This book offers an overview on the most recent advances in global neuro-opthalmic care. Global variation in the incidence and prevalence of specific neuro-ophthalmic conditions results in geographic differences in differential diagnosis, evaluation, management, and treatment of specific disorders. It covers a variety of disorders from optic neuritis, idiopathic intracranial hypertension to traumatic optic neuropathy. To understand the key differences in neuro-ophthalmic health care, this book has gathered recognized experts from around the world to describe and define these regional and geographic variations of care. By highlighting various international approaches to diagnosing and treating neuro-ophthalmic disorders, this book will be an essential guide for neuro-ophthalmologists, ophthalmologists, and neurologists seeking to build upon their clinical skills in a global context.
Provides guidelines for managing this grossly underdiagnosed and undertreated condition, focusing on early detection and timely, effective interventions.
Clinical case studies have long been recognized as a useful adjunct to problem-based learning and continuing professional development. They emphasize the need for clinical reasoning, integrative thinking, problem-solving, communication, teamwork and self-directed learning – all desirable generic skills for health care professionals. This book is a teaching tool that bridges the gap between textbook information and everyday experience of clinicians 'in the trenches'. Leading practitioners bring a practical approach to these complex conditions, highlighting specific areas of diagnostic uncertainty in evaluation and treatment. Each case is taken from real-world clinical practice and reviews the diagnostic and treatment process in a systematic manner, identifying common challenges and potential pitfalls. This concise and useful guide in the Common Pitfalls series provides a step-by-step guide for everyday clinical practice, invaluable to anyone dealing with cerebrovascular disease on a front-line basis. The intended readership is trainees and non-specialist practitioners in neurology, stroke medicine, and neurosurgery.
This book discusses in detail the major advances in the field of neuro-ophthalmology. Based on the latest research from across the globe, it highlights recent developments in all areas of neuro-ophthalmology, including optic neuritis and the associated demyelinating diseases – especially the changing paradigms in the diagnosis and management of multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica. It also covers the various types of hereditary optic neuropathies as well as nystagmus and its management. In order to provide comprehensive information in a single volume, it addresses topics of interest in pediatric neuro-ophthalmology, such as pediatric optic neuritis and cortical visual impairment, innovations in the management of ocular motility disorders and other disorders of the optic nerve and central nervous system, including ischemic neuropathies and idiopathic intracranial hypertension.This book provides a one-stop source of information on all key topics of neuro-ophthalmology, enabling trainee fellows and practitioners to keep abreast of the current thoughts in this field.As part of the series “Current Practices in Ophthalmology” this volume is intended for residents and fellows-in-training, as well as generalist and specialist ophthalmologists alike.
The brain is the most complex organ in our body. Indeed, it is perhaps the most complex structure we have ever encountered in nature. Both structurally and functionally, there are many peculiarities that differentiate the brain from all other organs. The brain is our connection to the world around us and by governing nervous system and higher function, any disturbance induces severe neurological and psychiatric disorders that can have a devastating effect on quality of life. Our understanding of the physiology and biochemistry of the brain has improved dramatically in the last two decades. In particular, the critical role of cations, including magnesium, has become evident, even if incompletely understood at a mechanistic level. The exact role and regulation of magnesium, in particular, remains elusive, largely because intracellular levels are so difficult to routinely quantify. Nonetheless, the importance of magnesium to normal central nervous system activity is self-evident given the complicated homeostatic mechanisms that maintain the concentration of this cation within strict limits essential for normal physiology and metabolism. There is also considerable accumulating evidence to suggest alterations to some brain functions in both normal and pathological conditions may be linked to alterations in local magnesium concentration. This book, containing chapters written by some of the foremost experts in the field of magnesium research, brings together the latest in experimental and clinical magnesium research as it relates to the central nervous system. It offers a complete and updated view of magnesiums involvement in central nervous system function and in so doing, brings together two main pillars of contemporary neuroscience research, namely providing an explanation for the molecular mechanisms involved in brain function, and emphasizing the connections between the molecular changes and behavior. It is the untiring efforts of those magnesium researchers who have dedicated their lives to unraveling the mysteries of magnesiums role in biological systems that has inspired the collation of this volume of work.
Negative influence of cerebral circulation with the emergence of cerebral hypoperfusion plays a significant role in the pathophysiology of pediatric hydrocephalus. Transcranial Doppler sonography is a non-invasive method for indirectly measuring intracranial pressure and decreasing intracranial compliance by assessing changes of cerebral circulation. This book discusses the cerebral circulation and intracranial dynamics in pediatric hydrocephalus. It also focuses on evaluating the impact of various intracranial factors on Doppler parameters of cerebral circulation, especially in neonates with hydrocephalus. The ambition of this work is to improve indication and timing of drainage procedure in children with hydrocephalus by applying scientific results and clinical experience.
Neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) composed of intracellular aggregates of tau protein are a key neuropathological feature of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative diseases, collectively termed tauopathies. The abundance of NFTs has been reported to correlate positively with the severity of cognitive impairment in AD. However, accumulating evidences derived from studies of experimental models have identified that NFTs themselves may not be neurotoxic. Now, many of tau researchers are seeking a “toxic” form of tau protein. Moreover, it was suggested that a “toxic” tau was capable to seed aggregation of native tau protein and to propagate in a prion-like manner. However, the exact neurotoxic tau species remain unclear. Because mature tangles seem to be non-toxic component, “tau oligomers” as the candidate of “toxic” tau have been investigated for more than one decade. In this topic, we will discuss our consensus of “tau oligomers” because the term of “tau oligomers” [e.g. dimer (disulfide bond-dependent or independent), multimer (more than dimer), granular (definition by EM or AFM) and maybe small filamentous aggregates] has been used by each researchers definition. From a biochemical point of view, tau protein has several unique characteristics such as natively unfolded conformation, thermo-stability, acid-stability, and capability of post-translational modifications. Although tau protein research has been continued for a long time, we are still missing the mechanisms of NFT formation. It is unclear how the conversion is occurred from natively unfolded protein to abnormally mis-folded protein. It remains unknown how tau protein can be formed filaments [e.g. paired helical filament (PHF), straight filament and twisted filament] in cells albeit in vitro studies confirmed tau self-assembly by several inducing factors. Researchers are still debating whether tau oligomerization is primary event rather than tau phosphorylation in the tau pathogenesis. Inhibition of either tau phosphorylation or aggregation has been investigated for the prevention of tauopathies, however, it will make an irrelevant result if we don’t know an exact target of neurotoxicity. It is a time to have a consensus of definition, terminology and methodology for the identification of “tau oligomers”.