Dengue fever is endemic in tropical/sub-tropical areas of the orld and the global incidence is in... more Dengue fever is endemic in tropical/sub-tropical areas of the orld and the global incidence is increasing. It is an infective isorder caused by one of the 4 serotypes of Dengue virus (famly Flaviviridae), transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes. t is characterised by a wide spectrum of clinical manifestaions, ranging from asymptomatic infection to life-threatening engue haemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome, which ncludes overt central neurological dysfunction, with encephalitis nd seizures. Here we report a case of dengue encephalitis with n unusual clinical manifestation: a nonconvulsive status epilepicus (NCSE). To our knowledge, the association between dengue ncephalitis and NCSE has not been previously described. Our bservation shows that sometimes the early manifestations of the nfection could be mild and subtle, also in the case of direct CNS nvolvement, making diagnosis very challenging.
Objective To assess whether dual transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may enhance the e... more Objective To assess whether dual transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may enhance the efficacy of exoskeleton robotic training on upper limb motor functions in patients with chronic stroke. Methods A prospective, bi-center, double-blind, randomized clinical trial study was performed. Patients with moderate-to-severe stroke (according to The National Institute of Health Stroke Scale) were randomly assigned to receive dual or sham tDCS immediately before robotic therapy (10 sessions, 2 weeks). The primary outcome was the Fugl–Meyer for Upper Extremity, assessed before, after, and at the 12-week follow-up. Neurophysiological evaluation of corticospinal projections to upper limb muscles was performed by recording motor evoked potentials (MEPs). ClinicalTrials.gov-NCT03026712. Results Two hundred and sixty individuals were tested for eligibility, of which 80 were enrolled and agreed to participate. Excluding 14 dropouts, 66 patients were randomly assigned into the 2 groups. Res...
IntroductionThe mechanisms subtending the increased stroke risk in migraine with aura (MA) are no... more IntroductionThe mechanisms subtending the increased stroke risk in migraine with aura (MA) are not fully understood. Our study aims to evaluate if the clinical profile in stroke patients with MA differentiates from those without MA.MethodsWe retrieved the prospective registered electronic clinical dossiers of adult patients younger than 60 years with acute ischemic stroke admitted in four hospitals between January 2016 and June 2022. Patients were classified by the history of MA (MA+ and MA–).ResultsWe identified 851 stroke patients (59 MA+, 6.9%). Compared to MA−, MA+ patients were characterized by younger age (44.0 ± 10.6 vs 50.1 ± 8.2 years), female sex (59.3% vs 29.0%), and affected by cryptogenic (OR 2.594 95% CI 1.483–4.537), and cerebellar stroke (OR 3.218 95% CI 1.657–6.250; p ≤ 0.001 for all comparisons). After adjusting for age and sex, MA+ patients presented less frequently hypertension (OR 0.349 95% CI 0.167–0.470; p=0.005) and dyslipidemia (OR 0.523 95% CI 0.280–0.974; ...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
The identification of patients who can benefit the most from the available preventive treatments ... more The identification of patients who can benefit the most from the available preventive treatments is important in chronic migraine. We explored the rate of excellent responders to onabotulinumtoxinA in a multicenter European study and explored the predictors of such response, according to different definitions. A pooled analysis on chronic migraineurs treated with onabotulinumtoxinA and followed-up for, at least, 9 months was performed. Excellent responders were defined either as patients with a ≥75% decrease in monthly headache days (percent-based excellent responders) or as patients with <4 monthly headache days (frequency-based excellent responders). The characteristics of excellent responders at the baseline were compared with the ones of patients with a <30% decrease in monthly headache days. Percent-based excellent responders represented about 10% of the sample, whilst frequency-based excellent responders were about 5% of the sample. Compared with non-responders, percent-...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Background: Migraine with aura (MA) patients present an increased risk of cerebrovascular events.... more Background: Migraine with aura (MA) patients present an increased risk of cerebrovascular events. However, whether these patients present an increased white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) load compared to the general population is still under debate. Our study aimed to evaluate the relationship between cerebral hemodynamics, right-to-left shunt (RLS) and WMHs in MA patients, young patients with cryptogenic stroke or motor transient ischemic attack (TIA) and controls. Methods: We enrolled 30 MA patients, 20 young (<60 years) patients with cryptogenic stroke/motor TIA, and 10 controls. All the subjects underwent a transcranial Doppler bubble test to detect RLS and cerebral hemodynamics assessed by the breath holding index (BHI) for the middle (MCA) and posterior (PCA) cerebral arteries. Vascular risk factors were collected. The WMHs load on FLAIR MRI sequences was quantitatively assessed. Results: The stroke/TIA patients presented a higher prevalence of RLS (100%) compared with the...
Migraineurs show impaired cognitive functions interictally, mainly involving information processi... more Migraineurs show impaired cognitive functions interictally, mainly involving information processing speed, basic attention, and executive functions. We aimed to assess executive impairment in migraine patients with different attack frequencies through a task-switching protocol designed to assess different sub-processes of executive functioning. We enrolled 42 migraine patients and divided them into three groups based on the attack frequency: 13 subjects had episodic migraine with a low frequency (LFEM, 4–7 migraine days per month), 14 subjects had high-frequency episodic migraine (HFEM, 8–14 days) and, finally, 15 subjects presented chronic migraine (≥ 15 headache days/month, CM); we compared them to 20 healthy control (HC), matched to both gender and education. Patients with high headache frequencies (CM and HFEM) showed worse performance than LFEM and HC controls, as indicated by poor accuracy, increased switch cost, and reaction times. Our study demonstrated a difference in task-switching abilities in patients with high frequency or chronic migraine compared with low-frequency episodic migraine and healthy controls. These difficulties in executive control processes could be related to altered functioning of the frontal cortex and its cortical and subcortical connections.
BackgroundMost patients treated with erenumab in clinical practice have chronic migraine (CM). We... more BackgroundMost patients treated with erenumab in clinical practice have chronic migraine (CM). We assessed the rate and possible predictors of conversion from CM to episodic migraine (EM) in a real-life study.Main bodyWe performed a subgroup analysis of patients treated with erenumab from January 2019 to February 2020 in the Abruzzo region, central Italy. Treatment was provided according to current clinical practice. For the purpose of the present study, we included patients fulfilling the definition of CM for the three months preceding erenumab treatment and with at least 6 months of follow-up after treatment. We assessed the rate of conversion to EM from baseline to Months 4–6 of treatment and during each month of treatment. To test the clinical validity of conversion to EM, we also assessed the decrease in monthly headache days (MHDs), acute medication days, and median headache intensity on a Numerical Rating Scale (NRS). We included in our study 91 patients with CM. At Months 4–...
Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-wso-10.1177_17474930211068655 for Cerebral hemodynamic effects o... more Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-wso-10.1177_17474930211068655 for Cerebral hemodynamic effects of early blood pressure lowering after TIA and stroke in patients with carotid stenosis by Sara Mazzucco, Linxin Li, Iain J McGurgan, Maria Assuncao Tuna, Nicoletta Brunelli, Lucy E Binney and Peter M Rothwell in International Journal of Stroke
Dengue fever is endemic in tropical/sub-tropical areas of the orld and the global incidence is in... more Dengue fever is endemic in tropical/sub-tropical areas of the orld and the global incidence is increasing. It is an infective isorder caused by one of the 4 serotypes of Dengue virus (famly Flaviviridae), transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes. t is characterised by a wide spectrum of clinical manifestaions, ranging from asymptomatic infection to life-threatening engue haemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome, which ncludes overt central neurological dysfunction, with encephalitis nd seizures. Here we report a case of dengue encephalitis with n unusual clinical manifestation: a nonconvulsive status epilepicus (NCSE). To our knowledge, the association between dengue ncephalitis and NCSE has not been previously described. Our bservation shows that sometimes the early manifestations of the nfection could be mild and subtle, also in the case of direct CNS nvolvement, making diagnosis very challenging.
Objective To assess whether dual transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may enhance the e... more Objective To assess whether dual transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may enhance the efficacy of exoskeleton robotic training on upper limb motor functions in patients with chronic stroke. Methods A prospective, bi-center, double-blind, randomized clinical trial study was performed. Patients with moderate-to-severe stroke (according to The National Institute of Health Stroke Scale) were randomly assigned to receive dual or sham tDCS immediately before robotic therapy (10 sessions, 2 weeks). The primary outcome was the Fugl–Meyer for Upper Extremity, assessed before, after, and at the 12-week follow-up. Neurophysiological evaluation of corticospinal projections to upper limb muscles was performed by recording motor evoked potentials (MEPs). ClinicalTrials.gov-NCT03026712. Results Two hundred and sixty individuals were tested for eligibility, of which 80 were enrolled and agreed to participate. Excluding 14 dropouts, 66 patients were randomly assigned into the 2 groups. Res...
IntroductionThe mechanisms subtending the increased stroke risk in migraine with aura (MA) are no... more IntroductionThe mechanisms subtending the increased stroke risk in migraine with aura (MA) are not fully understood. Our study aims to evaluate if the clinical profile in stroke patients with MA differentiates from those without MA.MethodsWe retrieved the prospective registered electronic clinical dossiers of adult patients younger than 60 years with acute ischemic stroke admitted in four hospitals between January 2016 and June 2022. Patients were classified by the history of MA (MA+ and MA–).ResultsWe identified 851 stroke patients (59 MA+, 6.9%). Compared to MA−, MA+ patients were characterized by younger age (44.0 ± 10.6 vs 50.1 ± 8.2 years), female sex (59.3% vs 29.0%), and affected by cryptogenic (OR 2.594 95% CI 1.483–4.537), and cerebellar stroke (OR 3.218 95% CI 1.657–6.250; p ≤ 0.001 for all comparisons). After adjusting for age and sex, MA+ patients presented less frequently hypertension (OR 0.349 95% CI 0.167–0.470; p=0.005) and dyslipidemia (OR 0.523 95% CI 0.280–0.974; ...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
The identification of patients who can benefit the most from the available preventive treatments ... more The identification of patients who can benefit the most from the available preventive treatments is important in chronic migraine. We explored the rate of excellent responders to onabotulinumtoxinA in a multicenter European study and explored the predictors of such response, according to different definitions. A pooled analysis on chronic migraineurs treated with onabotulinumtoxinA and followed-up for, at least, 9 months was performed. Excellent responders were defined either as patients with a ≥75% decrease in monthly headache days (percent-based excellent responders) or as patients with <4 monthly headache days (frequency-based excellent responders). The characteristics of excellent responders at the baseline were compared with the ones of patients with a <30% decrease in monthly headache days. Percent-based excellent responders represented about 10% of the sample, whilst frequency-based excellent responders were about 5% of the sample. Compared with non-responders, percent-...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Background: Migraine with aura (MA) patients present an increased risk of cerebrovascular events.... more Background: Migraine with aura (MA) patients present an increased risk of cerebrovascular events. However, whether these patients present an increased white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) load compared to the general population is still under debate. Our study aimed to evaluate the relationship between cerebral hemodynamics, right-to-left shunt (RLS) and WMHs in MA patients, young patients with cryptogenic stroke or motor transient ischemic attack (TIA) and controls. Methods: We enrolled 30 MA patients, 20 young (<60 years) patients with cryptogenic stroke/motor TIA, and 10 controls. All the subjects underwent a transcranial Doppler bubble test to detect RLS and cerebral hemodynamics assessed by the breath holding index (BHI) for the middle (MCA) and posterior (PCA) cerebral arteries. Vascular risk factors were collected. The WMHs load on FLAIR MRI sequences was quantitatively assessed. Results: The stroke/TIA patients presented a higher prevalence of RLS (100%) compared with the...
Migraineurs show impaired cognitive functions interictally, mainly involving information processi... more Migraineurs show impaired cognitive functions interictally, mainly involving information processing speed, basic attention, and executive functions. We aimed to assess executive impairment in migraine patients with different attack frequencies through a task-switching protocol designed to assess different sub-processes of executive functioning. We enrolled 42 migraine patients and divided them into three groups based on the attack frequency: 13 subjects had episodic migraine with a low frequency (LFEM, 4–7 migraine days per month), 14 subjects had high-frequency episodic migraine (HFEM, 8–14 days) and, finally, 15 subjects presented chronic migraine (≥ 15 headache days/month, CM); we compared them to 20 healthy control (HC), matched to both gender and education. Patients with high headache frequencies (CM and HFEM) showed worse performance than LFEM and HC controls, as indicated by poor accuracy, increased switch cost, and reaction times. Our study demonstrated a difference in task-switching abilities in patients with high frequency or chronic migraine compared with low-frequency episodic migraine and healthy controls. These difficulties in executive control processes could be related to altered functioning of the frontal cortex and its cortical and subcortical connections.
BackgroundMost patients treated with erenumab in clinical practice have chronic migraine (CM). We... more BackgroundMost patients treated with erenumab in clinical practice have chronic migraine (CM). We assessed the rate and possible predictors of conversion from CM to episodic migraine (EM) in a real-life study.Main bodyWe performed a subgroup analysis of patients treated with erenumab from January 2019 to February 2020 in the Abruzzo region, central Italy. Treatment was provided according to current clinical practice. For the purpose of the present study, we included patients fulfilling the definition of CM for the three months preceding erenumab treatment and with at least 6 months of follow-up after treatment. We assessed the rate of conversion to EM from baseline to Months 4–6 of treatment and during each month of treatment. To test the clinical validity of conversion to EM, we also assessed the decrease in monthly headache days (MHDs), acute medication days, and median headache intensity on a Numerical Rating Scale (NRS). We included in our study 91 patients with CM. At Months 4–...
Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-wso-10.1177_17474930211068655 for Cerebral hemodynamic effects o... more Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-wso-10.1177_17474930211068655 for Cerebral hemodynamic effects of early blood pressure lowering after TIA and stroke in patients with carotid stenosis by Sara Mazzucco, Linxin Li, Iain J McGurgan, Maria Assuncao Tuna, Nicoletta Brunelli, Lucy E Binney and Peter M Rothwell in International Journal of Stroke
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