Safety and efficacy of dual antiplatelet pretreatment in patients with ischemic stroke treated with IV thrombolysis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Malhotra K, Katsanos AH, Goyal N, et al. Neurology 2020; 94:e657-e666. Abstract OBJECTIVE: Conflicting data exist on the safety and efficacy of IV thrombolysis (IVT) in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) receiving dual […]
This is Peter Mellett Pete lives in Wadebridge, a picturesque town tucked nicely in the Cornish countryside. *** Pete loves going on cycling trips. But above every thing else, he loves reading his two adorable children to sleep. *** But for us at Neurochecklists… Pete is a genius at web development. He has taken the […]
I am yet to request serum neurofilament light protein (NfL) in my practice. I am not sure yet why I should, but until now I confess I really haven’t looked for a reason to do so. I however know that some MSologists now tick it, along with other blood tests, when they investigate people they suspect may have multiple sclerosis (MS). NfL are proteins that are released by damaged neurones. Should I be requesting NfL in my clinical practice? I sniffed around to find the case for testing serum NfL, and below is what I found.
Many studies have looked at the value of NfL in MS. One such very well-planned study that addresses many of my questions is that by Guili Disanto and colleagues, published in the journal Annals of Neurology in 2017. In the paper, titled Serum Neurofilament light: a biomarker of neuronal damage in multiple sclerosis, the authors studied >380 people with MS and >150 healthy controls, and report four important findings.
The authors concluded, with enough justification I think, that serum NfL is a “sensitive and clinically meaningful blood biomarker to monitor tissue damage and the effects of therapies in MS“.
The strong correlation between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum NfL was also confirmed by a study published in the journal Neurology, by Lenka Novakova and colleagues titled Monitoring disease activity in multiple sclerosis using serum neurofilament light protein. As the title indicates, they discovered that serum NfL is as good as CSF NfL in monitoring the progression of MS.
The observation that NfL predicts the course of MS is supported by many other studies, such as the one by Kristin Varhaug and colleagues in the journal Neurology Neuroimmunology and Neuroinflammation whose title is also self-explanatory: Neurofilament light chain predicts disease activity in relapsing-remitting MS. A more recent paper, also published in Neurology, further reinforces the benefit of serum NfL in disease course prediction. It is titled Blood neurofilament light chain as a biomarker of MS disease activity and treatment response. In this paper, Jehns Kuhle and colleagues practically confirm all the above stated benefits of NfL, concluding that “our results support the utility of blood NfL as an easily accessible biomarker of disease evolution and treatment response”.
As for long term outcome, the 10 year follow up study by Alok Bahn and colleagues, published in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal in 2018, is most informative. In their paper titled Neurofilaments and 10-year follow-up in multiple sclerosis, the authors noted that “CSF levels of NfL at the time of diagnosis seems to be an early predictive biomarker of long-term clinical outcome and conversion from RRMS to SPMS”. Further support for the long term prognostic value of serum NfL comes from a paper published in 2018 in the journal Brain titled Serum neurofilament as a predictor of disease worsening and brain and spinal cord atrophy in multiple sclerosis. The authors, Christian Barro and colleagues, studied more than 250 people with MS and concluded that “the higher the serum neurofilament light chain percentile level, the more pronounced was future brain and cervical spinal volume loss“.
It is pertinent to note that the MS sphere is not the only one in which NfL is making waves. It has been found to be elevated in many other disorders such as motor neurone disease (MND), multiple system atrophy (MSA), hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), stroke, active small vessel disease, and peripheral neuropathy (PN). With these disclaimers in place, it may just be time to start ticking that NfL box.
Concussion in adolescence and the risk of multiple sclerosis: a retrospective cohort study. Povolo CA, Reid JN, Shariff SZ, Welk B, Morrow SA. Mult Scler 2020 (Epub ahead of print). Abstract BACKGROUND: Physical trauma, specifically concussions sustained during adolescence, has been hypothesized to be a risk factor for multiple sclerosis (MS). OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between adolescent concussions and future MS diagnosis. METHODS: This retrospective study using […]
via Does adolescent concussion predispose to multiple sclerosis? — Neurochecklists Blog
This is just a short blog post to let you know that… As promised, we have updated and revised our: Coronavirus COVID-19 Checklists As always, They remain concise and practical And of course fully referenced And as new data emerges We shall continue to update our checklists
via COVID-19 checklists: revised and updated — Neurochecklists Blog
Acute ischemic myelopathy treated with intravenous thrombolysis: four new cases and literature review. Jankovic J, Rey Bataillard V, Mercier N, Bonvin C, Michel P. Int J Stroke 2019; 14:893-897. Abstract BACKGROUND: Intravenous thrombolysis is a well-established treatment of ischemic stroke within 4.5 h. However, its effectiveness in acute ischemic myelopathy is unknown. PURPOSE: We describe a […]
via Is thrombolysis effective in spinal stroke? — Neurochecklists Blog
Routine blood monitoring in maintenance immunoglobulin treatment of inflammatory neuropathy: Is it clinically relevant? Keh R, Kahlil A, Nihoyannopoulos L, et al. J Neurol Sci 2020; 408:116527. Abstract BACKGROUND: Pre-treatment screening for IgA deficiency and close monitoring of full blood count(FBC) and renal function is recommended with intravenous immunoglobulin(IVIg) therapy in neurological diseases. AIMS: To […]
via Is blood monitoring useful for patients on IVIg therapy? — Neurochecklists Blog
Negative predictors of shunt surgery outcome in normal pressure hydrocephalus. Bådagård H, Braun M, Nilsson D, Stridh L, Virhammar J. Acta Neurol Scand 2020; 141:219-225. Abstract OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) and vascular comorbidity increases with age. It has not been clarified if high age and vascular disease are negative predictors of […]
via What features predict poor outcome following shunt surgery for NPH? — Neurochecklists Blog
The role of ultrasound in treatment is reviewed in the excellent paper in Nature Neurology titled Ultrasound treatment of neurological diseases-current and emerging applications. And the emphasis is on trans-cranial MR-guided focused ultrasound (tcMRgFUS). tcMRgFUS is making waves in the treatment of essential tremor (ET), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and central pain. The benefit for PD is already filtering out into the popular press such as this article in STAT titled New treatment offers some hope for an unshakable tremor. Ultrasound is also rapidly emerging as an option in the ablation of brain tumours, and in the treatment of stroke (sonothrombolysis).
The blood brain barrier is a rigidly selective barricade against most things that venture to approach the brain-even if their intentions are noble. This is a huge impediment to getting drugs to reach the brain where they are badly needed. It is therefore humbling that it is the simple ultrasound that is promising to smuggle benevolent drugs across the blockade to aid afflicted brains. This was reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine, and the article is titled Clinical trial of blood-brain barrier disruption by pulsed ultrasound. The trial subjects were people with the notorious brain tumour, glioblastoma. They were injected with their conventional chemotherapy drugs, delivered along with microbubbles. The blood brain barrier was then repeatedly ‘pelted’ with pulsed ultrasound waves; this seem to leapfrog the drugs into the brain in greater than usual concentrations, enough to do a much better job. This surely makes films such as Fantastic Voyage and Inner Space not far-off pipe-dreams.
Some of the emerging neurological applications of ultrasound are even more Sci-Fi than pulsed ultrasound. And a sign of this Sci-Neuro world is this report titled UCLA scientists use ultrasound to jump-start a man’s brain after coma. One is tempted to dismiss this as ‘fake news’ but it is a proper case report, in a proper scientific journal, Brain Stimulation, and with a proper scientific title, Non-Invasive Ultrasonic Thalamic Stimulation in Disorders of Consciousness after Severe Brain Injury: A First-in-Man Report. By targeting ultrasounds to the subject’s thalamus, the authors assert, the subject just woke up (and presumably asked for a hot cup of tea!). A word of caution is however needed; the authors rightly point out that it may have all been…coincidental!
TRISP Collaborators. Intravenous thrombolysis for suspected ischemic stroke with seizure at onset. Polymeris AA, Curtze S, Erdur H, et al; TRISP collaborators Ann Neurol 2019; 86:770-779. Abstract OBJECTIVE: Seizure at onset (SaO) has been considered a relative contraindication for intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) in patients with acute ischemic stroke, although this appraisal is not evidence based. Here, we investigated the prognostic significance of SaO […]
via Do seizures at stroke onset increase the risks of thrombolysis? — Neurochecklists Blog
