Eosinophilic meningitis outbreak related to religious practice.

Three patients with eosinophilic meningitis (EoM) were investigated in two hospitals in Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil. These patients had a common exposure after the ingestion of raw mollusks in a religious ritual. Two of them had an uncommon presentation with intense lower distal extremities pain and small fiber neuropathy as defined by an electroneuromyography (ENMG) study.

Critical illness polyneuromyopathy in septic patients: Is it possible to diagnose it in a bedside clinical examination?

Objective: To determine the sensitivity and specificity of peripheral and respiratory muscle strength tests in diagnosing critical illness polyneuromyopathy (CIPNM), compared with an electrophysiological examination.

Methods: Fifty septic patients who required mechanical ventilation for at least five days, and without a previous history of muscle weakness, were included. Peripheral muscle strength was assessed using the Medical Research Council (MRC) score, handgrip strength by dynamometry, and respiratory muscle strength with maximum respiratory pressures.

Simultaneous Median-Radial Nerve Electrical Stimulation Revisited: An Accurate Approach to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Diagnosis and Severity.

Purpose: To assess the accuracy of an unusual test for CTS investigation and correlate it with clinical symptoms.

Methods: Initially, we applied a visual analog scale for CTS discomfort (CTS-VAS) and performed a standard electrophysiologic test for CTS diagnosis (median-ulnar velocity comparison). Posteriorly, a blinded neurophysiologist performed the orthodromic simultaneous median-radial nerve stimulation (SMRS) at the thumb, with recording of both action potentials over the lateral aspect of the wrist.

Functional and regenerative effects of local administration of autologous mononuclear bone marrow cells combined with silicone conduit on transected femoral nerve of rabbits.

The inoculation of cells into injury sites can accelerate and improve the quality of nerve regeneration. This study aimed to evaluate the functional and regenerative effects of mononuclear autologous bone marrow cells (MABMC) combined with silicon conduit grafting in rabbit femoral nerves. Twenty-eight animals were allocated to one of two groups: treatment group (TG) or control group (CG), divided according to the time of evaluation, at either 50 or 75 days.

Neurological impairment among heterozygote women for X-linked Adrenoleukodystrophy: a case control study on a clinical, neurophysiological and biochemical characteristics.

Background: Neurologic impairments in female heterozygotes for X-linked Adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) are poorly understood. Our aims were to describe the neurological and neurophysiological manifestations of a cohort of X-ALD heterozygotes, and to correlate them with age, disease duration, mutations, X-inactivation and serum concentrations of a marker of neuronal damage, neuron-specific enolase (NSE).

Methods: All 45 heterozygotes identified in our region, with previous VLCFA and molecular diagnosis, were invited to be evaluated through myelopathy scales JOA and SSPROM, nerve conduction studies and somatosensory evoked responses.

Brazilian Portuguese validation of the Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs for patients with chronic pain.

Background: Neuropathic pain (NP) is a very frequent and unrecognized condition in clinical practice. Therefore, it is important to have a reliable instrument to assess pain subtypes in various cultures. The Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (LANSS) has been widely used and validated in many countries.

Sympathetic skin responses evoked by muscle contraction.

Introduction: Voluntary muscle contraction is accompanied by an increase in sympathetic nerve activity. The sympathetic skin response (SSR) is a simple and non-invasive method of autonomic assessment that reflects a synchronized activity of the sweat glands. The aim of our study was to examine the possible relationship between isometric muscle contraction (IC) and changes in the SSR.