Instrumental Timed Up and Go test discloses abnormalities in patients with Cervical Dystonia

Background Cervical dystonia is a movement disorder characterized by involuntary and sustained contraction of the neck muscles that determines abnormal posture. The aim of this study was to investigate whether dystonic posture in patients with cervical dystonia affects walking and causes postural changes. Methods Patients with cervical dystonia and a group of age-matched healthy controls underwent an instrumental evaluation of the Timed Up and Go Test. Findings All the spatio-temporal parameters of the sub-phases of the Timed up and go test had a significantly higher duration in cervical dystonia patients compared to the control group while no differences in flection and extension angular amplitudes were observed. Indeed, we found that Cervical Dystonia patients had abnormalities in turning, as well as in standing-up and sitting-down from a chair during the Timed up and go test than healthy controls. Interpretation Impairment in postural control in cervical dystonia patients during walking and postural changes prompts to develop rehabilitation strategies to improve postural stability and reduce the risk of fall in these patients.

Disease progression in blepharospasm: a 5-year longitudinal study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The clinical manifestation of dystonic spasms in blepharospasm (BSP) patients may be heterogeneous. Whether the varying phenomenology of eyelid spasms becomes manifest sequentially during the course of the disease or aggregates in separate clusters according to different disease courses is still unclear. For this purpose, the clinical features in BSP patients were evaluated longitudinally over a 5-year period and also the blink reflex recovery cycle was tested in a subgroup of BSP patients.

METHODS

Sixty BSP patients were videotaped at time 0 and after approximately 5 years of follow-up. Two experts in movement disorders, who were blinded to the video order, reviewed the videotapes and scored the severity of BSP using the Blepharospasm Severity Rating Scale. Changes in the R2 recovery index were also evaluated in 18 patients twice, i.e. upon enrolment and at the follow-up.

RESULTS

The severity of BSP worsened significantly over the 5-year follow-up period owing to the appearance or the increased duration and frequency of prolonged spasms. It was also found that the blink reflex recovery cycle worsened at follow-up in comparison with the baseline.

CONCLUSIONS

This study shows that the disease progression of BSP is characterized by the appearance or worsening of prolonged spasms. Prolonged spasms are accompanied by changes in the excitability of brainstem interneurons. Aging-related effects may exacerbate the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying spasms.

Re-emergent tremor in Parkinson's disease: the effect of dopaminergic treatment

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with resting tremor may be affected by a tremor that appears after a varying latency while a posture is maintained, a phenomenon referred to as re-emergent tremor (RET). The aim of the study was to evaluate the occurrence and clinical features of RET in patients with PD tested off and on treatment, and to compare the effect of dopaminergic treatment on RET with the effect on resting and action tremor.

METHODS

We consecutively enrolled 100 patients with PD. Patients were clinically evaluated 24 h after withdrawal of therapy (off-treatment phase) and 60 min after therapy administration (on-treatment phase). We collected the demographic and clinical data of patients with PD. The severity of the disease was assessed by means of the Hoehn and Yahr scale and Movement Disorder Society-sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part III. We evaluated the latency, severity and body side affected both off and on treatment in patients with RET.

RESULTS

Re-emergent tremor was present in 24% of the patients with PD off treatment and in 19% of the patients on treatment. Dopaminergic treatment reduced the clinical severity of RET. Dopaminergic treatment increased the number of patients with unilateral RET and reduced the number of those who had bilateral RET. RET and resting tremor responded similarly to dopaminergic treatment, whereas action tremor was less responsive. Patients with RET had milder motor symptoms than patients without RET both off and on treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Dopaminergic treatment modified RET occurrence, severity and body distribution. Dopaminergic depletion plays a role in the pathophysiology of RET.

The Italian Dystonia Registry: rationale, design and preliminary findings

The Italian Dystonia Registry is a multicenter data collection system that will prospectively assess the phenomenology and natural history of adult-onset dystonia and will serve as a basis for future etiological, pathophysiological and therapeutic studies. In the first 6 months of activity, 20 movement disorders Italian centres have adhered to the registry and 664 patients have been recruited. Baseline historical information from this cohort provides the first general overview of adult-onset dystonia in Italy. The cohort was characterized by a lower education level than the Italian population, and most patients were employed as artisans, builders, farmers, or unskilled workers. The clinical features of our sample confirmed the peculiar characteristics of adult-onset dystonia, i.e. gender preference, peak age at onset in the sixth decade, predominance of cervical dystonia and blepharospasm over the other focal dystonias, and a tendency to spread to adjacent body parts, The sample also confirmed the association between eye symptoms and blepharospasm, whereas no clear association emerged between extracranial injury and dystonia in a body site. Adult-onset dystonia patients and the Italian population shared similar burden of arterial hypertension, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, dyslipidemia, and hypothyroidism, while hyperthyroidism was more frequent in the dystonia population. Geographic stratification of the study population yielded no major difference in the most clinical and phenomenological features of dystonia. Analysis of baseline information from recruited patients indicates that the Italian Dystonia Registry may be a useful tool to capture the real world clinical practice of physicians that visit dystonia patients.

Chiari type 1 malformation in Neurofibromatosis type 1: experience of a center and review of the literature

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the possible correlation and the true incidence between Neurofibromatosis type 1 and Arnold-Chiari malformation type I.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We reviewed all clinical charts, neurological consultations and MRI scans of 428 NF1 patients followed by 1994 to 2014 in our Department. NF1 patients in our clinic are seen usually every year by both the dermatologist and the neurologist. All patients also undergo a brain and spinal cord with the same 1.5 Tesla MRI scan.

RESULTS

We found a diagnosis of Arnold Chiari malformation type I in 9 of the 428 NF1 cases (2%).

CONCLUSION

This frequency is higher than that expected on the basis of a chance association. Therefore we underline the importance of serial MRI studies in patients with NF1 to assess the presence of cranio-cervical anomalies. Future studies should try to better understand what are the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying this close association.

Recurrent partial seizures with ictal yawning as atypical presentation of Hashimoto's encephalopathy (steroid-responsive encephalopathy associated with autoimmune thyroiditis)

Hashimoto's encephalopathy (HE), also known as steroid-responsive encephalopathy associated with autoimmune thyroiditis (SREAT), is a rare condition whose pathogenesis is unknown, though autoimmune-mediated mechanisms are thought to be involved. The prevalent neurological manifestations of this disorder are epileptic seizures and psychocognitive disorders associated with EEG alterations. High anti-thyroid antibody titers (particularly in cerebrospinal fluid) and the effectiveness of steroid therapy are usually considered to be crucial elements in the diagnostic process. We describe a 19-year-old female patient who had been referred to the psychiatric unit because of behavioral disorders characterized predominantly by delirium with sexual content. She developed recurrent focal seizures characterized by atypical ictal semiology (repetitive forceful yawning) and a rare EEG pattern (recurrent seizures arising from the left temporal region without evident "encephalopathic" activity). The presence of anti-thyroperoxidase antibodies in her cerebrospinal fluid and a good response to steroids confirmed the diagnosis of HE. The atypical presentation in the case we describe appears to widen the electroclinical spectrum of HE and highlights its importance for differential diagnosis purposes in the neuropsychiatric setting.