SPECT being discussed, as well as many very interesting controversialy topics...nice to see that the doc's a listening. Hope there will be lots of news daily during the Congress. Should we all charter a plane and go listen to what they have to say about US!!
The 1st World Congress on Controversies in Neurology
http://www.comtecmed.com/cony/Default.aspx
Berlin, Germany
September 6 - 9, 2007
http://www.comtecmed.com/CONY/Upload...02nd%20ann.pdfSession: Parkinsonian syndromes
Capsule: Movement disorders with Parkinsonian features have been diagnosed using different methods, using different criteria, but the basic question remains of the nosologic(3) entities underlying these neurodegenerative diseases.- SPECT imaging in the differential
diagnosis of Parkinsonian syndromes
The whole agenda on PD is great:
PARKINSON’S DISEASE (PD)
Session: Pathogenesis of PD
Capsule: In spite of much research, the pathogenesis of PD is still contested. Is there one cause that can be thought of as initiating the cascade?- PD is a mitochondrial(2)dysfunction disease
- PD is due to synuclein dysfunction(4)
- Is PD a ferrinopathy?(1)
- Olfactory dysfunction(5) in early PD suggests that the disease is caused by
a toxin
Session: PD: Motor aspects
Capsule: How can we control the motor complications in PD?- DBS vs apomorphine infusions in complicated PD
- Is DBS ready for early PD?
- Spheramine–cell therapy for parkinson’s disease
Session: Early PD
Capsule: Continuous dopaminergic stimulation in early PD may best prevent the development of motor complications- Is continuous dopaminergic therapy
- really important in the initial stages of PD?
- L-Dopa + COMT inhibitors
- Transdermal agonists
- Are rasagiline and selegiline neuroprotective?
- Is L-Dopa still allowed as initial therapy for PD?
Session: PD: non-motor aspects
Capsule: Non dopaminergic symptoms may be more relevant than DA-responsive motor
symptoms in PD- The treatment of depression in PD patients
- Is dementia inevitable in PD?
- Compulsive behaviour is the most significant adverse event due to dopaminergic
- Daytime somnolence(6) in PD – How to avoid and how to treat?
Session: Parkinsonian syndromes
Capsule: Movement disorders with Parkinsonian features have been diagnosed using different methods, using different criteria, but the basic question remains of the nosologic entities underlying these neurodegenerative diseases.- SPECT imaging in the differential diagnosis of Parkinsonian syndromes
Debate: Are PSP and CBGD the same disease?
(1) Ferritin: The major iron storage protein. The blood level of ferritin serves as an indicator of the amount of iron stored in the body.
Ferritin has the shape of a hollow sphere that permits the entry of a variable amount of iron for storage (as ferric hydroxide phosphate complexes). Liver and spleen ferritin consists of 24 subunits of 2 kinds, the heavy and the light subunit. The genes that encode the light and heavy chains are on different chromosomes. The light chain genes are in chromosome region 19q13.3-q13.4 while those for the heavy chain are in chromosome region 11q12-q13.
Mutations in the ferritin light chain are responsible for a disease called the hyperferritinemia-cataract syndrome characterized by cataracts (opacities in the lens of the eye) and high levels of ferritin in the blood.
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/...rticlekey=3410
(2) Mitochondrial myopathy: A group of neuromuscular diseases caused by damage to the
mitochondria, energy-producing structures in cells that serve as power plants. Nerve and muscle cells require a great deal of energy and are particularly impaired by mitochondrial dysfunction.
Some of the more common mitochondrial myopathies include the
Kearns-Sayre syndrome, myoclonic epilepsy with ragged-red fibers, and the
MELAS syndrome of mitochondrial encephalomyopathy with lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes.
The onset of most mitochondrial myopathies is before the age of 20. They often begin with muscle weakness. During physical activity, muscles may become easily fatigued or weak. Muscle cramping is rare, but may occur.
Aside from muscle weakness and exercise intolerance, the symptoms of mitochondrial myopathy may include nausea, vomiting, headache, seizures, stroke-like episodes, and dementia; droopy eyelids, limited mobility of the eyes, blindness, and deafness; heart failure and heart rhythm disturbances (arrhythmias); and movement disorders.
There is no specific treatment for mitochondrial myopathy. However, physical therapy can extend the range of movement of muscles and improve dexterity. Vitamins such as riboflavin, coenzyme Q, and carnitine (an amino acid) may provide some subjective improvement in fatigue and energy levels in some patients.
The prognosis for these disorders ranges in severity from progressive weakness to death.
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/...rticlekey=6374
(3) Nosology: The systematic classification of diseases, or the branch of medical science that deals thereto. The adjective is nosologic. There is "ongoing nosologic controversy and confusion" concerning "dementia with brainstem and neocortical Lewy bodies" (Neurology,1997;48:126).
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/...ticlekey=23897
(4) Synuclein: A family of structurally related proteins that are prominently expressed in the central nervous system. See:
Alpha-synuclein.
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/...ticlekey=25043
(5) Olfactory Dysfunction:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/417766_3
(6) Solnolence: Somnolence: Sleepiness, the state of feeling drowsy, ready to fall asleep. A person experiencing somnolence is somnolent and is acting somnolently.
Somnolence, somnolent, and somnolently go back to the Latin "somnus" meaning (please don't yawn) "sleep."
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/...ticlekey=13097