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Laryngeal sensitivity is crucial for maintaining safe swallowing, thus avoiding silent aspiration. The sensitivity test, carried out by fiberoptic endoscopic examination of swallowing, plays an important role in the assessment of dysphagic patients. The ventricular folds appear to be more sensitive than the epiglottis during the sensitivity test. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the mechanical sensitivity of the supraglottic larynx. In seven healthy adults undergoing microlaryngoscopy to remove vocal cord polyps, we excised mucosal samples from the epiglottis and ventricular folds. We measured afferent nerve fiber density by immunoelectron microscopy. All of the subjects underwent an endoscopic sensitivity test based on lightly touching the laryngeal surface of the epiglottis and ventricular folds. The discomfort level was self-rated by the subjects on the visual analog scale. Samples were fixed and stored in cryoprotectant solution at 4 °C. Sections were stained with the protein gene product 9.5, a pan-neuronal selective marker. Nerve fiber density was calculated as the number of fibers per millimeter length of section. The mean nerve fiber density was higher in ventricular samples than in epiglottis samples (2.96 ± 2.05 vs 0.83 ± 0.51; two-sided p = 0.018). The mean visual analog scale scores were significantly higher for touching the ventricular folds than for touching the epiglottis (8.28 ± 1.11 vs 4.14 ± 1.21; two-sided p = 0.017). The higher sensitivity of the ventricular region should be considered for further refining clinical endoscopic evaluation of laryngeal sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lack of habituation during repetitive stimulation is the most consistent interictal abnormality of cortical information processing observed in migraine. Preventive migraine treatments might act by stabilizing cortical excitability level and thus the habituation to external stimuli. Methods: We examined the effects of preventive treatment with topiramate on migraineur’s habituation to nociceptive stimulation. Scalp potentials were evoked by Nd-YAP Laser stimulation of the hand dorsum and supraorbital region in 13 patients with migraine without aura (MO) and 15 healthy volunteers (HV). The exam was repeated in MO before and after treatment. Results: We observed a lack of habituation and lower initial amplitudes in MO compared to HV. These abnormalities reached statistical significance for N1 LEPs component, generated in the secondary somatosensory cortex (SII), but not for N2/P2 complex, generated in the insula and anterior cingulated cortex (ACC). Topiramate normalized the N1 habituation pattern in MO, with a significant correlation between clinical effects and normalization of neurophysiological responses. Conclusions: Our results indicate a modulating action of topiramate on cortical processing of sensorial stimuli, mainly regarding the sensory-discriminative component of pain, elaborated by SII, without a significant effect on the affective dimension of pain, in which the ACC has an important role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 67-year-old female was admitted to our department with difficulty in speech, disorientation, memory loss and seizures. Blood laboratory tests revealed diabetes insipidus. This patient had been treated with steroids for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) for 30 years. Due to this treatment neurological symptoms had been understated causing a long delay in performing ulterior researches. A brain MRI revealed a mass lesion in the hypothalamic area. A biopsy was performed and histopathological diagnosis was malignant large B cell lymphoma. Subsequently, she received methotrexate therapy but died of pneumonia during the second cycle. Primary central nervous system lymphoma in association with SLE is a rare occurrence but it should be considered in the diagnostic process when neurological symptoms occur. A brain MRI must be performed and corticosteroids should be interrupted. A biopsy of the cerebral mass lesion permits diagnosis and appropriate therapy may be administered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuropathic pain, i.e. pain arising as a direct consequence of a lesion or disease of the somatosensory system, affects about the 7 % of the general population. In this short review, we describe the most reliable laboratory tools for assessing neuropathic pain, such as quantitative sensory testing, laser-evoked potential recordings and skin biopsy, procedures that selectively assess nociceptive pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuropathic pain, i.e. pain arising as a direct consequence of a lesion or disease of the somatosensory system, affects about the 7 % of the general population. In this short review, we describe the most reliable laboratory tools for assessing neuropathic pain, such as quantitative sensory testing, laser-evoked potential recordings and skin biopsy, procedures that selectively assess nociceptive pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]