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Nowadays, reports of beriberi are rare in developed countries. Wernicke encephalopathy may be present in about 25% of patients with beriberi. We report the case of a woman with history of depression and chronic eating disorder, who complained Wernicke encephalopathy and beriberi. Sural nerve and muscular biopsy were performed, showing severe axonal neuropathy. Thiamine supplementation was started with rapid improvement of the pulmonary and cardiac affections; improvement of peripheral neuropathy was incomplete. Thiamine deficiency can be misdiagnosed. Beriberi is an important cause of acute flaccid paralysis; hence, clinicians should consider this diagnosis and prompt start thiamine treatment to avoid permanent neurological sequelae.

Glioblastoma multiforme is the most malignant subtype of brain tumor. Despite multimodal treatment (surgical resection and chemo/radiotherapy) the prognosis remains unsatisfactory. Based on the Warburg hypothesis, ketogenic diet (KD) has been suggested in the treatment of GBM. The syngenic, orthotopic GL261 mouse glioma model was used to evaluate the effects of KD on 7T magnetic resonance imaging/spectroscopy and metabolic response of the tumor to diet. Mice were injected with 10^5 GL261 cells into the caudate nucleus. Following implantation, animals were fed standard chow for five days then were randomly assigned to standard diet or ketogenic diet. 18 days after diet start, mice fed at KD displayed significantly higher plasmatic levels of ketone bodies. Mice fed with KD survived longer than those fed with standard diet (p< 0.05). Decreased concentrations of gamma-aminobutyric acid, N Acetyl Aspartate and N-acetylaspartylglutamate were found in tumor tissue after 9 days from the beginning of the KD diet while a huge increase in beta-hydroxybutyrate (bHB) was detected in tumor tissue as compared to normal brain. The addition of bHB at various concentrations to low-glucose culture medium did not significantly improve GL261 in vitro growth suggesting that this cell line has a limited ability to use bHB as a carbon source. The accumulation of bHB in the tumor tissue in KD fed mice, may suggest either elevated uptake of/release of bHB by tumor cells or inability of tumor cells in this context to use it in mitochondrial metabolism; the latter hypothesis is supported by the observation that GL261 cells did not display an increase in in vitro proliferation when exposed to bHB. The far less evident peak of bHB at MRI spectroscopy in the healthy brain tissue of KD fed mice, on the other hand suggests that normal brain is able to use bHB as energy source.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) has a dismal prognosis even with the best available treatment. Different studies have suggested a possible impact of antiepileptic drugs (AED) on survival in patients with GBM. A recent pooled analysis of prospective clinical trials in newly diagnosed GBM found no significant survival benefit in GBM patients treated with AED. We performed a retrospective study on adult patients with GBM in order to evaluate the impact of AED therapy on overall survival (OS), after adjusting for known prognostic factor (age, extent of surgery, Karnofsky performance status, radiochemotherapy). A total of 285 patients were analyzed. Of them 144 received a non-enzyme-inducing (NEIAED) and 95 an enzyme-inducing AED (EIAED). At univariate analysis the OS of patients receiving AED was not significantly different from that of patients not receiving an AED (HR 0.98, 95%CI 0.69-1.4, p = 0.925), moreover OS was not significantly different between patients receiving EIAED or NEIAED. At multivariate analysis a trend to more prolonged survival (HR 0.8, 95% CI 0.59-1.08, p = 0.15) was detected in patients treated with NEIAED. The question whether treatment with AED may increase OS in GBM patients remains unanswered and randomized extremely large controlled clinical trial would be necessary to elucidate the possible impact of AED on prognosis. In the meantime the use of AED in GBM patients, based on the presumed potential antitumour activity, is not recommended.

OBJECTIVES We evaluated a prospective cohort of 150 patients under observation in our centre for lacunar strokes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcome at time of discharge and 6 months after lacunar stroke, as well as the correlation with cardiovascular risk factors and selected biochemical parameters already evaluated on admission. Focus was to identify possible prognostic factors, which might be targeted through appropriate intervention concentrating on reduction in the incidence and impact of early clinical deterioration. METHODS 150 patients with a lacunar stroke were included in the present study. A clinical 6-month follow-up was available for 98.7% of the patients. Infarcts were classified by size, shape and location. RESULTS The most important predictors of high NIHSS score at time of discharge resulted NIHSS on admission (P

The above article was published online with inverted given and family names. The correct presentation has been corrected above.

Background and aims: The number of cases of encephalitis in COVID-19 pandemic is increasing. We describe characteristics and outcome of encephalitis in COVID-19 (COV-ENC) patients in one of the most affected regions by COVID-19 of the world, Lombardia, during the first pandemic wave. Methods: A multi-center observational study on neurological complications in COVID-19 patients was conducted by the Italian society of Hospital Neuroscience (SNO). Adult patients admitted to 20 Neurological Departments in Lombardia between February-April 2020 with COV-ENC have been included. Results: 30 COV-ENC patients had a mean age of 66.5 years and male frequency of 56.6%. Altered consciousness was characterized by confusion in 86%, coma in 30%, delirium in 37.9% and alteration of personality traits in 27.6%. Epileptic seizures occurred in 74% of cases. One third of cases had hyperproteinorrachia, one third pleocytosis/hyperproteinorrachia, and remaining third had a normal CSF. PCR for SARS-CoV-2 was negative in all tested patients. EEG was altered in 82.7% of patients. Brain CT and MRI were normal in 9 patients, and among abnormal findings 9 patients had mesial temporal lesions, one of which confirmed with PET imaging. The course was favorable in 39.2% of patients, sequelae were few in 26.6% and moderate in 19.2%, while 20% of patients died. Conclusions: The outcome tends to be worse in male patients. PCR negativity seems to confirm an autoimmune etiology more than a direct invasion of the virus. However, a temporal lobe involvement, detected in 30% of patients with COV-ENC, suggests usual sites of encephalitis due to herpes virus.

BACKGROUND Involving patients and caregivers is an important component of clinical guideline development. The three main Italian scientific associations for neurology, neuro-oncology and palliative care (SIN-AINO-SICP) recently appointed a joint task force (TF) of clinicians and researchers to develop specific guidance on palliative care of people with primary brain tumours, following the GRADE approach. To identify clinical questions meaningful to the patients and caregivers, a qualitative approach was used. MATERIAL AND METHODS Based on the existing literature and on consensus, the TF identified nine intervention areas, whose relevance was apprised by patients (via personal semi-structured interviews) and bereaved caregivers (via focus groups, FGs) from five tertiary neuro-oncology centres. Participants were prompted to provide their personal disease-related experience, and were asked to elicit the areas that mostly impacted their own lives. Interviews and FGMs were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS Twenty interviews and five FGs (28 caregivers) were completed between late 2020 and early 2021. Preliminary findings show that all the pre-specified areas were defined as important by participants. Most discussed topics were communication, organization and service satisfaction, cognitive and psychological issues, and advance care planning (ACP). Caregivers focused their discussions on the need for patient psychological support, difficulties experienced with symptoms control (e.g. epileptic seizures, behavioural changes), communication and organizational issues. CONCLUSION Participation of Italian patients with brain tumours and family caregivers was high and information-rich. All of the nine guideline intervention areas were considered important, communication, care organization, symptom control and ACP being the most discussed.