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Author Archives: dulcetware
Thymectomy for Myasthenia Gravis
Introduction While thymectomy has long been considered an option to treat myasthenia even if there is simply thymic tissue present rather than thymoma or thymic carcinoma, it has been uncertain how much benefit is achieved by undergoing this major … Continue reading
Safinamide in Parkinson’s Disease
Background The rather specific dopaminergic deficit in Parkinson’s disease (PD) has meant that dopaminergic replacement medications have proven to be an effective mainstay of treatment of the condition. However, later on in the course of the disease, such treatment … Continue reading
Posted in Parkinson's Disease
Tagged Dopamine, Dyskinesia, Parkinson Disease, Safinamide
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Anti K+ Channel Antibodies in Neuromyotonia
Background At this Journal Club it was decided to review a historical paper on the pathophysiology underlying autoimmune neuromyotonia. The paper, “Autoantibodies Detected to Expressed K+ Channels Are Implicated in Neuromyotonia”, from Annals of Neurology (1997, 41:238-246), used a novel … Continue reading
Posted in Inflammatory/ Auto-Immune Diseases
Tagged Antibody Assay, Autoimmune, Immunology, Neuromytonia
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Comparison of New Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs) with Warfarin
Background Ischaemic stroke is typically either thrombotic (clotting within a cerebral vessel) or embolic (passage of clot material from a more proximal vessel to become lodged in a cerebral vessel). A proportion of embolic stroke events will arise from arterial … Continue reading
Posted in Stroke
Tagged anticoagulation, brain haemorrhage, NOAC, stroke, TIA, warfarin
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Varicella Zoster is the Cause of Giant Cell Arteritis
Background Giant cell arteritis is an inflammatory condition of certain blood vessels that presents in the elderly. Those vessels affected include the: temporal artery resulting in headache and scalp tenderness over the inflamed artery, ciliary artery resulting in ischaemic optic … Continue reading
Posted in Infectious Diseases
Tagged giant cell arteritis, Headache, shingles, temporal artery, varicella zoster
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Myasthenia Gravis: Subgroup Classification and Therapeutic Strategies
Background Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a neurological condition characterised by a fatiguing weakness of certain muscle groups, particularly those that control eye opening, eye movements, speech and swallowing When severe the proximal muscles of the limbs and respiratory muscles may … Continue reading
Posted in Myasthenia
Tagged Autoantibodies, Evidence based treatment, Myasthenia gravis, Myasthenic crisis
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Clinical Features and Pathology of “Parkinson’s Plus” Syndromes
Background It has long been known that there exist variants of Parkinson’s disease (PD), loosely and perhaps inaccurately described as PD plus syndromes, that may carry features of Parkinsonism but which also have other clinical features. Such conditions have distinct … Continue reading
Acute Flaccid Myelitis and Enterovirus D68
Background Enteroviruses, which may cause gastroenteritis or upper respiratory tract infections, are well-known to have neurotropism – a predilection in a proportion of individuals to spread to certain types of neurones, thereby resulting in characteristic neurological syndromes that occur after … Continue reading
Journal Club Review: “Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy with and without Haemorrhage
Background Sporadic cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is the most common cause of lobar intracranial haemorrhage, which in itself accounts for about 5-10% of all strokes. Amyloid deposition in small arteries of the cerebrum leads to friability and haemorrhage. There are also … Continue reading
Posted in Disease Categories, Stroke
Tagged brain haemorrhage, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, stroke
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Journal Club Review “Certainty of Stroke Diagnosis: Incremental Benefit with CT Perfusion over Non-Contrast CT and CT Angiography”
Background The accompanying primer, Thrombolysis for Stroke and role of CT perfusion Imaging, describes the difficulties and potential shortcomings of thrombolysis for acute stroke and the way that CT perfusion may improve patient selection for thrombolysis. This paper, by Hopyat … Continue reading
Posted in Stroke
Tagged CT angiography, CT perfusion, stroke, stroke diagnosis, stroke imaging, stroke mimics, thrombolysis, TIA, unenhanced CT
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