Spinal movement disorders in NMOSD, MOGAD, and idiopathic transverse myelitis: a prospective observational study.

Background: Retrospective studies suggest that spinal movement disorders, especially tonic spasms, are prevalent in NMOSD. However, there have been no prospective studies evaluating spinal movement disorders in NMOSD, MOGAD, and idiopathic transverse myelitis (ITM).

Methods: Patients referred to a tertiary neuroimmunology clinic for spinal cord demyelination (excluding MS) were evaluated.

Differentiating Prodromal Dementia with Lewy Bodies from Prodromal Alzheimer's Disease: A Pragmatic Review for Clinicians.

This pragmatic review synthesises the current understanding of prodromal dementia with Lewy bodies (pDLB) and prodromal Alzheimer's disease (pAD), including clinical presentations, neuropsychological profiles, neuropsychiatric symptoms, biomarkers, and indications for disease management. The core clinical features of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB)-parkinsonism, complex visual hallucinations, cognitive fluctuations, and REM sleep behaviour disorder are common prodromal symptoms. Supportive clinical features of pDLB include severe neuroleptic sensitivity, as well as autonomic and neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Pathological findings in autoimmune encephalitis autopsy specimens from cases of suspected prion disease.

Objective: The underlying pathology of autoimmune encephalitis is not well characterized due to the limited opportunities to study tissue specimens. Autopsy specimens available at prion surveillance centers from patients with suspected Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease offer a unique opportunity to study the pathology of autoimmune encephalitis. Our objective was to describe pathological findings of autoimmune encephalitis specimens submitted to the U.

Improving levodopa delivery: IPX203, a novel extended-release carbidopa-levodopa formulation.

Introduction: IPX203 is a novel oral extended-release (ER) formulation of carbidopa (CD) and levodopa (LD) developed to address the short half-life and limited area for absorption of LD in the gastrointestinal tract. This paper presents the formulation strategy of IPX203 and its relationship to the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamic profile of IPX203 in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients.

Methods: IPX203 was developed with an innovative technology containing immediate-release (IR) granules and ER beads that provides rapid LD absorption to achieve desired plasma concentration and maintaining it within the therapeutic range for longer than can be achieved with current oral LD formulations.

Predictors of hypogammaglobulinemia and serious infections among patients receiving ocrelizumab or rituximab for treatment of MS and NMOSD.

Background And Objectives: Ocrelizumab and rituximab are monoclonal antibodies targeting the CD20 marker on B lymphocytes. The enhanced efficacy of B lymphocyte depleting therapies poses a greater risk of decreased immunoglobulin (Ig) levels. The rate and risk factors of hypogammaglobulinemia in MS and NMOSD patients treated with anti-CD20 therapies are unknown.

Oral ENT-01 Targets Enteric Neurons to Treat Constipation in Parkinson Disease : A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Parkinson disease (PD) is associated with α-synuclein (αS) aggregation within enteric neurons. ENT-01 inhibits the formation of αS aggregates and improved constipation in an open-label study in patients with PD.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of oral ENT-01 for constipation and neurologic symptoms in patients with PD and constipation.

The Power of Access in Parkinson's Disease Care: A Retrospective Review of Telehealth Uptake During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020 forced a rapid pivot to telehealth and compelled a use-case experiment in specialty telehealth neurology movement disorders care. The aims of this study were to quantify the potential benefit of telehealth as an option to the Parkinson's disease community as shown by the first 9 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to quantify the potential impact of the absence of a deep brain stimulation (DBS) telehealth option on DBS patient follow-up.

Methods: New patient visits to the Inova Parkinson's and Movement Disorder's Center from April to December 2020 (9 months) were retrospectively reviewed for telehealth vs.

Parkinsonism in multiple sclerosis patients: A prospective observational study.

Background: Rare cases of coexisting multiple sclerosis and parkinsonism have been reported in the literature. However, the true prevalence, clinical characteristics, and causal relation between the two entities have not been systematically evaluated.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of parkinsonism in patients with multiple sclerosis and examine the causal relationship, if any.

Necessity and feasibility of remote tele-programming of deep brain stimulation systems in Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Outcomes after deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy are dependent on good surgical placement in the target nucleus and optimized stimulation parameters through multiple programming sessions. This often requires frequent travel to a specialized DBS center, which presents a challenge for those with limited access. Recently, the FDA approved a remote tele-programming solution for DBS.

Association of Essential Tremor With Novel Risk Loci: A Genome-Wide Association Study and Meta-analysis.

Importance: Essential tremor (ET) is one of the most common movement disorders, affecting 5% of the general population older than 65 years. Common variants are thought to contribute toward susceptibility to ET, but no variants have been robustly identified.

Objective: To identify common genetic factors associated with risk of ET.

Prevalence of Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA) in Parkinson's Disease: An Underrecognized Patient Burden.

Objective Pseudobulbar affect (PBA) is a neurological condition characterized by emotional lability and a discrepancy between the patient's emotional expression and emotional experience. These uncontrollable episodes cause distress in social situations resulting in embarrassment and social withdrawal. The most comprehensive study to date estimated that 26% of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients screened positive for PBA symptoms via the validated Center for Neurologic Study-Lability Scale (CNS-LS) screening tool.

Exploration of Parkinson's Disease Symptomatology Subtypes From the Caregiver Perspective: Implications for Caregiver Burden, Depression, and Anxiety.

Background: While research has demonstrated associations between Parkinson's disease (PD) severity and caregiver burden and emotional functioning, less is known about the associations between specific PD symptom patterns and caregiver functioning.

Objective: The purpose of the current study was to explore symptomatology subtypes in PD from the caregiver perspective in the U.S.

Pain in cervical dystonia: mechanisms, assessment and treatment.

Introduction: In patients with cervical dystonia (CD), pain is a major contributor to disability and social isolation and is often the main reason patients seek treatment. Surveys evaluating patient perceptions of their CD symptoms consistently highlight pain as a troublesome and disabling feature of their condition with significant impact on daily life and work.

Areas Covered: In this article, the authors review the epidemiology, assessment, possible mechanisms and treatment of pain in CD, including a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trial data with abobotulinumtoxinA.

Symptomatic and restorative therapies in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders.

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) are a group of autoimmune inflammatory conditions that primarily target the optic nerves, spinal cord, brainstem, and occasionally the cerebrum. NMOSD is characterized by recurrent attacks of visual, motor, and/or sensory dysfunction that often result in severe neurological deficits. In recent years, there has been a significant progress in relapse treatment and prevention but the residual disability per attack remains high.

Psychometric investigation of the affiliate stigma scale in Mexican Parkinson's disease caregivers: Development of a short form.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) caregivers, particularly in Latin America, may experience high levels of affiliate stigma due to their association with a person having a disability. The most common measure used of this construct in the literature, the Affiliate Stigma Scale, was validated using non-standard and questionable methods.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Affiliate Stigma Scale with PD caregivers in Mexico using more widely accepted psychometric approaches including confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses (CFAs, EFAs).

Impact of abobotulinumtoxinA on the clinical features of cervical dystonia in routine practice.

Introduction: The efficacy and safety of abobotulinumtoxinA in the management of cervical dystonia has been established in randomized, controlled trials that use a selected trial population. In this meta-analysis of observational data, we evaluated the real-life effectiveness of abobotulinumtoxinA as delivered in routine clinical practice.

Methods: Meta-analysis of patient-level data for adult patients with cervical dystonia treated with abobotulinumtoxinA from three prospective, multicenter, observational studies (NCT01314365, NCT00833196 and NCT01753349).

Automated Computer Vision Assessment of Hypomimia in Parkinson Disease: Proof-of-Principle Pilot Study.

Background: Facial expressions require the complex coordination of 43 different facial muscles. Parkinson disease (PD) affects facial musculature leading to "hypomimia" or "masked facies."

Objective: We aimed to determine whether modern computer vision techniques can be applied to detect masked facies and quantify drug states in PD.