The use of digital tools in rare neurological diseases towards a new care model: a narrative review.

Rare neurological diseases as a whole share peculiar features as motor and/or cognitive impairment, an elevated disability burden, a frequently chronic course and, in present times, scarcity of therapeutic options. The rarity of those conditions hampers both the identification of significant prognostic outcome measures, and the development of novel therapeutic approaches and clinical trials. Collection of objective clinical data through digital devices can support diagnosis, care, and therapeutic research. We provide an overview on recent developments in the field of digital tools applied to rare neurological diseases, both in the care setting and as providers of outcome measures in clinical trials in a representative subgroup of conditions, including ataxias, hereditary spastic paraplegias, motoneuron diseases and myopathies.

Mitochondrial Parkinsonism: A Practical Guide to Genes and Clinical Diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: Primary mitochondrial diseases (PMDs) are the most common inborn errors of energy metabolism, with a combined prevalence of 1 in 4300. They can result from mutations in either nuclear DNA (nDNA) or mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). These disorders are multisystemic and mainly affect high energy-demanding tissues, such as muscle and the central nervous system (CNS). Among many clinical features of CNS involvement, parkinsonism is one of the most common movement disorders in PMDs. METHODS: This review provides a pragmatic educational overview of the most recent advances in the field of mitochondrial parkinsonism, from pathophysiology and genetic etiologies to phenotype and diagnosis. RESULTS: mtDNA maintenance and mitochondrial dynamics alterations represent the principal mechanisms underlying mitochondrial parkinsonism. It can be present in isolation, alongside other movement disorders or, more commonly, as part of a multisystemic phenotype. Mutations in several nuclear-encoded genes (ie, POLG, TWNK, SPG7, and OPA1) and, more rarely, mtDNA mutations, are responsible for mitochondrial parkinsonism. Progressive external opthalmoplegia and optic atrophy may guide genetic etiology identification. CONCLUSION: A comprehensive deep-phenotyping approach is needed to reach a diagnosis of mitochondrial parkinsonism, which lacks distinctive clinical features and exemplifies the intricate genotype-phenotype interplay of PMDs.

Pregnancy planning and management for women with multiple sclerosis: what has changed over the last 15 years? An Italian single-center experience.

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy planning is a relevant issue in the management of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), which commonly involves women of childbearing age. Increased knowledge and a wider therapeutic scenario could have changed the approach of neurologists towards this topic over time. Our aim was to describe how pregnancy planning and management for women with MS have changed in the last 15 years. METHODS: We retrospectively collected clinical data of female patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), referred to the Neurology Clinic of the University-Hospital "Policlinico G. Rodolico" of Catania, who became pregnant between 2005-2020. We compared data about MS and pregnancy between two time periods according to pregnancy onset (2005-2012; 2013-2020). RESULTS: 190 patients with RRMS carried 253 pregnancies in the observation period. Women undergoing a pregnancy in the last period (2013-2020), as compared to women who had pregnancy in the first period (2005-2012), were older (p<0.01), more often treated before and during pregnancy with high-efficacy disease-modifying drugs (DMD) (p<0.001), and exhibited lower annualized relapse rates (ARR) before (p=0.01) and after pregnancy (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Results from our experience suggest that nowadays DMD are more frequently used in women of childbearing age, even during pregnancy, leading to a reduced ARR before and after delivery in absence of increased obstetric complications.