Introduction: Patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are prone to venous thromboembolism (VTE) and secondary complications. Because there is an increased incidence of VTE after surgical procedures, placement of a Diaphragm Pacing System (DPS) in ALS patients as treatment for respiratory muscle weakness could potentially increase the incidence of VTE, especially in patients with limited mobility.
Methods: We implanted a DPS in 10 ALS patients who met the criteria for this procedure. They underwent a preoperative evaluation as recommended by the guidelines.
Results: We report 2 patients with no symptoms of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) before the surgical procedure who then developed perioperative VTE.
Conclusions: These patients highlight the need to consider preoperative screening for DVT and postoperative thromboprophylaxis in high-risk ALS patients who undergo DPS placement.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mus.24420 | DOI Listing |
Medicine (Baltimore)
January 2025
Department of Neurology (Nerve-Muscle Unit), Reference Center for Neuromuscular Diseases "AOC," ALS Reference Center, University Hospitals of Bordeaux (Pellegrin Hospital), University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
Rationale: Locked-in syndrome (and its variant, completely locked-in state) generally has a high mortality rate in the acute setting; however, when induced by conditions such as acute inflammatory polyradiculoneuropathy, it may well be curable such that an attempt at cure should be systematically sought by clinicians.
Patient Concerns: A 52-year-old man presented with acute tetraparesia and areflexia, initially diagnosed as Guillain-Barré syndrome. Despite appropriate treatment, his condition deteriorated, evolving into a completely locked-in state.
Muscle Nerve
January 2025
Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Introduction/aims: Spirometry is the conventional means to measure lung function in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), but is dependent on patient effort and bulbar strength. We aimed to use electric impedance tomography (EIT), an emerging non-invasive imaging modality, to measure dynamic lung volume changes.
Methods: Twenty-one patients with ALS underwent sitting and supine spirometry for forced vital capacity (FVC), and sitting and supine EIT.
Endocrine
January 2025
Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Background: Lung neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) represent about 20% of all lung cancers. Few therapeutic options are available for atypical carcinoids (ACs). Single-agent temozolomide (TEM) is active in lung NENs, but whether the addition of capecitabine (CAPTEM) is associated with improved outcomes, is unknown.
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January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Cardiology and Medical Innovation Center, Shanghai East Hospital, Clinical Center for Brain and Spinal Cord Research, School of Medicine, Tongji University, 200331, Shanghai, China.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a severe motor neuron disease, with most sporadic cases lacking clear genetic causes. Abnormal pre-mRNA splicing is a fundamental mechanism in neurodegenerative diseases. For example, TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) loss-of-function (LOF) causes widespread RNA mis-splicing events in ALS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrain Sci
January 2025
Department of Biochemistry, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA.
Charcot first described ALS in 1869, but the specific mechanisms that mediate the disease pathology are still not clear. Intense research efforts have provided insight into unique neuroanatomical regions, specific neuronal populations and genetic associations for ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases; however, the experimental results also suggest a convergence of these events to common toxic pathways. We propose that common toxic pathways can be therapeutically targeted, and this intervention will be effective in slowing progression and improving patient quality of life.
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