Clinical predictors of therapeutic failure of occipital nerve stimulation in refractory chronic cluster headache.

BACKGROUND: Occipital nerve stimulation (ONS) is a treatment with evidence in refractory chronic cluster headache (CCH). However, the variable response rate and cost make it necessary to investigate predictors of response. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study conducted through the review of medical records of CCH patients from six hospitals in Madrid. Epidemiological and clinical variables were compared between patients with ONS failure and the rest. ONS failure was defined as the need for device withdrawal or switch off because of lack of response or adverse events. RESULTS: From a series of 88 CCH, 26 (29.6%) underwent ONS surgery, of whom 13/26 (50.0%) failed because lack of response. ONS failure group had an earlier headache onset (mean ± SD) of 27.7 ± 6.9 vs. 36.7 ± 11.8 years, p = 0.026) and a higher smoking rate (100% vs. 42.9%, p = 0.006). Stational fluctuations (58.3% vs. 7.7%, p = 0.007) and nocturnal exacerbations (91.7% vs. 53.9%, p = 0.035) were more frequent in the ONS failure group as well. There was no difference between groups in diagnostic delay, years of evolution prior to surgery, mental illness, comorbidity with other headache disorders or chronic pain conditions or prior response to occipital nerves anesthetic blocks. CONCLUSIONS: Some clinical features such as an early debut, smoking and seasonal or circadian fluctuations could be related to failure of ONS in refractory CCH.

Inter-Rater Agreement in the Clinical Diagnosis of Cognitive Status: Data from the Neurological Disorders in Central Spain 2 Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: To assess the diagnostic agreement of cognitive status (dementia, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), normal cognition) among neurologists in the field of neurological disorders in Central Spain 2 study. METHODS: Full medical histories of 30 individuals were provided to 27 neurologists: 9 seniors, 10 juniors and 8 residents. For each case, we were asked to assign a diagnosis of dementia, MCI or normal cognition using the National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association workgroup (NIA-AA) core clinical criteria for all-cause dementia, Winblad et al. criteria for MCI, and analyze intensity and etiology if dementia was diagnosed. Inter-rater agreement was assessed both with percent concordance and non-weighted κ statistics. RESULTS: Overall inter-rater agreement on cognitive status was κ = 0.76 (95% CI 0.65-0.86), being slightly higher among junior neurologists (κ = 0.85, 95% CI 0.73-0.95) than among seniors (κ = 0.71, 95% CI 0.59-0.83) and residents (κ = 0.69, 95% CI 0.54-0.81) but without statistical significance among groups. Dementia severity showed an overall κ of 0.34, 0.44 and 0.64 for mild, moderate and severe dementia respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial agreement was demonstrated for the diagnosis of cognitive status (dementia, MCI and normal cognition) among neurologists of different levels of experience in a population-based epidemiological study using NIA-AA and Winblad et al. CRITERIA: The agreement rate was lower in the diagnosis of dementia severity.

[Fluctuating ptosis as the presenting symptom of spontaneous liquoral hypotension syndrome]. / Ptosis fluctuante como presentación del síndrome de hipotensión licuoral espontánea.

TITLE: Ptosis fluctuante como presentacion del sindrome de hipotension licuoral espontanea.