Articles related to MOVEMENT DISORDERS

This 10-year study is the first large, population-based assessment of spasticity treatment in MS. It reveals that younger, newly diagnosed people are prescribed baclofen more their older peers. This is the first study to show high rates of baclofen discontinuation among all patients with MS, with more than 50% of patients discontinued treatment within 6 months.

The authors in this paper wanted to determine if, on the basis of basic clinical criteria, the stiff limb syndrome can be distinguished from the stiff man syndrome and progressive encephalomyelitis with rigidity, and whether this distinction has any bearing on the condition’s origin, course of treatment, or prognosis.

Relapsing MS treatment remains difficult, and new therapeutic targets have been investigated. S1P, a bioactive lysophospholipid signaling molecule present in several organs, including the central nervous system, is one such target. S1P plays a role in a variety of physiologic and pathophysiologic processes. S1P levels have been linked to disease progression in the brain parenchyma and cerebrospinal fluid of MS patients. There are 5 recognized S1PR subtypes, and depending on the receptor being targeted, their expression patterns and outcomes change. S1PRMs are a more recent class of RMS treatments, and the FDA has currently approved 4 of these treatments: fingolimod, siponimod, ozanimod, and ponesimod.

Test your clinical knowledge on JB, a right-handed, 35-year-old patient with a history of generalized anxiety disorder, who came into the clinic to be evaluated and managed for atypical movements that started in adolescence. JB frequently exhibits quick shoulder shrugs, abrupt head movements to the right, and throat clearing during the neurologic examination. Examination results for the cerebellum, motor, sensory, and reflexes are unremarkable.

With an emphasis on syndromes involving cell surface and synaptic proteins, the authors discuss major aspects of AE in this work. In addition, they also present a useful method for diagnosing and treating the condition, as well as potential mistakes related to nonspecific antibody results.

A single, unifying etiology for FMD is not yet known, and this article from Practical Neurology characterizes diagnosing the disorder as “a process involving a careful history and examination for positive signs to rule in the diagnosis, while considering the differential diagnoses of functional presentations.”