Neurophysiological differentiation of upper motor neuron damage in neurodegenerative disorders.

Clin Neurophysiol Pract

Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan.

Published: September 2022

Objective: Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to delineate upper motor neuron (UMN) signs of two neurodegenerative disorders: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple system atrophy (MSA).

Methods: Medical records including clinical signs for UMN damage and TMS results were reviewed retrospectively. The UMN signs were classified into none, mild, and severe based on neurological examination of various reflexes. Then TMS-elicited motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were recorded from a hand and a leg muscle to calculate the central motor conduction time (CMCT), which represents fast, mono-synaptic conduction along the corticospinal tract. Relations between the UMN signs and CMCT were analysed for the two diseases.

Results: Prevalence and severity of the UMN signs for ALS and MSA were comparable for both upper and lower limbs. However, abnormality in CMCT was found more frequently in ALS: CMCT abnormalities were found in upper limbs for 44% in ALS patients but only for 7% in MSA patients; CMCT abnormalities in lower limbs were 55% in ALS and 20% in MSA. Some ALS patients showed abnormal CMCT in limbs without UMN signs, which was not true for most MSA patients.

Conclusions: The abnormalities of CMCT were different in ALS and MSA, even for those who clinically had similar UMN signs. Sometimes, CMCT can reveal UMN damage in the absence of clinical UMN signs. Differences presumably derive from selective degeneration of different fibres in the motor descending pathways. Longitudinal studies must be conducted to accumulate neuroimaging and pathological findings.

Significance: CMCT can be useful to differentiate ALS and MSA.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9574772PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cnp.2022.09.002DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

umn signs
28
als msa
12
umn
9
cmct
9
upper motor
8
motor neuron
8
neurodegenerative disorders
8
signs
8
als
8
umn damage
8

Similar Publications

Cranioventral pulmonary consolidation (CVPC) is a common lesion observed in the lungs of slaughtered pigs, often associated with Mycoplasma (M.) hyopneumoniae infection. There is a need to implement simple, fast, and valid CVPC scoring methods.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

People living with HIV are at higher risk of heart failure and associated left atrial remodeling compared to people without HIV. Mechanisms are unclear but have been linked to inflammation and premature aging. Here we obtain plasma proteomics concurrently with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in two independent study populations to identify parallels between HIV-related and aging-related immune dysfunction that could contribute to atrial remodeling and clinical heart failure.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A super-resolution algorithm to fuse orthogonal CT volumes using OrthoFusion.

Sci Rep

January 2025

Divisions of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.

OrthoFusion, an intuitive super-resolution algorithm, is presented in this study to enhance the spatial resolution of clinical CT volumes. The efficacy of OrthoFusion is evaluated, relative to high-resolution CT volumes (ground truth), by assessing image volume and derived bone morphological similarity, as well as its performance in specific applications in 2D-3D registration tasks. Results demonstrate that OrthoFusion significantly reduced segmentation time, while improving structural similarity of bone images and relative accuracy of derived bone model geometries.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Neurophysiologic Innovations in ALS: Enhancing Diagnosis, Monitoring, and Treatment Evaluation.

Brain Sci

December 2024

Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive disease of both upper motor neurons (UMNs) and lower motor neurons (LMNs) leading invariably to decline in motor function. The clinical exam is foundational to the diagnosis of the disease, and ordinal severity scales are used to track its progression. However, the lack of objective biomarkers of disease classification and progression delay clinical trial enrollment, muddle inclusion criteria, and limit accurate assessment of drug efficacy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: This randomized controlled trial compared the 1-year clinical efficacy of Scotchbond Universal Adhesive Plus (SBU+) with that of its predecessor Scotchbond Universal Adhesive (SBU) to restore Class I and Class II preparations using the self-etch strategy in adult patients.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-one subjects participated in this study. Two posterior teeth in each subject were randomized to a restoration with SBU+ or to a restoration with SBU (control) using the self-etch strategy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!