Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria最新文献

Background:  Epilepsy surgery is recognized for its effectiveness in controlling seizures in a significant number of patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. Despite this, there remains a notable deficiency in referring these patients for video-electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring and surgical evaluation. Addressing this gap, the Canadian Appropriateness of Epilepsy Surgery (CASES), an online tool for epilepsy surgery evaluation (www.epilepsycases.com), was developed to aid physicians in the referral process of patients with refractory epilepsy to surgical assessments.

Objective:  The present study aimed to evaluate the utility of CASES in identifying candidates for epilepsy surgery, thereby facilitating clinical decision-making for patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.

Methods:  A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using the CASES platform to assess surgical candidacy among individuals with epilepsy. Participants were selected among those receiving care at the Epilepsy Clinic of the Neurology Service, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil, over a 3-month period. The study cohort included 211 patients. Data were systematically extracted from patient medical records or collected during clinical appointments.

Results:  Of the evaluated cohort, 59.6% were identified as potential candidates for video-EEG monitoring and subsequent surgical evaluation. Factors significantly associated with recommendations for video-EEG and surgical assessment included seizure frequency, the number of antiseizure medications (ASMs) trialed, and the occurrence of drug-related adverse effects.

Conclusion:  The CASES showed significant potential in guiding recommendations for video-EEG monitoring and facilitating referrals for epilepsy surgery. This tool may not only enhance patient treatments and outcomes but also contribute to cost savings in epilepsy management in both the short and long term.

Based on my work as a clinical neurologist with more than 50 years of experience in caring for patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), I focus, in this review article, on the disease's two fundamental aspects for the doctor: diagnosis and treatment. The 1984 diagnostic criteria had been stable for more than a quarter of a century when it was replaced in 2011. Since then, there have been many discoveries, especially of biomarkers that have a heavy impact on the diagnosis of AD. Recently, AD biomarkers have become available in plasma, which certainly will cause a major change in the diagnosis of biological AD, a term that still needs care and information to society before being used in clinical practice. Three monoclonal antibodies against β-amyloid peptide have also been recently approved, and two of these have shown a small but statistically significant effect on clinical outcome. These monoclonal antibodies have had a greater effect on the reduction of amyloid plaques in the brain assessed by positron emission tomography (PET), and on the concentration of biomarkers in the cerebrospinal fluid (β-amyloid peptide with 42 amino acids and hyperphosphorylated tau protein) than in the neuropsychological and functional assessments. Even this small clinical effect will be encouraging for the development of new research, particularly helped by the greater ease of diagnosis and monitoring of the evolution of AD pathophysiology with plasma biomarkers. Recently, new diagnostic criteria for AD were presented by the Alzheimer's Association, causing controversy about their use in clinical practice.