Efficacy of safinamide on non-motor symptoms in a cohort of patients affected by idiopathic Parkinson\u2019s disease

The primary endpoint of this work was to evaluate the effect of safinamide on non-motor symptoms (NMS) in patients affected by idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) complicated by motor fluctuations. We retrospectively collected data from 20 subjects affected by idiopathic PD in treatment with L-dopa alone or in combination with dopamine agonists, who began to be treated with safinamide due to the occurrence of motor fluctuations. Secondary endpoints included SCales for Outcomes in Parkinson's disease (SCOPA) Motor Scale, cognitive assessment, the Hoehn and Yahr stage, Clinical Impression of Severity Index for Parkinson's Disease, Hospital Anxiety And Depression Scale, Physical and Mental Fatigue, Parkinson's disease Sleep Scale, Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-8 (PDQ-8) and EQ-5D. Each one of these scales/questionnaires was performed at baseline and T1. For efficacy analyses, continuous variables were treated with descriptive statistics, using mean and standard deviations. A non-parametric test (the Friedman test) was carried out to evaluate the statistical significance of the results observed. We found a statistically significant reduction of the total score of NMS, of 6 domains out of 9, and 13 items out of 30. A statistically significant reduction of SCOPA Motor Scale, PDQ-8, and CISI was also detected. In conclusion, our data showed a positive effect of safinamide on NMS and confirm its positive effect on motor symptomatology.The primary endpoint of this work was to evaluate the effect of safinamide on non-motor symptoms (NMS) in patients affected by idiopathic Parkinson\u2019s disease (PD) complicated by motor fluctuations. We retrospectively collected data from 20 subjects affected by idiopathic PD in treatment with l-dopa alone or in combination with dopamine agonists, who began to be treated with safinamide due to the occurrence of motor fluctuations. Secondary endpoints included SCales for Outcomes in Parkinson\u2019s disease (SCOPA) Motor Scale, cognitive assessment, the Hoehn and Yahr stage, Clinical Impression of Severity Index for Parkinson\u2019s Disease, Hospital Anxiety And Depression Scale, Physical and Mental Fatigue, Parkinson\u2019s disease Sleep Scale, Parkinson\u2019s Disease Questionnaire-8 (PDQ-8) and EQ-5D. Each one of these scales/questionnaires was performed at baseline and T1. For efficacy analyses, continuous variables were treated with descriptive statistics, using mean and standard deviations. A non-parametric test (the Friedman test) was carried out to evaluate the statistical significance of the results observed. We found a statistically significant reduction of the total score of NMS, of 6 domains out of 9, and 13 items out of 30. A statistically significant reduction of SCOPA Motor Scale, PDQ-8, and CISI was also detected. In conclusion, our data showed a positive effect of safinamide on NMS and confirm its positive effect on motor symptomatology

Fibular nerve neurotmesis secondary to knee trauma: A diagnosis requiring nerve ultrasound

Peripheral nerve trauma may be the result of contusion, laceration, mechanical damage by bone fragments, stretching and traction, or iatrogenic causes. In closed trauma, it is often challenging to detect the site, mechanism, and severity of nerve damage (Padua et al., 2012). Ultrasound (US) is a relatively new, but useful tool in the diagnosis of peripheral nerve disease, complementing the electrodiagnostic (EDx) evaluation (Beekman and Visser, 2003). One of its most important contributions is the ability to differentiate axonotmesis from neurotmesis soon after acute injury, providing detailed information useful for surgery (Padua et al., 2012)

Supplementary Material for: Lack of Any Cardiac Involvement in a Patient with Andersen-Tawil Syndrome Associated with the c.574A→G Mutation in <i>KCNJ2</i>

The Andersen-Tawil syndrome (ATS) is characterized by hypo-normokaliemic muscle periodic paralysis, dysmorphic features and ventricular arrhythmias. Most cases are caused by mutations in <i>KCNJ2,</i> encoding for the potassium inwardly rectifying channel, Kir2.1 (ATS1). Although <i>KCNJ2</i> mutations show no obvious genotype-phenotype correlations and incomplete penetrance, signs of cardiac involvement are usually present in most ATS1 cases. In contrast, here we describe an Italian ATS1 patient, carrying a c.574A→G mutation in <i>KCNJ2,</i> who had both facial dysmorphisms and muscle periodic paralysis but who did not manifest any cardiac involvement, although the same mutation was originally described in a Japanese kindred, in which all affected individuals manifested a severe cardiac phenotype