Astrocytoma in the Third Ventricle and Hypothalamus Presenting with Parkinsonism

Parkinsonism secondary to intracranial mass lesions usually results from compression or distortion of the basal ganglia. Secondary parkinsonism due to midbrain infiltration or compression is rare and generally associated with other neurologic signs caused by pyramidal tract and/or cranial nerve involvement. We report a case of 30-year-old woman in whom mild parkinsonism was the major clinical manifestation of an astrocytoma in the anterior third ventricle and hypothalamus. She underwent surgical resection, ventriculoperitoneal shunt and radiation therapy. All symptoms of parkinsonism were completely recovered 3 months after the treatment. Brain tumors can be manifested only by the symptoms of parkinsonism. This case emphasizes the significance of neuroimaging in the evaluation of parkinsonism

Korean Brain Rehabilitation Registry for Rehabilitation of Persons with Brain Disorders: Annual Report in 2009

This first annual report provides a description of patients discharged from rehabilitation facilities in Korea based on secondary data analysis of Korean Brain Rehabilitation Registry V1.0 subscribed in 2009. The analysis included 1,697 records of patients with brain disorders including stroke, traumatic brain injury, brain tumor and other disorders from 24 rehabilitation facilities across Korea. The data comprised 1,380 cases of stroke, 104 cases of brain injury, 55 cases of brain tumor, and 58 cases of other brain diseases. The functional status of each patient was measured using the Korean version of the Modified Barthel Index (KMBI). The average change in the KMBI score was 15.9 for all patients in the inpatient rehabilitation facility. The average length of stay for inpatient rehabilitation was 36.9 days. The transfer rates to other hospitals were high, being 62.4% when all patients were considered. Patients with brain disorders of Korea in 2009 and measurable functional improvement was observed in patients. However, relatively high percentages of patients were not discharged to the community after inpatient rehabilitation. Based on the results of this study, consecutive reports of the status of rehabilitation need to be conducted in order to provide useful information to many practitioners

Zebrafish as an animal model in epilepsy studies with multichannel EEG recordings

Despite recent interest in using zebrafish in human disease studies, sparked by their economics, fecundity, easy handling, and homologies to humans, the electrophysiological tools or methods for zebrafish are still inaccessible. Although zebrafish exhibit more significant larval-adult duality than any other animal, most electrophysiological studies using zebrafish are biased by using larvae these days. The results of larval studies not only differ from those conducted with adults but also are unable to delicately manage electroencephalographic montages due to their small size. Hence, we enabled noninvasive long-term multichannel electroencephalographic recording on adult zebrafish using customdesigned electrodes and perfusion system. First, we exploited demonstration of long-term recording on pentylenetetrazole-induced seizure models, and the results were quantified. Second, we studied skin- electrode impedance, which is crucial to the quality of signals. Then, seizure propagations and gender differences in adult zebrafish were exhibited for the first time. Our results provide a new pathway for future neuroscience research using zebrafish by overcoming the challenges for aquatic organisms such as precision, serviceability, and continuous water seepage. © The Author(s) 2017.1

Clinical Heterogeneity in Korean Patients with Nemaline Myopathy

PURPOSE: Nemaline myopathy (NM) is a clinical heterogeneous congenital myopathy characterized by the presence of subsarcolemmal or cytoplasmic rod-like structures that call nemaline bodies in the muscle fibers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical diversity and pathological features of Korean patients with NM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eight patients underwent analyses of clinical manifestations by a structured protocol. Diagnoses were established by a muscle biopsy. RESULTS: Two patients had the typical congenital type, which exhibited neonatal hypotonia and delayed motor milestone, and five patients had the childhood onset type, which exhibited mild gait disturbance as a first symptom. One patient had the adult onset type, which showed acute respiratory failure. Limb weakness was proximal-dominant occurred in six patients. Hyporeflexia was observed in most patients. Elongated faces and high arched palates and feet were also observed. On light microscopy, the nemaline bodies were observed in type 1 and 2 fibers. All patients showed type 1 predominance and atrophy. In the two cases in which ultrastructural studies were performed, typical nemaline rods and disorganized myofibrillar apparatus were detected. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the eight Korean patients in this study with NM shared common clinical expressions such as proximal limb weakness, reduced deep tendon reflex, and dysmorphic features. This study, however, showed that clinical heterogeneity ranged from typical congenital, mildly affected childhood to the adult onset form with acute respiratory failure. The pathological findings in this study were in accordance with those of other previous reports.ope

Prevalence of Anti-Ganglioside Antibodies and Their Clinical Correlates with Guillain-Barre Syndrome in Korea: A Nationwide Multicenter Study

Background and Purpose No previous studies have investigated the relationship between various anti-ganglioside antibodies and the clinical characteristics of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) in Korea. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and types of anti-ganglioside antibodies in Korean GBS patients, and to identify their clinical significance. Methods Serum was collected from patients during the acute phase of GBS at 20 university-based hospitals in Korea. The clinical and laboratory findings were reviewed and compared with the detected types of anti-ganglioside antibody. Results Among 119 patients, 60 were positive for immunoglobulin G (IgG) or immunoglobulin M antibodies against any type of ganglioside (50%). The most frequent type was IgG anti-GM1 antibody (47%), followed by IgG anti-GT1a (38%), IgG anti-GD1a (25%), and IgG anti-GQ1b (8%) antibodies. Anti-GM1-antibody positivity was strongly correlated with the presence of preceding gastrointestinal infection, absence of sensory symptoms or signs, and absence of cranial nerve involvement. Patients with anti-GD1a antibody were younger, predominantly male, and had more facial nerve involvement than the antibody-negative group. Anti-GT1a-antibody positivity was more frequently associated with bulbar weakness and was highly associated with ophthalmoplegia when coupled with the coexisting anti-GQ1b antibody. Despite the presence of clinical features of acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN), 68% of anti-GM1- or anti-GD1a-antibody-positive cases of GBS were diagnosed with acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AMP) by a single electrophysiological study. Conclusions Anti-ganglioside antibodies were frequently found in the serum of Korean GBS patients, and each antibody was correlated strongly with the various clinical manifestations. Nevertheless, without an anti-ganglioside antibody assay, in Korea AMAN is frequently misdiagnosed as AIDP by single electrophysiological studies.OAIID:oai:osos.snu.ac.kr:snu2014-01/102/0000004487/14SEQ:14PERF_CD:SNU2014-01EVAL_ITEM_CD:102USER_ID:0000004487ADJUST_YN:YEMP_ID:A075641DEPT_CD:801CITE_RATE:1.807FILENAME:kimjk-anti ganlioside ab-gbs-j clin neurol-2014-10(2)94.pdfDEPT_NM:의학과SCOPUS_YN:YCONFIRM: