Positive effect of self-exercise following Botulinum toxin injection on the permanence of the recovery among the patients with HFS and BFS: A clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Botulinum toxin (BoNT) injection serves as the primary modality for addressing hemifacial spasm (HFS) and blepharospasm (BFS), which are prevalent movement disorders affecting the craniofacial region. However, even though the short-term effectiveness of the botulinum injection may reach over 80%, the long-term effectiveness is still a debatable point Herein, we aim to investigate whether facial self-exercise following the BoNT injection can extend the time period of effectiveness. METHODS: In this study, 51 volunteers who received Onabotilinumtoxin A (BoNTA) treatment for the diagnosis of HFS or BFS, were randomized into 2 groups. A detailed instruction about the self-exercise was given by an experienced physician to the subjects in Group 1. Volunteers were asked to repeat the exercise program afterward and continue to each movement for 5 seconds, to repeat each movement 10 times with a 10-second break, every day, 3 times a week for 1 week. hemifacial spasm grating scale (HSGS) and Jankovic scales were used to assess the efficacy of the treatment. RESULTS: Both groups are similar to each other based on demographic features and the severity of the diseases. According to HSGS and Jankovic scales, at the end of the first month, there was no significant difference between the groups. At the end of the third month, the improvement achieved in the first month remained the same in each parameter in Group 1. On the other hand, in Group 2, most of the values returned to the baseline. CONCLUSION: Facial self-exercise following the botulinum toxin application may extend the period of effectiveness of botulinum toxin treatment the subjects with HFS and BFS.

Cognitive Dysfunction in Relation to Topography and Burden of Cerebral Microbleeds.

INTRODUCTION: Contribution of cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) on cognitive dysfunctions in elderly patients with otherwise asymptomatic white matter lesions (WMLs) is not well-documented. METHODS: MRI parameters of cerebral atrophy, CMBs and WMLs were herein analyzed in relation to global and main domains (attention, executive, memory, visuospatial, language) of cognitive function. Eighty-five patients older than 50, without neurodegenerative/cerebrovascular disease, but had CMBs were recruited from 2562 with T2*-gradient-echo MR imaging during one-year period. RESULTS: Global cognition, evaluated by mini-mental status examination (MMSE), was impaired (score ≤24) in 42%. In contrast to CMBs load, WML burden and temporal atrophy were significantly higher in cases with MMSE≤24. Cholinergic Pathways HyperIntensities Scale (CHIPS) was positively correlated with global cognitive dysfunction but its CMB counterpart, Cholinergic Pathways Bleeding Scale described herein, was not. However, burden of CMBs in thalamic/cortical regions predicted language dysfunction. CONCLUSION: Cognitive dysfunction associated with CMBs may be dependent on their distribution rather than their absolute number.

Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis with Internal Jugular Venous Thrombosis in a Male Patient with Nephrotic Syndrome.

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis with internal jugular vein thrombosis is not reported as a complication in nephrotic syndrome. We report a 40-year-old male with nephrotic syndrome, who had headache during his hospitalization. Conventional diagnostic tests showed extensive thrombosis at the proximal part of superior sagittal sinus, left cortical vein, left sigmoid-transverse sinus and left internal jugular vein. The patient underwent medical treatment and was discharged in good health after 2 weeks. The aim of this study is to report a novel case of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis with internal jugular venous thrombosis in a male patient with nephrotic syndrome.

Prognostic value of magnetic resonance imaging in post-resuscitation encephalopathy.

OBJECTIVE: Prediction of the prognosis of comatose survivors after cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA), so-called post-resuscitation encephalopathy (PRE), relies on neurological examination findings. Early laboratory indicators of poor prognosis (vegetative state/death) are not sensitive enough. METHODS: We analyzed the results of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in 22 consecutive patients with PRE. Clinical details such as arrest place and anoxia time along with neurological examination findings including items of Glasgow coma scale (GCS) and the Full Outline of UnResponsiveness (FOUR) score were determined. Receiver Operator Characteristics (ROC) curves were produced to determine prognostic yield of the parameters studied. RESULTS: Prognosis was classified as 'poor' (Glasgow-Pittsburg Cerebral Performance -CPC-score 4 or 5) in 16 and 'better' (CPC score 1-3) in 6 patients. The lower limit of confidence interval (CI) of the area under the curve (AUC) of the ROC was higher than 0.5 for visual, motor and total scores of GCS and FOUR score. Presence of a lesion pattern of multilobar, or diffuse, cortical involvement, termed as "extensive cortical lesion pattern" in MR imaging was a very good predictor of poor prognosis with an AUC of ROC of 0,937. Sensitivity of GCS motor part score and MR was 87.5% (95% CI: 61.6%-92.6%). Motor part of the FOUR score has a slightly lower sensitivity (68.7% with 95% CI from 41.4% to 88.9%). Incorporating of MR to the motor scores (either GCS or FOUR score) improved sensitivity to 100 % (95% CI: 79.2%-100%). AUC of the ROC was 1.000 (95%CI: 0.844-1.000) for the combination of MR and GCS motor score. CONCLUSION: This study provides the preliminary evidence that MRI, when used in conjunction with a neurological examination, may have potential in terms of predicting outcome in patients with PRE.

Protective role of 27bp repeat polymorphism in intron 4 of eNOS gene in lacunar infarction.

Association of the three potential endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene (eNOS) polymorphisms (T-786C in promoter region, G894T in exon 7 and tandem 27-bp repeats in intron 4) with an increased risk of lacunar infarction (LI) were investigated. Genotypes of 70 patients and 81 healthy controls were determined through PCR with or without RFLP. Flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) was performed to assess endothelial-dependent vasodilatation, whereas the endothelial-independent vasodilatation was assessed with nitroglycerin (NTG). Genotype distribution was significantly different between LI patients and controls for intron 4aa (alleles for four repeats), genotype frequency being 1.4% and 16.0%, respectively (odds ratio for additive effect, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.28-0.81; p=0.006). Haplotypes with the intron 4aa polymorphism were significantly higher in controls when compared with the LI group (p=0.001). Diminished FMD but normal NTG response confirmed that patients with LI have generalized endothelial dysfunction. Intron 4aa genotype of eNOS gene seems to be protective for isolated LI and the effect was potentiated by the absence of 786C polymorphism in any allele of the promoter region.