Outcomes for maximal bilateral lateral rectus recession in large-angle exotropia.

BACKGROUND: Surgical treatment for large-angle exotropia can be challenging. The aim of this study was to evaluate short-term surgical outcomes of patients with large-angle exotropia (≥50Δ) undergoing maximal bilateral lateral rectus muscle recession of 10 mm. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of consecutive patients at our institution who underwent maximal bilateral lateral rectus muscle recession for exodeviation ≥50Δ from January 1, 2008, to July 22, 2022. We subdivided the cohort into large-angle exotropia (largest amount of exodeviation at near and/or distance ≥50Δ and <65Δ) and very large-angle exotropia (largest exodeviation ≥65Δ). Patients with a history of prior eye muscle surgery, neurologic deficits, and three- or four-muscle surgery were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 22 patients were included. Mean preoperative exodeviation at distance was 51.9Δ in the large-angle group and 67.5Δ in the very-large-angle group (P = 0.001). Outcomes for the large-angle and very-large angle groups were, respectively, as follows: mean follow-up, 31.1 weeks and 11.8 weeks (P = 0.97); success, 75.0% and 16.7% (P = 0.02); undercorrection rates, 18.7% and 83.3% (P = 0.01); and mean postoperative exodeviation at distance, 3.7Δ ± 6.3Δ and 28.0Δ ± 13.5Δ (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our study identified good surgical outcomes (75%) with maximal bilateral lateral rectus muscle recession of 10 mm in treating patients with large-angle exotropia between 50Δ and <65Δ. Other surgical techniques such as recession-resection and three- or four-muscle surgery may result in better outcomes when treating patients with exotropia ≥65Δ.

Single-Site Retrospective Assessment of Surgical Outcomes in Non-Ambulatory Patients with Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy.

STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective study of surgical outcomes in patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM). OBJECTIVE: To better characterize outcomes following cervical decompression in those with severe, non-ambulatory forms of DCM. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: DCM represents a collection of age-related degenerative processes of the cervical spine that can result in motor, sensory, and autonomic dysfunction, leading to significant reductions in quality of life. Individuals with severe, non-ambulatory forms of DCM are often treated with spinal decompression although the extent of neurological improvement for this patient population is unclear. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 48 non-consecutive non-ambulatory patients who underwent cervical decompression surgery between January 2007 and December 2018. Paired t tests and Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to compare Nurick grade and modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (mJOA) score before and after surgery. Patient demographics, operative details, and postsurgical complications were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Patients experienced significant improvements in both Nurick grade and mJOA score following cervical decompression surgery. The mean Nurick grade improved from 4.10 ±â€Š0.31 to 2.21 ±â€Š0.82 (P < 0.001, paired t test; 95% confidence interval [CI] -2.08 to -1.71), while the mean mJOA score improved from 10.58 ±â€Š1.51 to 13.60 ±â€Š1.58 (P < 0.001, paired t test; 95% CI 2.59-3.45). The average follow-up duration was 2.50 ±â€Š1.83 years. Following surgery, 44 of the 48 patients in the study gained the ability to ambulate without the aid of a walking frame or someone else's assistance. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that patients with severe forms of DCM experienced significant improvement in neurological function following cervical decompression surgery. These improvements indicate that cervical decompression surgery is effective in this patient population and has the potential to improve neurological status.Level of Evidence: 3.

Persistent Relapsing Immune Thrombocytopenia Following COVID-19 Infection.

Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is a rare autoimmune disease that presents along a spectrum of disease severity, ranging from asymptomatic thrombocytopenia to potentially life-threatening bleeding complications. Recent case reports and case series suggest that a COVID-19 infection can trigger secondary ITP and may be associated with higher rates of bleeding and lower nadir platelet counts compared to patients with ITP of other etiologies. Multiple ITP relapses have also been described in some COVID-19 patients. We report the case of a 30-year-old otherwise healthy woman who presented to the hospital with fatigue, easy bruising, and a platelet count of 11 x 103/µL. She responded well to our initial treatment with prednisone and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) but experienced a persistent disease course with nine ITP relapses (defined as platelet count <30 x 103/µL) over the next 10.5 months, requiring six additional hospital admissions for acute management as well as long-term maintenance medication adjustments. It is important for clinicians to recognize ITP as a potential complication of a COVID-19 infection and to initiate early therapy to prevent serious bleeding in these patients. Further studies will be needed to understand the natural history, optimal treatment, and prognosis for patients with relapsing COVID-19-associated ITP.

Association of social network structure and physical function in patients with multiple sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: To test the association between physical function and the social environment in multiple sclerosis (MS), we quantified personal social networks. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed data from 2 academic MS centers, with center 1 serving as a discovery group and center 2 as the extension group. We performed a meta-analysis of the centers to extend the analysis. We used responses from a questionnaire to map the structure and health habits of participants' social networks as well as the NIH Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) physical function scale (0-100, mean 50 for US general population) as the primary outcome. We applied multivariable models to test the association between network metrics and physical function. RESULTS: The discovery cohort included 263 patients with MS: 81% were women, 96% non-Hispanic European, 78% had relapsing MS, average age was 50 (12.4) years, and mean disease duration was 17 (12.3) years. The extension group included 163 patients, who were younger, more racially diverse, and less physically disabled, and had shorter disease duration. In the meta-analysis, higher network constraint, a measure of tightly bound networks, was associated with worse physical function (ß = -0.163 ± 0.047, p < 0.001), while larger network effective size, a measure of clustered groups in the network, correlated with better physical function (ß = 0.134 ± 0.046, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Our study highlights personal networks as an important environmental factor associated with physical function in MS. Patients with close-knit networks had worse function than those with more open networks. Longitudinal studies are warranted to evaluate a causal relationship between network structure and physical impairment.

New Cav2 calcium channel gating modifiers with agonist activity and therapeutic potential to treat neuromuscular disease.

Voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) are critical regulators of many cellular functions, including the activity-dependent release of chemical neurotransmitter from nerve terminals. At nerve terminals, the Cav2 family of VGCCs are closely positioned with neurotransmitter-containing synaptic vesicles. The relationship between calcium ions and transmitter release is such that even subtle changes in calcium flux through VGCCs have a strong influence on the magnitude of transmitter released. Therefore, modulators of the calcium influx at nerve terminals have the potential to strongly affect transmitter release at synapses. We have previously developed novel Cav2-selective VGCC gating modifiers (notably GV-58) that slow the deactivation of VGCC current, increasing total calcium ion flux. Here, we describe ten new gating modifiers based on the GV-58 structure that extend our understanding of the structure-activity relationship for this class of molecules and extend the range of modulation of channel activities. In particular, we show that one of these new compounds (MF-06) was more efficacious than GV-58, another (KK-75) acts more quickly on VGCCs than GV-58, and a third (KK-20) has a mix of increased speed and efficacy. A subset of these new VGCC agonist gating modifiers can increase transmitter release during action potentials at neuromuscular synapses, and as such, show potential as therapeutics for diseases with a presynaptic deficit that results in neuromuscular weakness. Further, several of these new compounds can be useful tool compounds for the study of VGCC gating and function.