{"title":"Parkinson's disease: the follow-up consultation.","authors":"Christopher Kobylecki","doi":"10.1136/pn-2025-004697","DOIUrl":"10.1136/pn-2025-004697","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Parkinson's disease (PD) is a complex condition and the requirements for managing both motor and non-motor symptoms evolve during the disease course. General neurologists following up people with PD should provide information, support and lifestyle advice, such as on exercise, with support from a multidisciplinary team. Levodopa remains the most effective and well-tolerated symptomatic treatment, but dose adjustments and adjunctive dopaminergic therapies can help with motor fluctuations. Clinicians should pay close attention to non-motor symptoms, including neuropsychiatric complications such as impulse-control disorders. The evidence base for managing non-motor symptoms is evolving. Involving the patient in the multidisciplinary follow-up of PD can help in managing symptoms unlikely to respond simply to dopamine replacement, including gait problems, falls and swallowing impairment. Clinicians should be open-minded about the diagnosis during follow-up and consider referring appropriate patients to specialists for device-aided therapies.</p>","PeriodicalId":39343,"journal":{"name":"PRACTICAL NEUROLOGY","volume":" ","pages":"331-339"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145507577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fernanda Lustosa Cabral Gomez, Pedro Fraiman, Ana Luiza da Cruz, Flavio Moura Rezende Filho, Vitor Ribeiro Paes, Adrialdo José Santos, José Luiz Pedroso
{"title":"From brain to spine: drop metastasis from high-grade glioma.","authors":"Fernanda Lustosa Cabral Gomez, Pedro Fraiman, Ana Luiza da Cruz, Flavio Moura Rezende Filho, Vitor Ribeiro Paes, Adrialdo José Santos, José Luiz Pedroso","doi":"10.1136/pn-2025-004899","DOIUrl":"10.1136/pn-2025-004899","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":39343,"journal":{"name":"PRACTICAL NEUROLOGY","volume":" ","pages":"389-390"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145679005","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jacob Biran, Greg Mellor, Louis Saada, Sybil Stacpoole, Kirsten Maurine Scott
{"title":"Long QT syndrome causing an apparently typical first seizure.","authors":"Jacob Biran, Greg Mellor, Louis Saada, Sybil Stacpoole, Kirsten Maurine Scott","doi":"10.1136/pn-2025-004748","DOIUrl":"10.1136/pn-2025-004748","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Long QT syndrome is an uncommon cardiac condition characterised by QT prolongation with a risk of syncope and sudden death from <i>torsades de pointes</i> ventricular arrhythmias. Seizures and seizure-like episodes can occur, and there may be a delay in recognising them as the underlying cause. A 37-year-old man who presented with a seemingly uncomplicated single seizure was later found to have long QT syndrome. His initial ECG showed a prolonged QTc (QT interval corrected for heart rate) of 507 ms (normal 350-450), while subsequent 'interictal' ECGs were reportedly normal. We highlight the importance of considering long QT syndrome in first seizure (first fit) clinics by documenting the QTc interval and taking an appropriate family history.</p>","PeriodicalId":39343,"journal":{"name":"PRACTICAL NEUROLOGY","volume":" ","pages":"373-375"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145640797","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Neurological letter from Canada.","authors":"Sarah Furtado","doi":"10.1136/pn-2024-004473","DOIUrl":"10.1136/pn-2024-004473","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":39343,"journal":{"name":"PRACTICAL NEUROLOGY","volume":" ","pages":"391-394"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145640869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Prolonged coma and cerebral oedema in a patient with an <i>ATP1A2</i> variant.","authors":"Sophie L Voase, Andrew E Fry, Khalid Hamandi","doi":"10.1136/pn-2025-004659","DOIUrl":"10.1136/pn-2025-004659","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>ATP1A2</i> (OMIM 182340) encodes the α2 subunit of Na+/K+-ATPase. Variation in this gene has been associated with a spectrum of clinical phenotypes, including familial hemiplegic migraine type 2 (FHM2), epilepsy and intellectual disability. A 22-year-old woman with intellectual disability, hemiplegic migraine and epilepsy presented with persistent decreased consciousness, unexplained by initial investigations. Two weeks later, repeat imaging showed new, marked cerebral oedema with no identified cause; this eventually resolved. A year later, she had a further milder episode. An epilepsy gene panel identified a likely pathogenic missense variant in the <i>ATP1A2</i> gene (NM_000702.3: c.1027A>C, p.(Thr343Pro)). After starting memantine as a targeted treatment, her migraine and seizure frequency reduced. This case highlights the importance of early genetic testing in certain people with epilepsy to determine the cause and enable targeted therapeutic interventions.</p>","PeriodicalId":39343,"journal":{"name":"PRACTICAL NEUROLOGY","volume":" ","pages":"357-361"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145606694","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editor's commentary.","authors":"Phil E Smith, Geraint N Fuller","doi":"10.1136/pn-2026-005330","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/pn-2026-005330","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":39343,"journal":{"name":"PRACTICAL NEUROLOGY","volume":"26 4","pages":"305"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148449530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}