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Front Immunol 2022 2;13:887041. Epub 2022 May 2.

Department of Pediatrics, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune connective tissue disease (CTD), the main features of which are multiple serum autoantibodies and extensive involvement of multiple systems. The onset age of patients varies from childhood to middle age, with nearly 1/5 in childhood. Sjogren's syndrome (SS) is also an autoimmune disease characterized by high-degree lymphocytic infiltration of exocrine glands, usually occurring in middle-aged and older women, and rarely in childhood. Read More

Int J Emerg Med 2022 May 17;15(1):19. Epub 2022 May 17.

Department of Emergency Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan.

Background: A well-known anesthetic, lidocaine is the most widely used local anesthetic. Local anesthetic systemic toxicity (LAST) is a life-threatening event with common and prominent presentations of central nervous system (CNS) toxicity and cardiovascular toxicity. The most frequent and prominent early warning signs and symptoms of LAST are central nervous system symptoms. Read More

Front Oncol 2022 27;12:859157. Epub 2022 Apr 27.

Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.

Background: Hemangioblastoma (HB) is a rare and highly vascularized tumor that originates from the central nervous system as well as other part of the body. They can appear sporadically or as part of von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease, a rare hereditary cancer syndrome. Although surgery can cure the majority of HBs, the disease shows a treatment-refractory challenge upon recurrence. Read More

Int J Mol Sci 2022 Apr 25;23(9). Epub 2022 Apr 25.

Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung 833, Taiwan.

Neurogenic inflammation and central sensitization play a role in chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. We explore the molecular effects of low-intensity shock wave therapy (Li-ESWT) on central sensitization in a capsaicin-induced prostatitis rat model. Male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent intraprostatic capsaicin (10 mM, 0. Read More

Nervenarzt 2022 May 12. Epub 2022 May 12.

Klinik für Neurologie und Experimentelle Neurologie, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200, Berlin, Deutschland.

Numerous diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), especially in the postacute phase after an infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been described. These include neuroimmunologically mediated diseases, such as encephalopathy, encephalitis, myelitis, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), acute necrotizing hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis (ANHLE) and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) as well as others, such as posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES), opsoclonus myoclonus ataxia (OMA) and cerebrovascular diseases. A parainfectious or postinfectious association is discussed but the pathophysiological mechanisms are so far unknown. Read More

J Spinal Cord Med 2022 May 9:1-10. Epub 2022 May 9.

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, California, USA.

Objectives: To evaluate the clinical characteristics, hospital courses, outcomes after hospitalization, and factors associated with outcomes in patients with nontraumatic spinal cord injuries (NTSCI).

Design: Retrospective analysis.

Setting: A large for-profit United States health care system. Read More

Cureus 2022 Apr 6;14(4):e23877. Epub 2022 Apr 6.

Department of Infectious Disease, Saint Peter's University Hospital, New Brunswick, USA.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) includes an extensive spectrum of clinical manifestations of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Previous studies have shown that SARS-CoV-2 often exhibits central nervous system (CNS) manifestations, including encephalitis, meningitis, and spinal cord pathologies. To date, few cases of COVID-19-associated transverse myelitis (TM) have been described. Read More

Injury 2022 Apr 20. Epub 2022 Apr 20.

Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama City, Japan.

Purpose: To assess the complications and mortality in elderly individuals with cervical spine injuries.

Methods: This retrospective observational study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in a rural area in Japan. Data sets from the trauma registry (January 2011 to March 2018) were analyzed. Read More

CNS Drugs 2022 May 5;36(5):483-516. Epub 2022 May 5.

Department of Anesthesiology, Washington University School of Medicine, Campus Box 8054, St Louis, MO, 63110, USA.

Central neuropathic pain is caused by a disease or lesion of the brain or spinal cord. It is difficult to predict which patients will develop central pain syndromes after a central nervous system injury, but depending on the etiology, lifetime prevalence may be greater than 50%. The resulting pain is often highly distressing and difficult to treat, with no specific treatment guidelines currently available. Read More

Pract Neurol 2022 May 2. Epub 2022 May 2.

Department of Neurology, Gosford Hospital, Gosford, New South Wales, Australia.

Fibrocartilaginous embolism is a rarely reported cause of spinal cord infarction. Seemingly innocuous activities may be associated with nucleus pulposus material embolising to the spinal cord vasculature. We describe a 36-year-old woman presenting with bilateral arm paraesthesia and chest pain that evolved into an acute cord syndrome. Read More

Front Mol Neurosci 2022 13;15:860410. Epub 2022 Apr 13.

Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a neurotropic flavivirus recently linked to congenital ZIKV syndrome in children and encephalitis and Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults. Neurotropic viruses often use axons to traffic to neuronal or glial cell somas where they either remain latent or replicate and proceed to infect new cells. Consequently, it has been suggested that axon degeneration could represent an evolutionarily conserved mechanism to limit viral spread. Read More

Neurology 2022 Apr 29. Epub 2022 Apr 29.

Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, London Health Sciences Centre, Schulich Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.

A 40-year-old woman was admitted for six months of progressive gait disturbance, lower limb-predominant weakness, stiffness, falls, jaw dystonia, horizontal diplopia, and weight loss. Neurological examination revealed horizontal gaze paresis, limited jaw opening with palpable masseter hypertrophy, and spastic paraparesis with sustained clonus and upgoing plantar responses. MRI revealed T2-hyperintense signal abnormalities in dorsal pons, medulla and upper cervical cord central grey matter extending to C3, without gadolinium enhancement. Read More

Cureus 2022 Mar 22;14(3):e23405. Epub 2022 Mar 22.

Pediatric Neurology, Nemours Children's Hospital, Wilmington, USA.

Viral infections can serve as a trigger for variable autoimmune, antibody-mediated demyelinating disorders. There is accumulating evidence that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and responsible for the current worldwide pandemic, can lead to a cascade of immune-mediated brain and spinal cord demyelinating injuries. However, such observation in the pediatric age group was only reported in very few patients. Read More

Pediatr Emerg Care 2022 Apr 13. Epub 2022 Apr 13.

Abstract: Although spinal ligamentous injuries and extra-axial hemorrhages are known to commonly accompany abusive head trauma (AHT), symptomatic and radiological apparent cervical spinal cord injuries are rare. Of the 16 previously reported cases, 3 such cord injuries lacked the accompanying intracranial injuries of AHT. We report an additional child who developed symptomatic central cervical cord syndrome, with accompanying cervical imaging findings, but no intracranial AHT injuries. Read More

Front Immunol 2022 21;13:808131. Epub 2022 Mar 21.

Department of Neurology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.

Autoantibodies to metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) are known to be the cause of autoimmune encephalitis, particularly limbic encephalitis, closely related to Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). The involvement of peripheral neuropathy is rarely reported. In our case, mGluR5 antibody was found in a Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) patient accompanied by severe headache but without neuropsychiatric manifestations or HL. Read More

Am J Case Rep 2022 Apr 6;23:e935781. Epub 2022 Apr 6.

3rd Department of Orthopedics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, KAT General Hospital, Athens, Greece.

BACKGROUND Scapulothoracic dissociation (SD) is caused by a high-energy trauma that results in disruption of the scapulothoracic articulation, scapula and clavicular fracture, and severe neurovascular injury. This report describes 2 cases of traumatic SD with a range of features and approaches to management, a 26-year-old woman injured in a car accident and a 52-year-old woman injured while cycling. CASE REPORT Case 1. Read More

J Int Med Res 2022 Mar;50(3):3000605221083248

Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Fukui, Japan.

We report the immediate improvement of weakened muscles after combined treatment with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and peripheral electrical stimulation (PES) in a patient with acute central cord syndrome (CCS) who presented with severe upper limb motor dysfunction. A 70-year-old man sustained CCS with severe motor deficits in the left upper limb, which did not improve with conventional training until 6 days after injury. On the seventh day after the injury, the left upper limb was targeted with combined tDCS (1 mA for 20 minutes/day, anode on the right, cathode on the left) and PES (deltoid and wrist extensors, 20 minutes/day at the motor threshold), and his performance score immediately improved from 0 to 6 on the Box and Block test. Read More

Case Rep Neurol 2022 Jan-Apr;14(1):31-37. Epub 2022 Feb 7.

Department of Radiology, Vaasa Central Hospital, Vaasa, Finland.

When used appropriately, buprenorphine and oxycodone are safe drugs. They are, however, widely abused in combination with other drugs. Here we describe a case series of 8 patients with cervical myelopathy and rhabdomyolysis of the adjacent deep neck muscles after using an opioid in combination with other drugs. Read More

Cureus 2022 Feb 20;14(2):e22419. Epub 2022 Feb 20.

Pain Management, Paolo Procacci Foundation, Rome, ITA.

Neuropathic pain is defined as a painful condition caused by neurological lesions or diseases. Sometimes, neurological disorders may also be associated with neuropathic pain, which can be challenging to manage. For example, multiple sclerosis (MS) may cause chronic centralized painful symptoms due to nerve damage. Read More

Mult Scler Relat Disord 2022 Mar 11;61:103733. Epub 2022 Mar 11.

Department of neurosciences, University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Electronic address:

Background: Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorders (NMOSD) are a group of inflammatory diseases of the Central Nervous System (CNS) that primarily affect the optic nerve and spinal cord, usually with a severe and relapsing course. Due to the scarce information in non-Caucasian populations, we aimed to describe incidence, prevalence, and main clinical characteristics of NMOSD in a defined region in Mexico.

Materials And Methods: Descriptive, retrospective analysis of all reported cases of NMOSD attended in the neurology department of the UMAE-HE, CMNO, IMSS, the biggest third level hospital in Western Mexico. Read More

Balkan Med J 2022 Mar;39(1):130-139

Department of Pediatrics, General Hospital of Central Theater Command of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Wuhan, China.

Background: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a severe disorder that is related to a high mortality. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have shown strong effects in relieving lung injury.

Aims: To determine the role of umbilical cord-derived MSCs (UC-MSCs) together with surfactant protein B (SP-B) in ARDS. Read More

Neurol Int 2022 Mar 17;14(1):284-293. Epub 2022 Mar 17.

Neurology Service, Hospital Nacional Rosales, San Salvador 1101, El Salvador.

Here, a study of NMOSD in Central America and the Caribbean with a multinational collaborative, multicentric and descriptive approach involving 25 institutions from 9 countries is presented. Demographics, clinical manifestations, expanded disability scale status (EDSS), brain and spinal cord MRI, serological anti-AQP4-IgG and anti-MOG-IgG antibodies, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) oligoclonal bands were included. A central serological repository utilized the cell-based assay. Read More

Handchir Mikrochir Plast Chir 2022 Apr 22;54(2):131-138. Epub 2022 Mar 22.

Orthopädisches Spital Speising GmbH; 1. und Kinderabteilung.

Introduction: Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS), based on central nerve stimulation (Spinal Cord Stimulation - SCS), has proven to be a suitable therapy option for the treatment of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), especially in the area of the upper extremities. However, the evidence on PNS in the current literature is very scarce.

Material And Methods: 11 patients suffering from CRPS 2 were selected for implantation of a peripheral nerve stimulation system according to strict selection criteria. Read More

Spinal Cord 2022 Apr 19;60(4):368-374. Epub 2022 Mar 19.

Neurosurgery and Spine Program, Hospital Beneficente São Carlos, Farroupilha, RS, Brazil.

Study Design: Cross-sectional.

Objectives: To evaluate current practice of Latin American spine surgeons regarding surgical timing in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI) and to identify potential barriers for early surgery.

Setting: Web-based. Read More

Biomed Pharmacother 2022 May 15;149:112811. Epub 2022 Mar 15.

The Second Clinical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510120, China; State Key Laboratory of Dampness Syndrome of Chinese Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510120, China; Collaborative Innovation Team of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Prevention and Treatment of Functional Gastrointestinal Diseases, Guangzhou 510120, China; Dongguan Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Dongguan 523000, China. Electronic address:

The brain-gut-microbiota (BGM) axis is known to be essential for diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D). In order to evaluate the effects of IBS-D rat models (the central sensitization model, the peripheral sensitization model and the compound model) on the BGM axis, five models were induced in Wistar rats with 4% acetic acid (AD, dissolved 0.4 ml of AD in 9. Read More

World Neurosurg 2022 Mar 12. Epub 2022 Mar 12.

Department of Orthopaedics, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Electronic address:

Objective: To explore the sagittal radiological parameters related to clinical recovery of patients with acute traumatic central cord syndrome (ATCCS) and determine the diagnostic value of related variables.

Methods: A retrospective review was performed of 104 patients with ATCCS. Six cervical sagittal balance parameters were collected: Cobb angle, T1 slope, neck tilt, thoracic inlet angle (TIA), C2-C7 sagittal vertex axis, T1 slope - C2-C7 Cobb angle. Read More

Ann Rehabil Med 2022 Feb 28;46(1):24-32. Epub 2022 Feb 28.

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, National Rehabilitation Center, Seoul, Korea.

Objective: To assess the validity of different anthropometric measures (waist circumference [WC], body mass index [BMI], and percentage body fat) in diagnosing metabolic syndrome (MetS) among individuals with SCI and provides preliminary data for future studies in setting obesity cutoff values for this population.

Methods: This was a single-center retrospective cohort study. Sample information, anthropometric measures, and MetS variables of 157 individuals with chronic SCI were collected from an electronic medical records database. Read More

Cureus 2022 Feb 3;14(2):e21886. Epub 2022 Feb 3.

Orthopedic Surgery, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, USA.

Osteopetrosis is a genetic illness defined by defective osteoclasts that are incapable of absorbing adequate amounts of bone. This exceedingly rare disorder has been linked to multiple genetic mutations that have a direct impact on osteoclast function. Osteopetrosis causes bones to become brittle with large amounts of cortical bone formation making patients susceptible to pathologic fractures, pancytopenia, and cranial neuropathies among other sequelae. Read More

Brain Nerve 2022 Mar;74(3):215-221

Department of Neurology, Saitama Medical University.

Recent brain imaging studies show that the regions comprising the central autonomic network (CAN) receive strong fiber connections from the cerebral cortex to the spinal cord and that the CAN comprehensively controls autonomic functions. Several autonomic function tests are available to investigate CAN function. A thorough knowledge of CAN is important to understand the pathogenesis of not only acute cerebrovascular and degenerative diseases but also postural orthostatic tachycardia with mental vulnerability and some psychiatric disorders. Read More

Microsurgery 2022 May 2;42(4):352-359. Epub 2022 Mar 2.

Center of Biological and Health Sciences, Department of Neurosurgery, University of South Santa Catarina (Unisul), Tubarão, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Background: Nerve transfers are increasingly used to restore upper extremity function in patients with spinal cord injury. However, the role of nerve transfers for central cord syndrome is still being established. The purpose of this study is to report the anatomical feasibility and clinical use of nerve transfer of supinator motor branches (NS) to restore finger extension in a central cord syndrome patient. Read More