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Tardive syndrome (TS) is a group of movement disorders caused by the long-term use of dopamine receptor blocking agents. The phenotypic presentation of TS is diverse, ranging from the most well-characterized symptom of tardive dyskinesia to other symptoms, including dystonia, akathisia, myoclonus, parkinsonism, tremor, and tics. These tardive symptoms are distinct not only in their phenomenology but also in their clinical outcomes. However, our knowledge of the pathophysiology and management of TS is almost exclusively based on tardive dyskinesia. First-generation antipsychotics have a higher risk of inducing TS and have largely been replaced by second-generation antipsychotics with a lower risk of TS. However, patients with off-label use of second-generation antipsychotics are still at risk of developing TS. Thus, the management of TS remains a challenging and important issue for physicians. In this review, we update the information on the epidemiology, phenomenology, and treatment of TS from the perspective of the specific form of TS.

Objective: Anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis is a paraneoplastic syndrome associated with ovarian teratomas. Anti-NMDAR encephalitis patients typically present with prominent psychiatric symptoms, seizures, and involuntary movements; further, they rapidly progress to unresponsiveness with central hypoventilation and dysautonomia. Case report: This paper presents two anti-NMDAR encephalitis cases with ovarian teratomas and reviews 13 anti-NMDAR encephalitis clinical case reports in Taiwan, of which six involved ovarian tumors, five being mature teratomas. Patients presented with acute onset of psychiatric symptoms and subsequently developed coma within a few days. Anti-NMDAR encephalitis usually occurs in young women and is often associated with ovarian tumors, specifically teratomas. Ovarian cystectomy or oophorectomy was performed, which markedly improved cognitive function. Conclusion: Paraneoplastic neurological conditions associated with ovarian teratomas represent a fascinating disease process. Identifying the gynecological cause of a neurological condition, particularly in young women, followed by prompt treatment can remarkably improve clinical conditions and, thus, be lifesaving. Keywords: Anti-N-Methyl-d-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis, Autoimmune encephalitis, Ovarian teratoma, Paraneoplastic syndrome, Psychosis

The AFG3L2 gene encodes AFG3-like protein 2, which is a subunit of human mitochondrial ATPases associated with various cellular protease activities (m-AAA). The clinical spectrum of AFG3L2 mutations is broad. Dominant AFG3L2 mutations can cause autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxia type 28 (SCA28), whereas biallelic AFG3L2 mutations may lead to spastic ataxia 5 (SPAX5). However, the role of AFG3L2 mutations in autosomal recessive spinocerebellar ataxia (SCAR) remains elusive. The aim of this study is to delineate the clinical features and spectrum of AFG3L2 mutations in a Taiwanese cohort with cerebellar ataxia. Mutational analyses of AFG3L2 were carried out by targeted resequencing in a cohort of 133 unrelated patients with molecularly undetermined cerebellar ataxia. We identified one single patient carrying compound heterozygous mutations in AFG3L2, p.[R632*];[V723M] (c.[1894C > T];[2167G > A]). The patient has suffered from apparently sporadic and slowly progressive cerebellar ataxia, ptosis, and ophthalmoparesis since age 55 years. These findings expand the clinical spectrum of AFG3L2 mutations and suggest a new subtype of late-onset SCAR caused by biallelic AFG3L2 mutations.

Contains fulltext : 235596.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Several COVID-19 vaccines have recently been approved for emergency use according to governmental immunization programs. The arrival of these vaccines has created hope for people with Parkinson's disease (PD), as this can help to mitigate their risk of becoming infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which can lead to serious, life-threatening disease, at least among those with more advanced PD. However, both persons with PD and physicians looking after these individuals have expressed concerns about the vaccine's efficacy and safety in the specific context of PD and its symptomatic treatment. Here, we discuss our perspective on these concerns, based on our interpretation of the literature plus the unfolding experience with widespread vaccination in the population at large. Because the benefits and risks of COVID-19 vaccines do not appear to be different than in the general population, we recommend COVID-19 vaccination with approved vaccines to persons with PD, unless there is a specific contraindication. Some caution seems warranted in very frail and terminally ill elderly persons with PD living in long-term care facilities.

Background: Efficacy of thrombolytic therapy decreases with time elapsed from symptom onset. We sought to identify the impact of code stroke on the thrombolytic therapy. Methods: Code stroke is activated by the emergency physician when a patient is eligible for thrombolytic therapy. We retrospectively reviewed patients with acute ischemic stroke between January 2011 and December 2014. Results: In total, 1809 patients were enrolled. Code stroke was activated in 233 of 351 patients arriving at the emergency room (ER) within 3 h of symptom onset, and in 21 patients arriving >3 h. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of code stroke were 76%, 46%, 72%, and 51%, respectively. Thrombolytic therapy was provided to 58 patients, accounting for 3.4% of all cerebral infarcts. Code stroke was activated in 40 of these patients. The most common reasons for excluding thrombolytic therapy were: National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) 80 years. Mean liaison-to-neurological evaluation time was only 6 min. Code stroke activation significantly reduced all the intervals, except for the onset-to-ER and door-to-order times. During the 4-year study period, there were significant reductions of the door-to-neurology liaison time by 28 min and door-to-laboratory time by 22 min. The proportion of door-to-needle time within 60 min improved from 33% in 2011 to 67% in 2014. Improved NIHSS scores during hospitalization were most prominent in tPA-treated patients. Symptomatic ICH occurred in 3.6% patients arriving within 3 h. Death occurred in 50% of patients received tPA treatment on family's request, and only 13% of those patients had favorable outcome. Conclusion: Code stroke is effective in reducing in-hospital delays. The accuracy of code stroke activation has acceptable sensitivity but low specificity. Rapid patient assessment by neurologists increases the number of patients eligible for thrombolytic therapy. Keywords: Acute stroke, Brain infarction, Code stroke, In-hospital delays, Thrombolytic therapy

Background and aims Renal dysfunction is a potent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, including stroke. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of admission estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) levels on short-term (1-month) and long-term (1-year) mortality in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Methods From the Taiwan Stroke Registry data, we classified ischemic stroke patients, identified from April 2006 to December 2015, into 5 groups by eGFR at admission: ≥ 90, 60–89, 30–59, 15–29, and Results Among 52,732 ischemic stroke patients, 1480 died within one month. The 1-month mortality rate was over 5-fold greater in patients with eGFR Conclusions After acute ischemic stroke, patients with reduced eGFR are at elevated risks of short-term and long-term deaths in a graded relationship.

We investigated the impact of serum cholesterol levels on 30-day mortality after ischemic stroke in dialysis patients.From the Taiwan Stroke Registry data, we identified 46,770 ischemic stroke cases, including 1101 dialysis patients and 45,669 nondialysis patients from 2006 to 2013.Overall, the 30-day mortality was 1.46-fold greater in the dialysis group than in the nondialysis group (1.75 versus 1.20 per 1000 person-days). The mortality rates were 1.64, .62, 2.82, and 2.23 per 1000 person-days in dialysis patients with serum total cholesterol levels of 120 mg/dL, 120-159 mg/dL, 160-199 mg/dL, and ≥200 mg/dL, respectively. Compared to dialysis patients with serum total cholesterol levels of 120-159 mg/dL, the corresponding adjusted hazard ratios of mortality were 4.20 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.01-17.4), 8.06 (95% CI = 2.02-32.2), and 6.89 (95% CI = 1.59-29.8) for those with cholesterol levels of 120 mg/dL, 160-199 mg/dL, and ≥200 mg/dL, respectively.Dialysis patients with serum total cholesterol levels of ≥160 mg/dL or 120 mg/dL on admission are at an elevated hazard of 30-day mortality after ischemic stroke.

Objective Emerging evidence suggests that gut microbiome composition alterations affect neurodegeneration through neuroinflammation in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Here, we evaluate gut microbiota alterations and host cytokine responses in a population of Taiwanese patients with PD. Methods Fecal microbiota communities from 80 patients with PD and 77 age and gender-matched controls were assessed by sequencing the V3–V4 region of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene. Diet and comorbidities were controlled in the analyses. Plasma concentrations of IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-13, IL-18, GM-CSF, IFNγ, and TNFα were measured by a multiplex immunoassay and relationships between microbiota, clinical characteristics, and cytokine levels were analyzed in the PD group. We further examined the cytokine changes associated with the altered gut microbiota seen in patients with PD in another independent cohort of 120 PD patients and 120 controls. Results Microbiota from patients with PD was altered relative to controls and dominated by Verrucomicrobia, Mucispirillum, Porphyromonas, Lactobacillus, and Parabacteroides. In contrast, Prevotella was more abundant in controls. The abundances of Bacteroides were more increased in patients with non-tremor PD subtype than patients with tremor subtype. Bacteroides abundance was correlated with motor symptom severity defined by UPDRS part III motor scores (rho = 0.637 [95% confidence interval 0.474 to 0.758], P

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder comprising both motor and cognitive disability. The pathogenesis of the disease is still unclear; however, neuroinflammation seemed to play a role. A recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) reported an association between HLA-DRA rs3129882 and the development of PD in Caucasian populations. In this study, we observe no association between this single nucleotide polymorphism and PD in a Taiwanese population. The possible reasons include different ethnicity with genomic differences and environmental factors in different geographical regions. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an autoimmune inflammatory polyradiculoneuropathy that causes acute areflexic paralysis with a high risk of respiratory failure. Previously, using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry, we found that the transthyretin level was altered in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of GBS patients when compared to that in CSF of control patients.We used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to measure the transthyretin levels in the CSF and serum from 22 GBS, 4 Miller-Fisher syndrome (MFS), 9 chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP), 22 multiple sclerosis (MS), 10 Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 6 viral meningitis (VM) patients, and 18 controls.The results show that CSF transthyretin concentration of the GBS patients is significantly higher than that of the control, MS, AD and VM patients (p0.05), although not significantly different from that of MFS and CIDP patients.The increased CSF transthyretin level may be explained by barrier dysfunction or decreased CSF flow in the GBS patients along with increased intrathecal synthesis of transthyretin that might be a protective response to nerve damage.