{"title":"Are nerve conduction studies altered in functional neurological disorders?","authors":"Eglė Sukockienė, Frédéric Assal, Annemarie Hübers","doi":"10.1016/j.cnp.2022.05.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cnp.2022.05.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Functional neurological disorders represent conditions without a readily identifiable origin or laboratory-supported diagnostic. We report a case of functional neurological disorder, presenting with muscle weakness with alterations in F-waves on the affected side.</p></div><div><h3>Case report</h3><p>A retrospective case review of a patient seen in clinic. Electrophysiological evaluation included nerve conduction studies, including recording of F-waves in lower limbs, and needle EMG. A patchy sensory loss and unilateral muscle weakness of the left lower limb persisted nine days after a 40-year-old female patient developed bilateral lower limb weakness following a laparoscopic surgery. MRI was negative for radicular compression, myelopathy, or lumbosacral plexopathy. F-waves of the peroneal and tibial nerves on the left were absent or of reduced persistence and amplitude compared to the asymptomatic right side.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>The observation of unilateral alterations of F-wave parameters could be interpreted as an asymmetrical decrease of alpha motor neuron excitability on L4 – S2 segments. In the absence of peripheral nervous system dysfunction or a structural lesion, the results here suggest a central control dysfunction or point to a more complex peripheral role. Further research is necessary to determine the frequency of these findings in a larger group of patients while incorporating other late responses, such as H (Hoffman) reflex, and measures of cortical excitability.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45697,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Neurophysiology Practice","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 166-168"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/65/31/main.PMC9214718.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40402419","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Robert Chen , Alfredo Berardelli , Amitabh Bhattacharya , Matteo Bologna , Kai-Hsiang Stanley Chen , Alfonso Fasano , Rick C. Helmich , William D. Hutchison , Nitish Kamble , Andrea A. Kühn , Antonella Macerollo , Wolf-Julian Neumann , Pramod Kumar Pal , Giulia Paparella , Antonio Suppa , Kaviraja Udupa
{"title":"Clinical neurophysiology of Parkinson’s disease and parkinsonism","authors":"Robert Chen , Alfredo Berardelli , Amitabh Bhattacharya , Matteo Bologna , Kai-Hsiang Stanley Chen , Alfonso Fasano , Rick C. Helmich , William D. Hutchison , Nitish Kamble , Andrea A. Kühn , Antonella Macerollo , Wolf-Julian Neumann , Pramod Kumar Pal , Giulia Paparella , Antonio Suppa , Kaviraja Udupa","doi":"10.1016/j.cnp.2022.06.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cnp.2022.06.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This review is part of the series on the clinical neurophysiology of movement disorders. It focuses on Parkinson’s disease and parkinsonism. The topics covered include the pathophysiology of tremor, rigidity and bradykinesia, balance and gait disturbance and myoclonus in Parkinson’s disease. The use of electroencephalography, electromyography, long latency reflexes, cutaneous silent period, studies of cortical excitability with single and paired transcranial magnetic stimulation, studies of plasticity, intraoperative microelectrode recordings and recording of local field potentials from deep brain stimulation, and electrocorticography are also reviewed. In addition to advancing knowledge of pathophysiology, neurophysiological studies can be useful in refining the diagnosis, localization of surgical targets, and help to develop novel therapies for Parkinson’s disease.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45697,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Neurophysiology Practice","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 201-227"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/4d/ff/main.PMC9309229.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40552052","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jonathan Cole , Anita Kamondi , Paulo Teixeira Kimaid , Nortina Shahrizaila , on behalf of the Europe, Middle East and Africa, Latin America and Asia-Oceania Chapters of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology
{"title":"Training and education practice in the Europe, Middle East and Africa, Latin America and Asia Oceania chapters, IFCN; an international survey","authors":"Jonathan Cole , Anita Kamondi , Paulo Teixeira Kimaid , Nortina Shahrizaila , on behalf of the Europe, Middle East and Africa, Latin America and Asia-Oceania Chapters of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology","doi":"10.1016/j.cnp.2022.02.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cnp.2022.02.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper presents results from the first survey of training and education undertaken by the Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEAC), the Latin America (LAC) and the Asia-Oceania (AOC) Chapters of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN). The survey was conducted initially by the EMEAC in 2012 and updated in 2016, 2019, and 2020. It had the following categories: status of specialty and training in member country (21 questions), competency and accreditation (12 questions), practice and concerns (23 questions). An abbreviated version of the survey was conducted by the LAC and AOC in 2018–2019.</p><p>Clinical neurophysiology (CN) was a single specialty in a minority of member societies’ countries: 8/33 EMEAC, 2/12 AOC and 2/10 LAC. In others it was usually a subspecialty of neurology. Training periods in CN were split fairly evenly between 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years in EMEAC, while neurology takes 4 to 5 years. In the AOC, neurology training was for 3 to 4 years and CN for up to 2 years. In LAC a majority of countries trained for 2 to 3 years in both neurology and CN. An exit exam was performed in 16/30 EMEAC respondents, 8/12 in the AOC and 3/10 in the LAC.</p><p>Competence was considered to require a wide range of numbers of tests performed under supervision, from <250 to >750 in EMEAC and AOC, with the EMEAC tending to require more. The main concerns were in recruitment and workload in EMEAC, training in AOC and the need for more recognition of the specialty in some countries within the LAC.</p><p>This survey, the first across the three chapters, revealed considerable differences in training durations and numbers of tests performed for competence between national societies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45697,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Neurophysiology Practice","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 120-126"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2467981X22000142/pdfft?md5=f4f48d075900d5e417e1c1d97dc51afa&pid=1-s2.0-S2467981X22000142-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48113298","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cheryl S.J. Everlo , Jan Willem J. Elting , Marina A.J. Tijssen , A.M. Madelein van der Stouwe
{"title":"Electrophysiological testing aids the diagnosis of tremor and myoclonus in clinically challenging patients","authors":"Cheryl S.J. Everlo , Jan Willem J. Elting , Marina A.J. Tijssen , A.M. Madelein van der Stouwe","doi":"10.1016/j.cnp.2021.12.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cnp.2021.12.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>We investigated how clinical neurophysiological testing can help distinguish tremor and myoclonus and their subtypes.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>We retrospectively analysed clinical and neurophysiological data from patients who had undergone polymyography (EMG + accelerometry) to diagnose suspected tremor or myoclonus. We show a systematic approach, which includes contraction pattern, rhythm regularity, burst duration and evidence of cortical drive.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>We detected 773 patients in our database, of which 556 patients were ultimately diagnosed with tremor (enhanced physiological tremor n = 169, functional tremor n = 140, essential tremor n = 90, parkinsonism associated tremor n = 64, cerebellar tremor n = 19, Holmes tremor n = 12, dystonic tremor n = 8, tremor not further specified n = 9), 140 with myoclonus and 23 with a combination of tremor and myoclonus. Polymyography confirmed the presumptive diagnosis in the majority of the patients and led to a change of diagnosis in 287 patients (37%). Conversions between diagnoses of tremor and myoclonus occurred most frequently between enhanced physiological tremor, essential tremor, functional tremor and cortical myoclonus.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Neurophysiology is a valuable additional tool in clinical practice to differentiate between tremor and myoclonus, and can guide towards a specific subtype.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>We show how the stepwise neurophysiological approach used at our medical center aids the diagnosis of tremor versus myoclonus.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45697,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Neurophysiology Practice","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 51-58"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/37/4b/main.PMC8867002.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10236116","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aurélie Wanders , Valentina Garibotto , Laurent Spinelli , Sándor Beniczky , Serge Vulliémoz , Roy Thomas Daniel , Karl Schaller , Andrea Bartoli , Christian Korff , Margitta Seeck
{"title":"High density electric source imaging in childhood-onset epilepsy due to focal cortical dysplasia","authors":"Aurélie Wanders , Valentina Garibotto , Laurent Spinelli , Sándor Beniczky , Serge Vulliémoz , Roy Thomas Daniel , Karl Schaller , Andrea Bartoli , Christian Korff , Margitta Seeck","doi":"10.1016/j.cnp.2022.07.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cnp.2022.07.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>The goal of this study was to investigate the diagnostic utility of electric source imaging (ESI) in the presurgical evaluation of children with focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) and to compare it with other imaging techniques.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>Twenty patients with epilepsy onset before 18 years, surgically treated focal epilepsy with a minimal follow-up of 2 years, and histologically proven FCD were retrospectively selected. All patients underwent MRI, positron emission tomography (PET), and 16 patients also had ictal single-photon emission computed tomography (iSPECT). ESI, using EEG with 64 electrodes or more (HD-ESI), was performed in all 20 patients. We determined sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of ESI, and compared its yield to that of other imaging techniques.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Twelve patients were seizure-free post-operatively (60%). Among all patients, highest localization accuracy (80%) was obtained with ESI, followed by PET and iSPECT (75%). When results from ESI and SPECT were concordant 100% of patients achieved Engel I outcome. If ESI and PET showed concordant localization, 90% of patients achieved postoperative seizure freedom.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Our findings demonstrate that HD-ESI allows accurate localization of the epileptogenic zone in patients with FCD.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>In combination with other imaging modalities, ESI helps with planning a more accurate surgery and therefore, the chances of postoperative seizure control are higher. Since it is based on EEG recordings, it does not require sedation, which is particularly interesting in pediatric patients. ESI represents an important imaging tool in focal epilepsies due to cortical dysplasia, which might be difficult to detect on standard imaging.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45697,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Neurophysiology Practice","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 245-251"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/6e/41/main.PMC9428727.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40351253","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sterre van der Veen , John N. Caviness , Yasmine E.M. Dreissen , Christos Ganos , Abubaker Ibrahim , Johannes H.T.M. Koelman , Ambra Stefani , Marina A.J. Tijssen
{"title":"Myoclonus and other jerky movement disorders","authors":"Sterre van der Veen , John N. Caviness , Yasmine E.M. Dreissen , Christos Ganos , Abubaker Ibrahim , Johannes H.T.M. Koelman , Ambra Stefani , Marina A.J. Tijssen","doi":"10.1016/j.cnp.2022.09.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cnp.2022.09.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Myoclonus and other jerky movements form a large heterogeneous group of disorders. Clinical neurophysiology studies can have an important contribution to support diagnosis but also to gain insight in the pathophysiology of different kind of jerks. This review focuses on myoclonus, tics, startle disorders, restless legs syndrome, and periodic leg movements during sleep. Myoclonus is defined as brief, shock-like movements, and subtypes can be classified based the anatomical origin. Both the clinical phenotype and the neurophysiological tests support this classification: cortical, cortical-subcortical, subcortical/non-segmental, segmental, peripheral, and functional jerks. The most important techniques used are polymyography and the combination of electromyography-electroencephalography focused on jerk-locked back-averaging, cortico-muscular coherence, and the Bereitschaftspotential. Clinically, the differential diagnosis of myoclonus includes tics, and this diagnosis is mainly based on the history with premonitory urges and the ability to suppress the tic. Electrophysiological tests are mainly applied in a research setting and include the Bereitschaftspotential, local field potentials, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and pre-pulse inhibition. Jerks due to a startling stimulus form the group of startle syndromes. This group includes disorders with an exaggerated startle reflex, such as hyperekplexia and stiff person syndrome, but also neuropsychiatric and stimulus-induced disorders. For these disorders polymyography combined with a startling stimulus can be useful to determine the pattern of muscle activation and thus the diagnosis. Assessment of symptoms in restless legs syndrome and periodic leg movements during sleep can be performed with different validated scoring criteria with the help of electromyography.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45697,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Neurophysiology Practice","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 285-316"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9619152/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40443681","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stephan Wüstenhagen , Daniella Terney , Elena Gardella , Pirgit Meritam Larsen , Connie Rømer , Harald Aurlien , Sándor Beniczky
{"title":"EEG normal variants: A prospective study using the SCORE system","authors":"Stephan Wüstenhagen , Daniella Terney , Elena Gardella , Pirgit Meritam Larsen , Connie Rømer , Harald Aurlien , Sándor Beniczky","doi":"10.1016/j.cnp.2022.06.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cnp.2022.06.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>To determine the prevalence and characteristics of normal variants in EEG recordings in a large cohort, and provide readers with typical examples of all normal variants for educational purposes.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>Using the SCORE EEG system (Standardized Computer-Based Organized Reporting of EEG), we prospectively extracted EEG features in consecutive patients. In this dataset, we analyzed 3050 recordings from 2319 patients (mean age 38.5 years; range: 1–89 years).</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>The distribution of the normal variants was as follows: sharp transients 19.21% (including wicket spikes), rhythmic temporal theta of drowsiness 6.03%, temporal slowing of the old 2.89%, slow fused transients 2.59%, 14-and 6-Hz bursts 1.83%, breach rhythm 1.25%, small sharp spikes 1.05%, 6-Hz spike and slow wave 0.69% and SREDA 0.03%.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>The most prevalent normal variants are the sharp transients, which must not be over-read as epileptiform discharges.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>EEG readers must be familiar with the normal variants to avoid misdiagnosis and misclassification of patients referred to clinical EEG recordings.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45697,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Neurophysiology Practice","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 183-200"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/8c/44/main.PMC9294211.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40615393","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bringing nerve excitability out of the research laboratory into the clinic","authors":"Karl Ng","doi":"10.1016/j.cnp.2022.10.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cnp.2022.10.001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45697,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Neurophysiology Practice","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 317-318"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/8c/08/main.PMC9636407.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40671142","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sooyoung Kim , Haelim Kim , Jun-Soon Kim , Seung-Jae Hyun , Ki-Jeong Kim , Kyung Seok Park
{"title":"The utility of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring in surgical treatment for spinal arteriovenous malformations: A historical control study","authors":"Sooyoung Kim , Haelim Kim , Jun-Soon Kim , Seung-Jae Hyun , Ki-Jeong Kim , Kyung Seok Park","doi":"10.1016/j.cnp.2022.01.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cnp.2022.01.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>This study sought to investigate the utility of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) in the surgical treatment for spinal arteriovenous malformations (SAVMs).</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>We retrospectively reviewed the data of 39 patients who underwent surgical treatment for SAVMs. Twenty-eight patients who received multimodal IONM (transcranial electrical motor-evoked potentials [MEPs], somatosensory-evoked potentials, continuous electromyography, and bulbocavernosus reflex [BCR]) between 2011 and 2020 were compared to 11 historical controls between 2003 and 2011. The rates of postoperative neurological deficits (PNDs), neurophysiological warnings, and their characteristics were analyzed.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>PNDs were developed in 10.7% and 54.5% of patients in the IONM and historical control (non-IONM) groups, respectively (<em>p</em> = 0.008). Moreover, not applying IONM was the only significant risk factor for the development of PNDs in the logistic regression analysis (odds ratio 10.0, <em>p</em> = 0.007). In the IONM group, a total of three electrophysiological warnings were observed, and two of these were true positives; one patient complained of leg motor weakness after surgery with loss of the abductor halluces MEPs. The other patient experienced disappearance of the BCR during surgery and newly developed urinary retention. Overall, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of IONM warnings for detecting PNDs were 66.7%, 96.0%, 66.7%, and 96.0%, respectively.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>The neurological outcome of the IONM group was significantly better than that of the historical control group in the surgical treatments for SAVMs.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>Multimodal IONM could be a useful tool to detect neurological damage with relatively high accuracy in this type of surgery.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45697,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Neurophysiology Practice","volume":"7 ","pages":"Pages 59-64"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2467981X22000063/pdfft?md5=6d68f65ccb64135234bd7e60dc76f38e&pid=1-s2.0-S2467981X22000063-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44974577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}