Dionne Swor, Pallavi Juneja, Charlotte Constantine, Catrin Mann, Felix Rosenow, Suzette LaRoche
{"title":"Management of status epilepticus in pregnancy: a clinician survey.","authors":"Dionne Swor, Pallavi Juneja, Charlotte Constantine, Catrin Mann, Felix Rosenow, Suzette LaRoche","doi":"10.1186/s42466-023-00295-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s42466-023-00295-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Status epilepticus in pregnancy (SEP) is rare and life-threatening for both mother and fetus. There are well-established guidelines for the management of women with epilepsy during pregnancy; however, there is little evidence guiding the management of SEP, leading to uncertainty among treating physicians. Therefore, this survey aims to investigate the real-world practices of physicians treating SEP to explore management approaches for improvements in care.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>An anonymous, electronic survey was created and distributed to neurointensivists and neurologists between September and December 2021.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>One hundred physicians initiated the survey and 95 completed it in full: 87 (87%, 87/100) identified neurology as their primary specialty, 31 had subspecialty training in neurocritical care, and 48 had subspecialty training in epilepsy and/or clinical neurophysiology. Over half of the survey respondents (67%, 67/100) reported having participated in the management of SEP, with 48.9% (49/98) having done so in the past year. Most survey respondents (73%, 73/100) reported that their management approach to SEP is different than that of non-pregnant patients. Survey respondents were more likely to involve epilepsy consultants when treating SEP (58.5%, 58/99) and the vast majority involved Obstetrics/Maternal Fetal Medicine consultants (90.8%, 89/98). Survey respondents showed a clear preference for levetiracetam (89.7%, 87/97) in the treatment of benzodiazepine refractory status epilepticus followed by lacosamide (61%, 60/98) if an additional second line agent was needed. Valproate and phenobarbital were unlikely to be used. There was less agreement for the management of refractory and super-refractory SEP.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Levetiracetam is the most frequently used anti-seizure medication (ASM) for benzodiazepine-refractory SEP. Survey participants tended to manage SEP differently than in non-pregnant patients including greater involvement of interdisciplinary teams as well as avoidance of ASMs associated with known teratogenicity.</p>","PeriodicalId":94156,"journal":{"name":"Neurological research and practice","volume":"6 1","pages":"3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10795404/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139486884","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}
Carina Lummer, Carsten Eggers, Andreas Becker, Fenja Demandt, Tobias Warnecke
{"title":"Interdisciplinary network care collaboration in Parkinson's disease: a baseline evaluation in Germany.","authors":"Carina Lummer, Carsten Eggers, Andreas Becker, Fenja Demandt, Tobias Warnecke","doi":"10.1186/s42466-023-00300-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s42466-023-00300-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The strengthening of interdisciplinary care collaboration in Parkinson's disease is taking on increasing importance in daily medical routine. Therefore, care providers worldwide are organizing themselves in disease-specific regional network structures. However, the existing networks are heterogeneous, and the driving key players are yet unidentified.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To systematically identify key factors of the composition of health care professionals, who are initially interested in the development of a Parkinson network for interdisciplinary care collaboration, their motivation, and expectations, we conducted a basic evaluation in three different German regions covering a total number of 23,405 people with Parkinson's.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A specially developed semi-open questionnaire focusing on socio-demographic information, ways of contact, interdisciplinary collaboration, and connectedness was used. Statistical analyses were performed based on a predesigned codebook.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The most crucial professions were outpatient therapists (physio-, occupational-, speech therapists) (36.7%), average case load of 10.1 patients/3 months and inpatient movement disorder specialists (21.1%), average case load of 197.4 patients/3 months. Before implementation of PD networks, 48.9% of outpatient therapists did not have any contact with neurologists. 58.9% of caregivers considered the current frequency of collaboration to be insufficient. The lack of political support as well as a lack of time were identified as main hurdles to increased collaboration.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The identified driving forces in strengthened care collaboration are assigned to different healthcare sectors. This makes networks which provide tools for specialized education and interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral communication indispensable. For an areawide rollout, a rethinking of political frameworks towards network care is strongly necessary.</p>","PeriodicalId":94156,"journal":{"name":"Neurological research and practice","volume":"6 1","pages":"5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10782567/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139418792","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}
Matthias N Ungerer, Dirk Bartig, Daniel Richter, Christos Krogias, Werner Hacke, Christoph Gumbinger
{"title":"The evolution of acute stroke care in Germany from 2019 to 2021: analysis of nation-wide administrative datasets.","authors":"Matthias N Ungerer, Dirk Bartig, Daniel Richter, Christos Krogias, Werner Hacke, Christoph Gumbinger","doi":"10.1186/s42466-023-00297-x","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s42466-023-00297-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The treatment of ischemic stroke (IS) has changed considerably in recent years. Particularly the advent of mechanical thrombectomy (MTE) has revolutionized the available treatment options. Most patients in developed countries have access to intravenous thrombolysis (IVT). However access to MTE remains restricted in some regions despite efforts to increase its availability. We performed an evaluation of national datasets to monitor improvements made in access to revascularization therapies for IS patients in Germany.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We analyzed national datasets on German Diagnosis-Related Groups and structured quality reports by extracting information of patients admitted with stroke with and without IVT and MTE for the period of 2019-2021. Data from 2016 and limited data for 2022 were also included for comparison.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Admissions with ischemic stroke declined during the years of the COVID 19 pandemic by 4.5% from 227,258 in 2019 to 216,923 in 2021. IVT rates were stable with 16.3% being treated with IVT in 2019 and 2021. MTE rates continued to increase from 7.1 to 8.4% and the number of MTE centers increased by 14.8% in the same period. Over 87.3% of MTEs were performed in centers with a case volume exceeding 50 cases per year in 2021. The largest increase in the relative share of MTEs was seen in large MTE centers (n ≥ 200). Patient age for MTEs surpassed the age for IVTs in 2019 and the proportion of patients ≥ 80 years receiving MTE continued to increase. The proportion of regions in Germany with poor MTE rates (≤ 4.1%) decreased significantly from 2019 (12.3%) to 2021 (5.3%) (p < 0.001).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We found strong evidence that while IVT rates reached a temporary ceiling effect, both the absolute number of and access to MTEs continued to increase in Germany. Regional disparities have become less significant and the majority of MTEs are performed in centers with medium or high case volumes.</p>","PeriodicalId":94156,"journal":{"name":"Neurological research and practice","volume":"6 1","pages":"4"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10782681/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139418793","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}
Giulia Remoli, Edoardo Dalmato Schilke, Andrea Magi, Antonio Ancidoni, Giulia Negro, Fulvio Da Re, Maura Frigo, Martina Giordano, Nicola Vanacore, Marco Canevelli, Carlo Ferrarese, Lucio Tremolizzo, Ildebrando Appollonio
{"title":"Neuropathological hints from CSF and serum biomarkers in corticobasal syndrome (CBS): a systematic review.","authors":"Giulia Remoli, Edoardo Dalmato Schilke, Andrea Magi, Antonio Ancidoni, Giulia Negro, Fulvio Da Re, Maura Frigo, Martina Giordano, Nicola Vanacore, Marco Canevelli, Carlo Ferrarese, Lucio Tremolizzo, Ildebrando Appollonio","doi":"10.1186/s42466-023-00294-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s42466-023-00294-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Corticobasal syndrome (CBS) is a clinical syndrome determined by various underlying neurodegenerative disorders requiring a pathological assessment for a definitive diagnosis. A literature review was performed following the methodology described in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews to investigate the additional value of traditional and cutting-edge cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum/plasma biomarkers in profiling CBS. Four databases were screened applying predefined inclusion criteria: (1) recruiting patients with CBS; (2) analyzing CSF/plasma biomarkers in CBS. The review highlights the potential role of the association of fluid biomarkers in diagnostic workup of CBS, since they may contribute to a more accurate diagnosis and patient selection for future disease-modifying agent; for example, future trial designs should consider baseline CSF Neurofilament Light Chains (NfL) or progranulin dosage to stratify treatment arms according to neuropathological substrates, and serum NfL dosage might be used to monitor the evolution of CBS. In this scenario, prospective cohort studies, starting with neurological examination and neuropsychological tests, should be considered to assess the correlations of clinical profiles and various biomarkers.</p>","PeriodicalId":94156,"journal":{"name":"Neurological research and practice","volume":"6 1","pages":"1"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10765833/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139089773","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":"Temporary and highly variable recovery of neuromuscular dysfunction by electrical stimulation in the follow-up of acute critical illness neuromyopathy: a pilot study.","authors":"Madona Sekhniashvili, Petra Baum, Klaus V Toyka","doi":"10.1186/s42466-023-00293-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s42466-023-00293-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>In sepsis-associated critical illness neuromyopathy (CIPNM) serial electrical stimulation of motor nerves induces a short-lived temporary recovery of compound muscle action potentials (CMAPs) termed facilitation phenomenon (FP). This technique is different from other stimulation techniques published. The identification of FP suggests a major functional component in acute CIPNM.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>From our previous study cohort of 18 intensive care unit patients with sepsis associated CIPNM showing profound muscle weakness and low or missing CMAPs on nerve conduction studies, six patients with different severity could be followed. In a pilot sub-study we analyzed the variability of FP during follow up. Over up to 6 weeks we performed 2-6 nerve conduction studies with our novel stimulation paradigm. Motor nerves were stimulated at 0.2-0.5 Hz with 60-100 mA at 0.2-0.5 ms duration, and CMAP responses were recorded. Standard motor nerve conduction velocities (NCV) could be done when utilizing facilitated CMAPs. Needle electromyography was checked once for spontaneous activity to discover potential denervation and muscle fiber degeneration. Serum electrolytes were checked before any examination and corrected if abnormal.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In all six patients a striking variability in the magnitude and pattern of FP could be observed at each examination in the same and in different motor nerves over time. With the first stimulus most CMAPs were below 0.1 mV or absent. With slow serial pulses CMAPs could gradually recover with normal shape and near normal amplitudes. With facilitated CMAPs NCV measurements revealed low normal values. With improvement of muscle weakness subsequent tests revealed larger first CMAP amplitudes and smaller magnitudes of FP. Needle EMG showed occasional spontaneous activity in the tibialis anterior muscle.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>In this pilot study striking variability and magnitude of FP during follow-up was a reproducible feature indicating major fluctuations of neuromuscular excitability that may improve during follow-up. FP can be assessed by generally available electrophysiological techniques, even before patients could be tested for muscle strength. Large scale prospective studies of the facilitation phenomenon in CIPNM with or without sepsis are needed to define diagnostic specificity and to better understand the still enigmatic pathophysiology.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>This trial was registered at the Leipzig University Medical Center in 2021 after approval by the Ethics Committee.</p>","PeriodicalId":94156,"journal":{"name":"Neurological research and practice","volume":"5 1","pages":"66"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10753844/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139049978","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}
Sonja Hyrenbach, Susanne Rode, Martin Schabet, Michael Daffertshofer, Karin Schoser, Stephan Neumaier, Peter A Ringleb
{"title":"Outcome of endovascular stroke therapy in a large mandatory stroke-registry.","authors":"Sonja Hyrenbach, Susanne Rode, Martin Schabet, Michael Daffertshofer, Karin Schoser, Stephan Neumaier, Peter A Ringleb","doi":"10.1186/s42466-023-00287-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s42466-023-00287-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Endovascular stroke treatment (EST) has become the standard treatment for patients with stroke due to large vessel occlusion, especially in earlier time windows. Only few data from population-based registries on effectiveness of EST have been published.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Baden-Wuerttemberg is the third largest state in Germany in terms of area and population and has a structured stroke concept since 1998 which includes mandatory collection of quality assurance data. In 2018 and 2019, 3820 of 39,168 ischemic stroke patients (9.8%) were treated by EST (age median 78 y, NIHSS median 14). We analyzed the clinical outcome of these patients determined with the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at discharge from the hospital or with the initiation of palliative therapy using logistic regression analysis with adjustment for the mRS at admission, additive IVT, age, and NIHSS.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The probability of an excellent clinical outcome (mRS 0 or 1 at discharge) and for a good clinical outcome (mRS 0-2) were significantly higher in EST-patients (odds-ratio (OR) 1.27; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.13-1.43, and OR of 1.15 (95% CI 1.04-1.28). Also, the regression model showed an advantage for EST-patients with less frequent 'decision for palliative care' (OR 0.87; 95% CI 0.78-0.98). Sensitivity analysis adjusting for intracranial vessel occlusion as further factor showed similar results.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our data suggest that EST can be of benefit also for an area-wide unselected stroke population, in a large German federal state with sometimes long distance to the next thrombectomy center.</p>","PeriodicalId":94156,"journal":{"name":"Neurological research and practice","volume":"5 1","pages":"67"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10734186/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138833794","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}
Leonhard Mann, Felix Rosenow, Adam Strzelczyk, Elke Hattingen, Laurent M Willems, Patrick N Harter, Katharina Weber, Catrin Mann
{"title":"The impact of referring patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy to an epilepsy center for presurgical diagnosis.","authors":"Leonhard Mann, Felix Rosenow, Adam Strzelczyk, Elke Hattingen, Laurent M Willems, Patrick N Harter, Katharina Weber, Catrin Mann","doi":"10.1186/s42466-023-00288-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s42466-023-00288-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Epilepsy surgery is an established treatment for drug-resistant focal epilepsy (DRFE) that results in seizure freedom in about 60% of patients. Correctly identifying an epileptogenic lesion in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is challenging but highly relevant since it improves the likelihood of being referred for presurgical diagnosis. The epileptogenic lesion's etiology directly relates to the surgical intervention's indication and outcome. Therefore, it is vital to correctly identify epileptogenic lesions and their etiology presurgically.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We compared the final histopathological diagnoses of all patients with DRFE undergoing epilepsy surgery at our center between 2015 and 2021 with their MRI diagnoses before and after presurgical diagnosis at our epilepsy center, including MRI evaluations by expert epilepsy neuroradiologists. Additionally, we analyzed the outcome of different subgroups.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>This study included 132 patients. The discordance between histopathology and MRI diagnoses significantly decreased from 61.3% for non-expert MRI evaluations (NEMRIs) to 22.1% for epilepsy center MRI evaluations (ECMRIs; p < 0.0001). The MRI-sensitivity improved significantly from 68.6% for NEMRIs to 97.7% for ECMRIs (p < 0.0001). Identifying focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) and amygdala dysplasia was the most challenging for both subgroups. 65.5% of patients with negative NEMRI were seizure-free 12 months postoperatively, no patient with negative ECMRI achieved seizure-freedom. The mean duration of epilepsy until surgical intervention was 13.6 years in patients with an initial negative NEMRI and 9.5 years in patients with a recognized lesion in NEMRI.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study provides evidence that for patients with DRFE-especially those with initial negative findings in a non-expert MRI-an early consultation at an epilepsy center, including an ECMRI, is important for identifying candidates for epilepsy surgery. NEMRI-negative findings preoperatively do not preclude seizure freedom postoperatively. Therefore, patients with DRFE that remain MRI-negative after initial NEMRI should be referred to an epilepsy center for presurgical evaluation. Nonreferral based on NEMRI negativity may harm such patients and delay surgical intervention. However, ECMRI-negative patients have a reduced chance of becoming seizure-free after epilepsy surgery. Further improvements in MRI technique and evaluation are needed and should be directed towards improving sensitivity for FCDs and amygdala dysplasias.</p>","PeriodicalId":94156,"journal":{"name":"Neurological research and practice","volume":"5 1","pages":"65"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10720126/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138815989","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}
Norma J Diel, Stefan T Gerner, Omar Alhaj Omar, Johannes Kalder, Enikö Manz, Paula R Keschenau, Tobias Struffert, Thomas Brueckner, Hagen B Huttner, Thorsten R Doeppner
{"title":"Rendezvous intervention using combined surgical carotid endarterectomy followed by endovascular thrombectomy in patients with acute tandem occlusions: a proof-of-concept experience at a tertiary care center.","authors":"Norma J Diel, Stefan T Gerner, Omar Alhaj Omar, Johannes Kalder, Enikö Manz, Paula R Keschenau, Tobias Struffert, Thomas Brueckner, Hagen B Huttner, Thorsten R Doeppner","doi":"10.1186/s42466-023-00290-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s42466-023-00290-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) is highly effective in acute stroke patients with intracranial large vessel occlusion (LVO), however, presence of concomitant cervical occlusion of the internal carotid artery (ICA) may limit the endovascular access. This study describes feasibility and efficacy of a surgical carotid access (cutdown) to perform interdisciplinary recanalization therapy including carotid endarterectomy (CEA) followed by EVT for recanalization of intracranial LVO in stroke patients with tandem occlusions.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We identified stroke patients with tandem occlusions who underwent a combined surgical-endovascular approach over a 5-year period. Surgical cutdown was provided by a cardiovascular surgery team at the angio-suite followed by EVT performed by the neuroradiological team. Demographics, stroke characteristics, treatments including antithrombotic management, procedure times, and clinical follow-up were assessed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Four patients with acute stroke because of tandem occlusions received CEA followed by EVT (two patients after frustrating femoral catheterization, two as first-line approach). Successful recanalization (TICI ≥ 2b) via endovascular thrombectomy was achieved in all patients at a median of 28 min after successful surgical CEA. Intraprocedural complication was observed in one case (25%; i.e. ICA dissection).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This small study provides evidence that a combined interdisciplinary approach of CEA followed by EVT in the angio-suite in acute stroke patients with tandem occlusions is a feasible procedure in patients otherwise not accessible to endovascular recanalizing therapy and, therefore, high likelihood of developing large hemispheric infarction. Prospective data are warranted to identify patients who benefit from this combined approach as first-line therapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":94156,"journal":{"name":"Neurological research and practice","volume":"5 1","pages":"60"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10701999/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138500595","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}
Lennart Steffen Milles, Doreen Pommeranz, Woon Hyung Chae, Jordi Kühne Escolà, Christoph Kleinschnitz, Martin Köhrmann, Benedikt Frank
{"title":"Validation of a German-language modified Rankin Scale structured telephone interview at 3 months in a real-life stroke cohort.","authors":"Lennart Steffen Milles, Doreen Pommeranz, Woon Hyung Chae, Jordi Kühne Escolà, Christoph Kleinschnitz, Martin Köhrmann, Benedikt Frank","doi":"10.1186/s42466-023-00289-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s42466-023-00289-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The modified Rankin scale (mRS) at 3 months is established as the primary outcome measure in clinical stroke trials. Traditionally, the mRS is assessed through an unstructured face-to-face interview. This approach can be labor-intensive and lead to suboptimal inter-rater reliability. Recently, the Covid-19 pandemic made face-to-face contact even more challenging. To address these issues, we developed and validated a structured German-language questionnaire for mRS testing by telephone.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this prospective cohort study, we compared the mRS testing results of the standard face-to-face interview with those obtained in a structured interview by telephone using Cohen's Kappa.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>At our tertiary care stroke center, we included 108 patients who underwent both assessments. In 80.6% of cases (87/108) face-to-face and telephone interview reached identical scores. Linear weighted Kappa was 0.82 (p < 0.001). Unweighted Kappa for dichotomized mRS between fair (0-2) and poor (3-6) functional outcome was κ = 0.97 (p < 0.001).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our study validates the use of the German-language structured telephone interview as a reliable instrument for the use in clinical trials. We encourage others to utilize the questionnaire. It is available as an Appendix (Additional file 1) to this publication.</p>","PeriodicalId":94156,"journal":{"name":"Neurological research and practice","volume":"5 1","pages":"59"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10687899/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138465250","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}
Carsten Saft, Jean-Marc Burgunder, Matthias Dose, Hans Heinrich Jung, Regina Katzenschlager, Josef Priller, Huu Phuc Nguyen, Kathrin Reetz, Ralf Reilmann, Klaus Seppi, Georg Bernhard Landwehrmeyer
{"title":"Differential diagnosis of chorea (guidelines of the German Neurological Society).","authors":"Carsten Saft, Jean-Marc Burgunder, Matthias Dose, Hans Heinrich Jung, Regina Katzenschlager, Josef Priller, Huu Phuc Nguyen, Kathrin Reetz, Ralf Reilmann, Klaus Seppi, Georg Bernhard Landwehrmeyer","doi":"10.1186/s42466-023-00292-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s42466-023-00292-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Choreiform movement disorders are characterized by involuntary, rapid, irregular, and unpredictable movements of the limbs, face, neck, and trunk. These movements often initially go unnoticed by the affected individuals and may blend together with seemingly intended, random motions. Choreiform movements can occur both at rest and during voluntary movements. They typically increase in intensity with stress and physical activity and essentially cease during deep sleep stages. In particularly in advanced stages of Huntington disease (HD), choreiform hyperkinesia occurs alongside with dystonic postures of the limbs or trunk before they typically decrease in intensity. The differential diagnosis of HD can be complex. Here, the authors aim to provide guidance for the diagnostic process. This guidance was prepared for the German Neurological Society (DGN) for German-speaking countries.</p><p><strong>Recommendations: </strong>Hereditary (inherited) and non-hereditary (non-inherited) forms of chorea can be distinguished. Therefore, the family history is crucial. However, even in conditions with autosomal-dominant transmission such as HD, unremarkable family histories do not necessarily rule out a hereditary form (e.g., in cases of early deceased or unknown parents, uncertainties in familial relationships, as well as in offspring of parents with CAG repeats in the expandable range (27-35 CAG repeats) which may display expansions into the pathogenic range).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The differential diagnosis of chorea can be challenging. This guidance prepared for the German Neurological Society (DGN) reflects the state of the art as of 2023.</p>","PeriodicalId":94156,"journal":{"name":"Neurological research and practice","volume":"5 1","pages":"63"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10666412/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138296811","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}