Introduction: The efficacy of continuous subcutaneous apomorphine infusion (CSAI) for motor complications of Parkinson's disease (PD) is established. However, its effect on cognition and behavior remains controversial. The main objective of this systematic review was to describe the existing literature on the effects of CSAI on cognition and behavior and to determine the quality for each study.
Methods: PubMed/Medline, Embase, APA PsycInfo®, and Cochrane Library databases were searched, following PRISMA recommendations. Only longitudinal studies evaluating the effect of CSAI on cognition (global cognition, executive functions, visuospatial abilities, language, memory, attention, social cognition) and/or behavior (depression, anxiety, apathy, psychotic symptoms, impulse control disorders, neuropsychiatric fluctuations) in PD were included. The quality of the included studies was also assessed with a questionnaire.
Results: Twenty-three longitudinal studies evaluated the effect of CSAI on cognition and/or behavior. Overall, results were suggestive of positive effects, notably on executive functions and emotion recognition. However, there were some reports of cognitive slowing and long-term global cognitive deterioration. At the behavioral level, no study showed significant adverse effect of CSAI. Occasionally, a slight improvement of depression, anxiety, apathy, and neuropsychiatric fluctuations was reported. Nevertheless, only four studies met good quality criteria and controlled study regarding cognition were lacking.
Conclusion: The results suggest that CSAI has no obvious negative effects on cognition and behavior in PD. This treatment even shows promise in reducing certain symptoms such as neuropsychiatric fluctuations. However, due to methodological limitations in many studies, no robust conclusions can be drawn. Further multicenter controlled trials are needed to confirm these results.
Neuropsychological assessment is a mandatory part of the pre- and post-operative evaluation in pediatric epilepsy surgery. The neuropsychology task force of the ILAE - French Chapter aims to define a neuropsychological procedure consensus based on literature review and adapted for French practice. They performed a systematic review of the literature published between 1950 and 2023 on cognitive evaluation of individuals undergoing presurgical work-up and post-surgery follow-up and focused on the pediatric population aged 6–16. They classified publications listed in the PubMed database according to their level of scientific evidence. The systematic literature review revealed no study with high statistical power and only four studies using neuropsychological scales in their French version. Afterwards, the experts defined a neuropsychological consensus strategy in pediatric epilepsy surgery according to the psychometric determinants of cognitive tests, specificity of epilepsy, surgery context, French culture and literature reports. A common French neuropsychological procedure dedicated to pediatric epilepsy surgery is now available. This procedure could serve as a guide for the pre- and post-surgical work-up in French centers with pediatric epilepsy surgery programs. The main goal is to anticipate the functional risks of surgery, to support the postoperative outcome beyond the seizure-related one, while taking into consideration the plasticity and vulnerability of the immature brain and allowing the possibility of collaborative studies.
Synucleopathies, specifically Parkinson's disease, are still incurable and available therapeutic options are scarce and symptomatic. The autophagy-lysosomal-endosomal system is an indigenous mechanism to manage the proteome. Excess/misfolded protein accumulation activates this system, which degrades the undesired proteins via lysosomes. Cells also eliminate these proteins by releasing them into the extracellular space via exosomes. However, the sutophagy-lysosomal-endosomal system becomes unfunctional in Parkinson's disease and there is accumulation and spread of pathogenic alpha-synuclein. Neuronal degeneration results Owing to pathogenic alpha-synuclein. Thus, the autophagy-lysosomal-endosomal system could be a promising target for neuroprotection. In the present review, we discuss the autophagy-lysosomal-endosomal system as an emerging target for the management of Parkinson's disease. Modulation of these targets associated with the autophagy-lysosomal-endosomal system can aid in clearing pathogenic alpha-synuclein and prevent the degeneration of neurons.
Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is present in a significant proportion of young patients with stroke of undetermined etiology, but is not always causal. Therefore, classifications (RoPE, PASCAL) have been developed to determine the probability that PFO is the stroke cause. However, the presence of an initial arterial occlusion as a prediction factor was not studied when these classifications were built. Our aim was to evaluate the presence of arterial occlusion in young patients with stroke of undetermined etiology with/without high-risk PFO.
From a prospectively-built monocentric database, we identified patients aged ≥ 18 to < 60-years with strokes of undetermined etiology and complete etiological work-up, including transesophageal echocardiography. We divided patients in two groups: (i) with high-risk PFO [i.e. PFO with large interatrial shunt (> 30 microbubbles) or associated with atrial septal aneurysm] and (ii) with low-risk/without PFO. We recorded the presence of arterial occlusion and large vessel occlusion (LVO) in the acute phase.
We included 96 patients; 55 (57%) had high-risk PFO. Their median age was 48 (40–52) years, and 28 (29%) were women. The percentages of patients with arterial occlusion and with LVO were lower in the high-risk PFO group than in the low-risk/without PFO group: 11 (20%) versus 19 (46%) (P = 0.008), and 5 (9%) versus 15 (37%) (P = 0.002), respectively. There was no difference in the median RoPE score between groups (P = 0.30).
The presence of LVO could represent a “red flag” of PFO causality in stroke of undetermined etiology, and could be implemented in future PFO-related stroke classifications.
Management of status epilepticus (SE) is focused on the early seizure termination. Refractory SE is an indication for sedation in patients with SE, but up to 75% of patients may be ventilated due to a neurological or respiratory failure. In patients requiring sedation, the clinical assessment is not sufficient to assess seizure control. Identifying those at risk of recurrent seizures could be useful to adapt their management. On the other hand, patients with low risk could benefit from an early withdrawal of sedation to avoid the impact of inappropriate sedation on outcome.
To determine the prevalence and the predictors of uncontrolled SE and its impact on outcome in patients with generalized convulsive SE (GCSE) requiring mechanical ventilation (MV).
We retrospectively included patients admitted to the intensive care unit with GCSE requiring MV. Uncontrolled SE was defined as persistent or recurrent seizures during sedation or within 24 hours following withdrawal. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to assess the associated factors.
Uncontrolled SE occurred in 37 out of 220 patients (17%). Persistent seizures at admission, higher SAPS II and central nervous system infection were associated with a higher risk of uncontrolled SE. Acute toxic or metabolic etiologies were associated with a decreased risk of uncontrolled SE. In a supplementary analysis, decrease of albumin blood levels was associated with uncontrolled SE. Uncontrolled SE was associated with a poor functional outcome and mortality at 90 days.
Seventeen percent of patients with a GCSE requiring MV suffered from uncontrolled SE. Etiology and persistent seizures at admission were the main predictors of uncontrolled SE. Patients with uncontrolled SE had a longer duration of sedation and MV, a poor functional outcome and a higher mortality. Further studies are required to determine the impact of continuous electroencephalogram monitoring on the clinical course.
While migraine, particularly migraine with aura, is a recognized risk factor for ischemic stroke, the association of migraine with silent brain infarction is a matter of debate, as studies on this topic have yielded conflicting results.
A systematic review of the literature was conducted of studies reporting migraine and silent brain infarction, assessed by magnetic resonance imaging, between January 1980 and April 2022, by consulting Medline and Embase databases. Studies with a control group were included in a meta-analysis of population-based studies. An exploratory meta-analysis of both population-based and clinical-based studies was further performed to test the association between migraine with aura and silent brain infarction.
A total of 2,408 articles were identified, among which 24 were included in the systematic review and 10 in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis of population-based studies showed no association of migraine with silent brain infarction (odds ratio (OR) = 1.32 [95% CI 0.92;1.90], P = 0.13) and migraine with aura with silent brain infarction (OR = 1.56 [0.74;3.30], P = 0.24). However, in the exploratory meta-analysis of population-based and clinical-based studies, migraine with aura was significantly associated with silent brain infarction (OR = 1.91 [1.02;3.59], P = 0.04) and to silent cerebellar infarcts (OR = 2.57 [1.01;6.56], P = 0.05).
In this updated systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based studies, migraine and migraine with aura were not associated with silent brain infarction.