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The Population Prevalence, Associations of Congenital Heart Defect and Mortality Risk for Down’s Syndrome in South Korea Based on National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) Data
Parkinson’s disease is a principal underlying disease of neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) occurring in parkinsonian disorders, but NMS may occur in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy and multiple system atrophy. We report first patient with corticobasal degeneration (CBD) who developed NMS after abrupt reduction of antiparkinsonian medication and concurrent infection. It should be kept in mind that the prevention of infectious illness, which is common complication in parkinson-plus syndrome, is important, and dose reduction or withdrawal of anti-parkinsonian medications should be carefully performed even in the patients with CBD who are expected to be unresponsive to levodopa treatment.
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We report a man who developed oculogyric crisis one month after disulfiram intoxication. Brain MRI showed lesions involving bilateral globus pallidus and left substantia nigra. In our patient, neuronal discharges from pathologically reorganized basal ganglia circuit to the mid-brain ocular motor center might lead to tonic deviation of the eyes.
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About two thirds of the patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA) do not respond to levodopa treatment. Postmortem pathological studies and one retrospective [18F]-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDGPET) study attributed such poor response to the striatal degeneration. We prospectively investigated the relationship between levodopa responsiveness and the metabolic activities of the striatum and cerebellum in MSA patients.
In 39 patients with MSA, the UPDRS motor score was assessed and two sets of timed motor tests were perform ed before and after the levodopa treatment. After quantitative FDG PET and baseline evaluation, treatment w as started with 3 tablets of Sinemet® 25/250 mg a day. Clinical assessments were performed monthly for three months. Metabolic activities of the caudate, anterior putamen, posterior putamen, cerebellar cortex and cerebellar vermis were measured. We compared the measurements with mean percentage changes of motor function. Also, using statistical parametric mapping (SPM) analysis, we tried to find brain areas in which metabolism correlated with the clinical changes.
Mean percentage improvements of UPDRS motor scores w ere correlated with glucose metabolism in the posterior putamen and cerebellar vermis. The mean percentage improvements of performance in Purdue peg board test correlated with the glucose metabolism in the cerebellar cortex and vermis. In SPM analysis, cerebellar glucose metabolism correlated with the improvement of UPDRS motor score and the performance of two timed motor tests.
The integrity of cerebellum, as well as posterior putamen, may be an important factor for showing the response to levodopa.
In Parkinson’s disease (PD), falls and subsequent physical injuries are frequent causes of morbidity and mortality. We investigated the characteristics of falls and physical injuries in Korean patients with PD.
This study included 239 patients with PD. Using the medical records and interviews, we studied the characteristics of fall and its consequences retrospectively.
Among the 239 patients with PD, 129 (54.0%) patients had a history of fall. The mean interval between the disease onset and the first fall was 15.3 months. Among them, 83 patients (64.3%) fell more than twice. Eighty-six patients (66.7%) had physical injuries and 21 patients (15.3%) had fractures including 7 with hip fracture and 7 with arm fracture. Patients with physical injuries fell earlier and repetitively. They tended to fall during the night, toward lateral or posterior direction, and were unable to make protective hand movements.
Elderly PD patients with long duration have a high risk of fall. To prevent the physical injuries, the clinicians should try to reduce the off time and advice the patients and caregivers to limit physical activities during the night.
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