeutic for AD. We previously reported that d-[(chGly)-(Tyr)-(chGly)-(chGly)-(mLeu)]-NH(2) (SEN304) is able to inhibit Aβ aggregation and toxicity, shown primarily by thioflavin T fluorescence and MTT (Kokkoni, N.