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Paper of the Month

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Paper of the month: Primary progressive multiple sclerosis still lacks effective treatment: no benefit from fingolimod.

April 1, 2016

or April 2016 we have selected: Lublin F, Miller DH, Freedman MS, et al., on behalf of the INFORMS study investigators. Oral fingolimod in primary progressive multiple sclerosis (INFORMS): a phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet Neurol, 27 Jan 2016; pii: S0140-6736(15)01314-8. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01314-8. Primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) represents around 10-15% of the clinical forms of MS. Several characteristics differentiate PPMS from the relapse-onset MS, the classical more frequent form: older age at onset, equal prevalence between sexes, less inflammatory component at the MRI, and quicker progression of disability.
Paper of the Month
Paper of the month: Untreated cerebral cavernous malformations and risk of intracranial hemorrhage

March 1, 2016

For March 2016 we have selected: Horne MA, Flemming KD, Su I-C, et al., and the Cerebral Cavernous Malformation Individual Patients Data Meta-analysis Collaborators. Clinical course of untreated cerebral cavernous malformations: a meta-analysis of individual patient data. Lancet Neurol 2016;15:166-173. The incidental finding of cerebral cavernous malformation (CCMs) in brain MRIs is relatively common (1/650 neurologically asymptomatic people, a prevalence second only to cerebral aneurysm).
Paper of the Month
Paper of the month: Efficacy and safety of andexanet to reverse factor Xa inhibitors activity.

February 1, 2016

For February 2016 we have selected: Siegal DM, Curnutte JT, Connolly SJ, et al. Andexanet alfa for the reversal of factor Xa inhibitor activity. N Engl J Med 2015;33:2413-2424. There is an increased use of direct factor Xa inhibitors (like apixaban, rivaroxaban, and edoxaban) to prevent stroke in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation since these medications have several advantages compared to vitamin K antagonists.
Paper of the Month
Paper of the month: Effects of statin plus vitamin D on migraine prevention

January 1, 2016

For January 2016 we have selected: Buettner C, Rony-Reuven N, Bernstein C, et al. Simvastatin and vitamin D for migraine prevention: A randomized, controlled trial. Ann Neurol 2015 Sept 29;doi: 10.1002/ana.24534. Migraine is a worldwide primary headache disorder that can be highly disabling and with an important impact on quality of life. Migraine has been linked to an increased risk for vascular diseases by sharing the same ethiopathogenesis, related to alterations mediated by the endothelium.
Paper of the Month
Paper of the month: Smoke impact on multiple sclerosis prognosis

December 1, 2015

For December 2015 we have selected: Ramanujam R, Hedstrom A-K, Manouchehrinia A, et al. Effect of smoking cessation on multiple sclerosis prognosis. JAMA Neurol 2015; 72(10):1117-1123. The usual course of multiple sclerosis (MS) is characterized by the conversion to secondary progressive disease within about 20 years from the first attack. Great efforts are currently made to modify the disease progression with the use of aggressive and expensive medical treatments.
Paper of the Month
Paper of the month: The role of prophylactic antibiotics on reducing pneumonia in stroke patients with dysphagia

November 1, 2015

For November 2015, we have selected: Kalra L, Irshad J, Simpson J, et al., on behalf of the STROKE-INF Investigators. Prophylactic antibiotics after acute stroke for reducing pneumonia in patients with dysphagia (STROKE-INF): a prospective, cluster-randomised, open-label, masked endpoint, controlled trial. Lancet Neurology 2015; September 4. Dysphagia is common after a stroke, and associated with an increased risk of pneumonia and mortality. However, the use of antibiotics to prevent post-stroke pneumonia has been controversial.
Paper of the Month
Paper of the Month: Proteinopathies and prions: A common mechanism for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease

October 1, 2015

For October 2015, we have selected: M. Goedert. Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease: The prion concept in relation to assembled Aβ, tau, and α-synuclein. Science 2015;349(6248):1255555. Doi: 10.1126/science.12555550. In this review of Michel Goedert, the pathophysiology of the two most frequent neurodegenerative disorders, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD), is unified in a common process that shares the prion-like spreading of abnormal protein assemblages inside the brain.
Paper of the Month
Paper of the Month: Classifying diffuse lower-grade gliomas with genomewide analysis

September 1, 2015

For September 2015 we have selected: The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network. Comprehensive, integrative genomic analysis of diffuse lower-grade gliomas. N Engl J Med 2015;372:2481-2498. There are currently several limitations with the histopathological classification of lower-grade gliomas, mainly related to high interobserver variability and insufficient prediction of clinical outcome.
Paper of the Month
Paper of the Month: Preventing cognitive decline in at-risk elderly people: a randomised controlled trial

August 1, 2015

For August 2015, we have selected: Ngandu T, Lehtisalo J, Solomon A, et al. A 2-year multidomain intervention of diet, exercise, cognitive training, and vascular risk monitoring versus control to prevent cognitive decline in at-risk elderly people (FINGER): a randomized controlled trial. The Lancet Neurology 2015;385:2255-2263. The progressive aging of the world population and the related increased number of people with neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer disease (AD) and other dementias, urge to find new and effective prevention strategies.
Paper of the Month
Paper of the Month: Lumboperitoneal shunt surgery for idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus

July 1, 2015

For July 2015, we have selected: Kazui H, Miyajima M, Mori E, Ishikawa M, for the SINPHONI-2 Investigators. Lumboperitoneal shunt surgery for idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (SINPHONI-2): an open-label randomized trial. Lancet Neurology 2015;14:585-594. The decision to refer patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) for surgery can be challenging for the neurologist, especially due to the lack of high-level evidence supporting the beneficial use of CSF shunts.
Paper of the Month
Paper of the month: Diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis using transcranial magnetic stimulation

June 1, 2015

For June 2015 we have selected: Menon P, Geevasinga N, Yannikas C, Howells J, Kiernan MC, Vucic S. Sensitivity and specificity of threshold tracking transcranial magnetic stimulation for diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a prospective study. Lancet Neurology 2015;14:478-484. The early diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and its atypical phenotypes may be particularly challenging.
Paper of the Month
Paper of the month: Treatment of extracranial cervical artery dissection

May 1, 2015

For May 2015 we have selected: The CADISS trial investigators. Antiplatelet treatment compared with anticoagulation treatment for cervical artery dissection (CADISS): a randomized trial. Lancet Neurology 2015;14:361-367. The treatment of extracranial carotid and vertebral artery dissection is still empirical. There is not enough data currently supporting the efficacy of antiplatelet or anticoagulant treatment to prevent a secondary cerebral ischemic event, estimated around 15-20% in some observational studies.
Executive Page Paper of the Month
The paper of the month: introducing a new feature of Neuropenews

April 1, 2015

The wealth of scientific information is increasing and there are many ways to cope with this. Some of us are screening the most important journals for interesting papers as their way to keep up to date with the news in the field. Most of them give up after some time. Others restrict this to reading their specialty journals only or leave it to specific questions which they have to solve.
Paper of the Month
Paper of the month: Treating intracerebral hemorrhage in patients with anticoagulants

April 1, 2015

We are very excited to start The Paper of the Month new heading with this Neuropenews issue of April. The main purpose of this new column is to provide our readers with some hints about the most relevant papers published over the last months in the neurology field. For March 2015 we have selected: Kuramatsu JB, Gerner ST, Schellinger PD, et al. Anticoagulant reversal, blood pressure levels, and anticoagulant resumption in patients with anticoagulation-related intracerebral hemorrhage. JAMA 2015;313:824-836.

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