Arquivos De Neuro-Psiquiatria Research Articles

COVID-19: we want all the brains back!

The astonishing and encouraging paper by Yasuda in the issue of Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria [1] highlights what all neurologists have encountered in the clinical practice since the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The predicted “third wave”[2] seems to be an avalanche.

Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria: 80 years.

In June 2023, the Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria (ANP) will complete 80 years of uninterrupted publication. The ANP was envisioned by the students of Professor Enjolras Vampré, founder of the São Paulo neurological school, who died prematurely.[1] The first edition of the ANP was in June 1943 and was presented by Professors Aderbal Tolosa (professor of Neurology at the University of São Paulo Medical School –USP), and Paulino Longo, (professor of Neurology at the Paulista School of Medicine – currently UNIFESP).[2] Dr. Oswaldo Lange (professor of Neurological Clinics at the University of São Paulo Medical School) was appointed editor-in-chief of the journal. Lange continued this noble work with mastery and dedication until 1986.[1] [3] [4] From 1987 to 2010, the editor-in-chief of ANP was Professor Antonio Spina-França, who was dedicated to making the ANP the leading journal of neurology in Latin America.[1] [3] [4] He was succeeded by his colleagues Professors Luís dos Ramos Machado and José Antonio Livramento, both from the Hospital das Clínicas at the University of São Paulo. They served as the editors-in-chief of the ANP between 2010 and 2017 with great harmony and dedication.[1] [3] [4] The editors chosen in 2018 were Professor Paulo Caramelli (full professor of Neurology at the University of Minas Gerais) and Hélio A. Ghizoni Teive (currently full professor of Neurology at the Federal University of Paraná).[1] [3] [4] This year, Professor Ayrton Massaro (Neurologist at the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, in São Paulo) replaced Professor Paulo Caramelli as editor-in-chief of the ANP. Demonstrating the great scientific evolution of Brazilian neurology in recent years, the ANP, the official journal of the Brazilian Academy of Neurology (BAN), has achieved an exponential increase in its impact factor, reaching 2.035.[5] This unprecedented achievement encourages even more its editors-in-chief, as well as all of its associated editors and the Brazilian neurological community, with the support of the BAN, to improve the scientific level of the journal, with the primary objective of reaching levels of excellence in the Latin American and world context of neurosciences.[5] This year, 2023, as current and past editors-in-chief of ANP, we are organizing a major scientific event to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Journal, as well as the publication of a special issue of the ANP, with a series of scientific articles, covering topics of great interest in different subspecialties of neurology.

Thanks to Editorial Board of Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria.

The Editors of Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria thanks to Associate Editors (77), Editorial Board (50) and Referees (312) who altruistically and without payment have expended their time to develop the editorial tasks of this journal since January 1st, 2022 to December 31st, 2022.

Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria: 75 years.

This year marks the 75th year of publication of Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria (ANP), the official journal of the Brazilian Academy of Neurology and one of the most important neuroscience journals in Latin America. ANP was initially edited by Oswaldo Lange, its founder, and subsequently by Antonio Spina-França Netto and, in recent years, by José Antonio Livramento and Luís dos Ramos Machado.

Jules Joseph Dejerine: distinguished French neurologist.

British Journal of Hospital MedicineVol. 78, No. 2 AnniversariesJules Joseph Dejerine: distinguished French neurologistHarold EllisHarold EllisSearch for more papers by this authorHarold EllisPublished Online:6 Feb 2017https://doi.org/10.12968/hmed.2017.78.2.115AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail View article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byJules Joseph Dejerine: an outstanding neurologist and Charcot's enemy1 May 2018 | Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria, Vol. 76, No. 5 2 February 2017Volume 78Issue 2ISSN (print): 1750-8460ISSN (online): 1759-7390 Metrics History Published online 6 February 2017 Published in print 2 February 2017 Information© MA Healthcare LimitedPDF download

Neurology at Escola Paulista de Medicina (1933-1995). From Fausto Guerner to José Geraldo Camargo Lima.

Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM) was founded in 1933 and the first Professor of Neurology was Fausto Guerner, who could not effectively assume the teaching activities due to his premature death in 1938. Professor Guerner had had his neurological training at Paris. Professor Longo was his successor. Longo was one of the founders of Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria the foremost journal of neurosciences in Latin American. Longo died in 1967 and Professor Paulo Pupo succeeded him. Pupo introduced electroencephalography in Brazil. After his death in 1970, Professor Dante Giorgi succeeded him until 1974. Professor José Geraldo Camargo Lima took over the position after Giorgi's death. He created the Neurological Emergency unit, initiated the Post-Graduation in Neurology and divided the Discipline in specialized units. During the 1980's and until his retirement in 1995, EPM had become one of most important centers of Brazil training neurologists and researchers in neurological sciences.

Case of autoantibodies against N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptor+/antibodies against myelin‐oligodendrocyte glycoprotein+ multiphasic acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM)

Case of autoantibodies against N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptor+/antibodies against myelin‐oligodendrocyte glycoprotein+ multiphasic acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (<scp>ADEM</scp>)

Month of birth is not a definite risk factor for multiple sclerosis

The article of Fragoso et al., recently published in Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria, demonstrating that the month of birth (MOB) does not interfere with the prevalence or progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), adds very important information in this controversial matter. The results obtained in that study, involving 1207 patients and 1207 controls from 4 South America countries, covering a wide latitudinal range, nicely fit the findings of our group, which have also been recently published. In our study, we compared the MOB of all MS patients born in the northwestern region of Portugal, located between latitudes 41°08' and 41°7', from 1992 to 1943 (n=421) with the MOB found in the control sample composed of the live births records (n=1,150,362) in the same time period and geographical area. As the Chi-square methods have several limitations for seasonality assessment and have been found to be insensitive to seasonal fluctuations of moderate amplitude, we applied the Hewitt test of seasonality, and did not find any significant differences in the MOB of MS patients and controls. Thus, our data does not support the seasonality hypothesis of “MOB effect” for MS risk in Portugal, which is opposite to the widely divulged statement among the MS scientific community, whereby in the Northern hemisphere those born in winter have a reducedMS risk and those born in spring have an increased risk. Despite this statement has been based in the most cited large-scale study conducted in the Northern hemisphere, recently emphasized in a systematic review and meta-analysis, the truth is that no significant differences in the MOB of MS patients comparing with controls have been observed in some populations with high MS prevalence, as Canada/British Columbia, or still significance varied with the statistical test, suggesting that the association between birth season and risk of MS might simply be a statistical artifact. In conclusion, the absence of a seasonality pattern concerning the MOB of MS patients from Latin America and Portugal shows that MOB is not a definite risk factor for MS. This finding casts doubt about the real meaning of the assumption that those born in springtime in the Northern hemisphere countries have a higher risk for MS, which has rapidly spread among MS experts. In addition, studies with findings opposite to the established version of “MOB effect in MS” must be taken into account in further meta-analysis with real worldwide coverage.

Improvement and innovation in neurosurgery

Neurosurgery is not an easy job. This is statement is commonsense even among laypeople, as can be noticed by the widespread use of the expression “it’s hardly brain surgery” – in the meaning that an apparently complicated task or procedure is actually not as difficult as it may seem to non-experts (another all around idiom with similar meaning is “it’s hardly rocket science” – note in both cases the use of the adverb “hardly”, not the adjective “hard”). I suspect that most readers of this Journal will agree with the first statement, and the explanation is fairly simple: errors taking place in neurosurgical procedures may have consequences that are far worse in terms of patient morbidity and mortality than what surgeons from other surgical specialties could usually expect. Correspondingly, in order to keep up to their profession’s daily challenge, most neurosurgeons strive throughout life to increase their personal dexterity and technical prowess. However, just a few neurosurgeons go beyond technical self improvement, and actively try to improve and expand the gamut of therapeutic techniques available to their colleagues – although this is ultimately how surgical fields evolve over time. Importantly, improvement and innovation do not need to start from scratch. For example, Leksell, from the Karolinska Institute (Stockholm, Sweden), had to build upon the fields of stereotaxy and radiotherapy to develop stereotactic radiosurgery1. In an more extreme instance, the development of the transphenoidal approach to the sella turcica – first performed with therapeutic purposes by Schloffer in 1907 (Innsbruck, Austria), to treat an hypophisary adenoma2 – had strong inspiration from embalming techniques used by ancient Egyptians over 4000 years ago3. Such improvements in the therapeutic arsenal of neurosurgeons, however diverse from each other they may appear at fist sight, all have a principle in common: what seemed to others as difficulties and barriers was perceived by innovative surgeons as an opportunity to create something new, something better than what was available to them when they first learned their craft. The pretemporal craniotomy, as described in this Number of the Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria, by Chaddad-neto et al.4 presents us with a typical example of those quantum improvements which mark the history of neurosurgery. Treading the path paved by “larger-than-life” neurosurgical personalities such as Yasargil and Drake, the pretemporal approach expands and complements Yasargil’s and Drake’s classic signature techniques5,6, uniting several of their advantages while overcoming most of their technical drawbacks. The deployment of this access, as reported on this article, has been proved useful to treat both neoplastic as well as vascular diseases, and its potential use is limited only by the skill of the surgeon and her/his ability to discover new uses for it. And while it does not seem fair to expect that every neurosurgeon should become an innovator in her/his field, it seems reasonable to expect that any neurosurgeon should try to deliver her/his patients the best among therapeutic possibilities (and within the limits of her/his abilities). In this sense, this article accomplishes the first step of this process of improving the practice of neurosurgery as whole – by delivering to average neurosurgeons an invaluable set of condensed practical information on an innovative and useful technique. For those reasons I could not avoid to hope, while I was reading this paper, that if I ever happen to need the services of a neurosurgeon for a pretemporal craniotomy, I would like that she/he have a good reading of this article before deploying the technique on me. It is, after all, really “hard brain surgery”. Charite Universitaetsmedizin Berlin Institut fuer Vegetative Physiologie.

Prion protein gene in Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a complex disorder, including sporadic (representing the majority of cases) and familial forms, the latter being usually linked to a genetic etiology. Three major genes have been already described as the cause of AD: amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene, presenilin 1 gene (PSEN1), and presenilin 2 gene (PSEN2), typically presenting with an early onset (before 60 years). However, these genetic forms are responsible for less than 5% of all AD cases1. Conversely, more common gene polymorphisms, such as the presence of the e4 allele of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene, are associated with an increased risk of developing late-onset AD2,3. Numerous other candidate genes have been identified, especially through genome-wide association studies, and are currently the topic of intensive research1,2. Among the polymorphisms that have been explored in relation to AD, homozygosis for methionine at codon 129 of the prion protein gene (PRNP) has been associated with a 1.3-fold increased risk of developing the disease in populations of Caucasian origin, in comparison with heterozygosis (i.e., methionine/valine), according to a meta-analysis4. However, these findings have not been confirmed by other investigators, particularly in a study including patients with definite AD5. Human prion diseases, although very rare, share some neuropathological features with AD, especially the accumulation of misfolded proteins [prion protein (PrPC) and β-amyloid] in the brain tissue. Moreover, PrPC seems to function as a receptor for the β-amyloid oligomers, and this interaction could mediate the characteristic neurotoxicity of AD pathology, leading to synaptic failure and cognitive decline6,7. Within this context, the paper published in this issue of Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria by Smid et al.8 adds another piece of information to this intriguing and interesting puzzle. The authors conducted a case-control study comparing PRNP polymorphisms in AD patients and matched controls, and they also explored associations between the genotypes and cognitive performance. No genotype differences were found between AD and controls in relation to PRNP, even when APOE genotype was taken into account in the analysis. Moreover, cognitive performance was not influenced by PRNP polymorphisms. Hence, the overall results of the study are essentially negative. This could be explained by sample size limitations or by the ethnic background of the population, possibilities that were already acknowledged by the authors. On the other hand, the findings are in agreement with those of previous reports, particularly with the sole neuropathological investigation published on this topic5. No similar data from other Brazilian populations are available for comparison, as this is the first study to have explored PRNP polymorphisms in AD in the country. This latter feature brings special relevance to the present study. We need more and better information about the genetics of dementia in Brazil and in other developing countries, either to confirm or to refute current candidate genes, as well as to identify new ones, which may ultimately contribute to improve our understanding about the pathogenesis of these devastating conditions. MD, PhD; Professor; Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte (MG), Brazil.

Assessing the evolution of publications by Brazilian spine surgeons in the last decade

To evaluate the scientific contribution of Brazilian Spine Surgeons not only in number of publications but also in their quality between January 2000 to December 2011. A literature search of publications by Brazilian spinal surgeons on topics concerning the spine or spinal cord was performed using an online database; Pubmed.gov. The results were limited to articles published from January 2000 to December 2011. A total of 1,778 articles were identified after a Medline search. After exclusion criteria, the study comprised 206 articles. The quality of the Journals was assessed with IF and the article quality using the Oxford classification. An increasing number of publications by Brazilian spine surgeons was observed in recent years: 45.1 % of those papers were published during the last 4 years (2008-2011). Clinical studies and case reports were the most frequent types of article published (37.5 vs 31.1 %). An increasing number of Brazilian publications in non-Brazilian journals has been observed in recent years (linear-by-linear association: 5.449, P = 0.020). The Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria was the most frequent journal in which the papers were published (N = 67, 32 %). The IF of the publications varied from 0.021 to 8.017. The analysis of quality of the articles using the Oxford classification demonstrated that most of them provided LOE 4 (N = 113, 54.9 %) or 5 (N = 45, 21.8 %). There have been an increasing number of publications by Brazilian spine surgeons in recent years and the quality of the articles published has improved. Also the number of publications by Brazilians in non-Brazilian journals has increased in recent years.

Tricks of the trade

The Editorial Board of Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria is pleased to announce the opening of a new section, which is entitled “Tricks of the trade/Pulo do gato”. It provides articles from invited authorities in various fields of Neurology who are willing to share their expertise, especially international experts who are keen on collaborations with Latin-American Neuroscience and Clinical Neurology. To open the section we invited Doctor Sarosh Irani and Professor Angela Vincent from Oxford to write a practical update on the exciting field [...]

Intracranial aneurysms: two options are better than only one

In this issue, Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria publishes three articles concerning the therapeutics of intracranial aneurysms (IA). These papers have many positive aspects, especially because they bring the debate on this topic to an important journal that is read by many neurologists and neurosurgeons. Although they are very different, our position on the long path towards definitive answers may be shown by highlighting their central questions. Intracranial aneurysms: two options are better than only one

The diagnosis of neurocysticercosis: a closed question?

In this issue, Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria publishes three articles about the diagnostic aspects of neurocysticercosis (NC). I think it is very important to discuss some aspects of this disease […] The diagnosis of neurocysticercosis: a closed question?

The increasing female participation in authorship of articles published in neurology in Brazil

During the past four decades the participation of women in medicine has increased dramatically. This study is focused on the women's participation in authorship of articles published in the Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria, the official Journal of the Brazilian Academy of Neurology. The articles were analyzed according to the number of articles and sex of both first and the senior (last) authors. The data were collected from 1945 to 2005. A total of 950 articles were published in this period. The proportion of women serving as first authors increased from 2.8% to 36.6% and the proportion serving as senior authors increased from 2.8% to 23.8% (1945-2005).

Fulminant idiopathic intracranial hypertension in a pediatric patient following a minor head trauma

In the issue number 3, vol 67 of the Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria, Lin et al.1 published a very intriguing case of fulminant idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) in an 11 years-old boy after minor head trauma. After extensive work-up no diagnosis was found and the authors discussed properly the most important causative agents of secondary pseudotumor cerebri […] Fulminant idiopathic intracranial hypertension in a pediatric patient following a minor head trauma

Dom Pedro II daytime sleepiness

I read with much interest the excellent article in the September 2008, volume 66, 3B issue of the Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria, on “Dom Pedro II daytime sleepinness”, page 770. The thesis of the authors is plausible, but unfortunately we lack confirmation of Dom Pedro II’s sleep apnea by the two possible observers, the ladies with whom he slept; they are the Empress Maria Teresa and the Italian countess with whom Dom Pedro II at times spent his nights when he [...]

The pioneers of clinical neurology in South America

The field of neurology in South America (SA) began to emerge towards the end of the nineteenth century, following the origin of the specialty in Europe. There was a consistent and long-standing admiration for European training, which led to the birth of the discipline in South America. The first steps took place almost simultaneously with European countries in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile and Peru. This paper will unearth information on the pioneers of clinical neurology in SA. Taken together, these sources reveal several important milestones in the long history of the field. The department of Neurology at the Hospital San Roque de Buenos Aires was created in 1885 and headed by José María Ramos Mejía, who then took over as Professor of Neurology at the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine in 1887. The first institute of neurology in Latin America, the Instituto Neurológico de Montevideo, was founded in 1926 under Américo Ricaldoni's direction. Seventeen years later, the Arquivos de Neuropsiquiatria from San Pablo was created, and is still in existence. Up until the present, South America has made dozens of important research contributions, the most important in the diagnosis and treatment of regional endemic diseases.

Stroke Symptoms and the Decision to Call for an Ambulance: Turn on People’s Minds!

To the Editor: We read with great interest the article by Mosley et al1 on factors related to calling an ambulance for stroke patients. The authors reported that “stroke” was referred as the problem (unprompted) by ≈50% of callers, whereas fewer than half of the calls were made within 1 hour from symptom onset. We agree with the authors on the necessity of interventions to more strongly link stroke recognition to immediate action to increase the number of stroke patients …

Profile of the Brazilian scientific production in multiple sclerosis

This paper analyzes the profile of the Brazilian output in the field of multiple sclerosis from 1981 to 2004. The search was conducted through the MEDLINE and LILACS databases, selecting papers in which the term "multiple sclerosis" was defined as the main topic and "Brazil" or "Brasil" as others. The data were analyzed regarding the themes, the state in Brazil and institution where the papers were produced, the journals where the papers were published, journal's impact factor, and language. The search disclosed 141 documents (91 from MEDLINE and LILACS, and 50 from LILACS only) published in 44 different journals (23 of them MEDLINE-indexed). A total of 111 documents were produced by 17 public universities, 29 by 3 private medical schools and 1 by a non-governmental organization. There were 65 original contributions, 37 case reports, 20 reviews, 6 PhD dissertations, 5 guidelines, 2 validation studies, 2 clinical trials, 2 chapters in textbooks, 1 Master of Science thesis, and 1 patient education handout. The journal impact factor ranged from 0.0217 to 6.039 (median 3.03). Of 91 papers from MEDLINE, 65 were published by Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria. More than 90% of the papers were written in Portuguese. São Paulo was the most productive state in the country, followed by Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Paraná. Eighty-two percent of the Brazilian output came from the Southeastern region.