Prognosis in early stage cutaneous T-cell lymphoma treated with psoralen plus ultraviolet A irradiation and low-dose interferon-α: Long-term efficacy and survival according to conventional and emerging clinical endpoints.

Patients with early stage cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) usually have a benign and chronic disease course, characterized by temporally response to conventional skin directed therapies and intrinsic possibility to evolve. Using the combination of psoralen plus ultraviolet A irradiation (PUVA) and low-dose interferon-α (INF), the principal treatment goal is to keep confined the disease to the skin, preventing disease progression. Among 87 patients with early stage IA to IIA MF treated with low-dose IFN-α2b and PUVA in our center, complete remission (CR) were reported in 70 patients (80.5%) and the overall response rate (ORR) was 97.8% (n = 85), with a median time to best response to therapy of 5 months (range, 1-30). Among the responders, only the 8% of patients had a relapse with major event. The median follow-up was 207 months (range, 6-295). Survival data showed a median overall survival (OS) not reached (95% CI; 235-NR months), a disease free survival (DFS) of 210 months (95% CI; 200-226 months) and a median time to next treatment (TTNT) of 38.5 months (95% CI, 33-46 months). The long follow up of this study verifies our preliminary results already published in 2006 and confirms the efficacy of INF-PUVA combination therapy in a real world setting, according conventional (OS and DFS) and emerging (TTNT) clinical endpoint of treatment efficacy.

Terapias complementarias en migraña y variables relacionadas. Encuesta Europea / Complementary therapies in migraine and related variables. European Survey

Objetivo: valorar el uso de terapias alternativas no farmacológicas en migraña y variables relacionadas. La migraña afecta a una de cada diez personas en el mundo, con aumento creciente y mayor prevalencia entre mujeres de zonas urbanas. Aunque los tratamientos habituales son farmacológicos, se ha incrementado el uso de terapias alternativas no farmacológicas en migraña y variables relacionadas. Materiales y métodos: estudio observacional transversal mediante encuesta anónima vía web a 3.342 pacientes de países europeos sobre el uso de terapias alternativas para tratamiento de migraña. Variables de estudio: edad, género, país, tipo de localidad, nivel de estudios, ámbito rural o urbano y respuesta al tratamiento. Resultados: la utilización de terapias alternativas en migraña es un fenómeno creciente, con mayor uso en pacientes entre 41-60 años y estudios superiores. Conclusiones: en migraña se observan diferencias por edad, género, nivel cultural y país de procedencia. El uso de la medicina complementaria como alternativa terapéutica en la migraña es poco habitual y se debería indagar con mayor profundidad estableciendo relaciones que permitan apoyar al paciente afectado y priorizar las de mayor evidencia científica..(Au)

Objective: to evaluate the use of alternative non-pharmacological therapies in migraine and related variables. Migraine affects one in ten people worldwide, with a growing increase and a higher prevalence among women in urban areas. Although the usual treatments are pharmacological, the use of alternative techniques is increasing. Materials and methods: cross-sectional observational study by anonymous web survey of 3,342 patients from European countries on the use of alternative therapies. Study variables: age, gender, country, type of locality, educational level, rural or urban setting and treatment response. Results: the use of alternative therapies in migraine treatment is a growing phenomenon, with greater use in patients between 41-60 years of age and higher education. Conclusions: in Migraine, differences are observed by age, gender, cultural level and country of origin. The use of complementary medicine as an therapeutic alternative in migraine is uncommon and should be investigated in greater depth, establishing relationships that allow supporting the affected patient and prioritizing, if possible, some over others with scientific evidence..(Au)

Autonomic and emotional responses to open and hidden stimulations of the human subthalamic region.

We performed a microstimulation study of the subthalamic region of Parkinsonian patients who underwent bilateral electrode implantation in the subthalamic nuclei and whose heart rate and heart rate variability were recorded. The stimulation of the dorsalmost region, which includes the zona incerta and the dorsal pole of the subthalamic nucleus, produced autonomic responses that were constant over time. In fact, hidden stimulations (the patient is not aware of being stimulated) and open stimulations (the patient is aware of being stimulated) always induced the same responses. By contrast, the stimulation of the ventralmost region, which includes the ventral pole of the subthalamic nucleus and the substantia nigra pars reticulata, produced autonomic and emotional responses that were inconstant over time and varied according to the condition. In fact, different responses were elicited with hidden and open stimulations. These data suggest that the dorsal subthalamic nucleus and/or the zona incerta are involved in autonomic control, whereas the ventral subthalamic nucleus and/or the substantia nigra reticulata are involved in associative/limbic-related autonomic activity. The difference between the open and hidden stimulations in the ventral subthalamic region can explain previous studies in which open and hidden stimulations produced different therapeutic outcomes.

Effects of deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus on sleep architecture in parkinsonian patients.

Patients affected by Parkinson's disease (PD) often complain of disturbed sleep resulting from nighttime motor disabilities such as nocturnal akinesia, tremor and rigidity, motor behaviour during REM sleep or periodic leg movements (PLM) during sleep. Sleep may also be affected by dopaminergic and anticholinergic drugs or coexisting depressive syndrome. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of subthalamic nucleus (STN) effectively reduces PD motor disability. The aim of this study is to evaluate the sleep architecture modifications after STN DBS. We assessed five patients (two men and three women, mean age 63.8+/-3.3 years, with a mean history of PD of 13.8+/-4.9 years) who underwent STN DBS. The mean levodopa equivalent dosage (LED) was 1010+/-318 mg before surgery and 116+/-93 mg 3 months after surgery. Polysomnography (PSG) with audiovisual recordings was performed on two separate nights, the first assessment in the week before surgery and the second 3 months after surgery. Three months after surgery, PSG showed an increase in total sleep time, in the longest period of uninterrupted sleep, and in the percentage of stage 3-4 NREM sleep, while there was a reduction of wakefulness after sleep onset. PLM, apnea-hyopnea index and REM sleep behaviour disorder were unaffected by STN DBS. STN DBS seems to be an effective therapeutic option for the treatment of advanced Parkinson's disease because it improves the cardinal symptoms and also seems to improve sleep architecture.

Temporal changes in movement time during the switch of the stimulators in Parkinson's disease patients treated by subthalamic nucleus stimulation.

OBJECTIVE: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is a very effective therapy for the advanced phase of Parkinson's disease (PD). The functional inhibition of this nucleus is responsible for a significant improvement of cardinal motor symptoms of PD. The aim of the study was the assessment of the effectiveness of STN DBS on bradykinesia by the analysis of movement time (MT) in 2 conditions: with the stimulators turned on ('stim-on') or off ('stim-off'). METHODS: After pharmacological wash-out, 10 patients submitted to bilateral STN DBS were studied with an MT analyser in 3 phases: stim-on, stim-off and stim-on again, in order to establish the time course of MT lengthening, the posteffect duration and the latency of the effect of STN DBS. MT data were then compared with the UPDRS motor scores. RESULTS: After turning off the stimulators, MT progressively increases, reaching a plateau after about 30 min, which then lasts for the subsequent observation time (2 h). A significant elongation is achieved after the first 5 min. Upon pulse generator activation, MT shows a dramatic shortening, already significant after 2 min. Moreover, we observed a significant correlation between MT and the severity of PD, higher with bradykinesia than with rigidity or tremor. CONCLUSION: Our findings show a relevant effect of STN DBS on MT, a parameter strongly related to bradykinesia. This study confirms the effectiveness of STN inhibition on the whole parkinsonian triad, suggesting that this target can be considered a proper choice for the surgical treatment of advanced PD.

Expectation modulates the response to subthalamic nucleus stimulation in Parkinsonian patients.

Expectations about future events are known to trigger neural mechanisms that affect both perception and action. Here we report that different and opposite expectations of bad and good motor performance modulate the therapeutic effects of subthalamic nucleus stimulation in Parkinsonian patients who had undergone chronic implantation of electrodes for deep brain stimulation. By analyzing the effects of subthalamic stimulation on the velocity of movement of the right hand, we found hand movement to be faster when the patients expected a good motor performance. The expectation of good performance was induced through a placebo-like procedure, thus indicating that placebo-induced expectations have influence on the treatment outcome. All these effects occurred within minutes, suggesting that expectations induce neural changes very quickly.

Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus in PD: an analysis of the exclusion causes.

OBJECTIVE: Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) of the Subthalamic Nucleus (STN) represents a proper choice for the treatment of advanced Parkinson's disease (PD). A correct selection of the patients as candidates for the surgery is essential for a good outcome. In this study, we analyzed the exclusion causes of a series of PD patients hospitalized for the selection protocol. METHODS: Ninety-eight PD patients as potential candidates for the STN DBS were studied. All patients were hospitalized and underwent a clinical evaluation of the PD stage, a levodopa challenge, a MR of the brain and a neuropsychological assessment. RESULTS: The percentage of subjects considered not suitable for the surgery was 29.6%. A single cause of exclusion was present in 65.5% of not suitable patients, while multiple causes were present in 34.5%. The most frequent cause of exclusion was the finding of neuropsychological or psychic disorders (48.3%); in 37.9% of the patients, the motor disability was not severe enough to justify the surgery, while in 31%, we found relevant abnormalities at the brain MR. Three patients (10.3%) were poorly motivated for the surgery, while in three others (10.3%), we found a significant illness other than PD. CONCLUSIONS: The finding that about 30% of the PD patients potentially suitable for STN DBS presents some exclusion causes underlines the importance of a careful selection of the candidates for this surgery.