UPMC Department of Neurology Research Review: December 2023

With a staff of award-winning physicians, researchers, and faculty, the Department of Neurology continues to publish groundbreaking research across key topics in the field. Read about some of the research advances the Department has made recently.

Challenging Cortical Explorations in Difficult-to-Localize Seizures: The Rationale and Usefulness of Perisylvian Paralimbic Explorations With Orthogonal Stereoelectroencephalography Depth Electrodes.

Thandar Aung, MD, MS; Jonathan Ho, MD; and Lilly W. Tang, MD, all of the UPMC Department of Neurology, along with Mallela, Arka Mallela, MD, MS; Hussam Abou-Al-Shaar, MD; and Jorge Gonzalez Martinez, MD, PhD, all of the UPMC Department of Neurosurgery, published research discussing the rationale and SEEG methodology approach in usefulness of exploring the paralimbic regions using standard orthogonal SEEG depth electrode trajectories with the Talariach reference system.

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Transcranial Motor Evoked Potentials as a Predictive Modality for Postoperative Deficit in Cervical Spine Decompression Surgery - A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Abhinav Vedire, MD; Katherine M. Anetakis, MD; Jeffrey R. Balzer, PhD; Donald J. Crammond, PhD; Varun Shandal, MD; and Parthasarathy D. Thirumala, MD, MS, all of the UPMC Department of Neurology, along with experts from the University of Pittsburgh Department of Orthopaedic Spine Research, published research that evaluates whether transcranial motor evoked potential alarms can predict postoperative neurologic complications in patients undergoing cervical spine decompression surgery.

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Primary Results from the CLEAR Study of a Novel Stent Retriever with Drop Zone Technology.

Raul G. Nogueira, MD, along with colleagues from other institutions, published research that evaluates the safety and effectiveness of revascularization of acute large vessel occlusions with the NeVa device.

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Longitudinal Associations Between Higher Self-Reported Energy, Gait Speed, and Cognition in Older Adults With Fatigue.

Sarah B. Berman, MD, PhD, along with colleagues from the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Epidemiology, published research that examined longitudinal associations between self-reported energy, gait speed, and cognition, stratified by fatigue, in 2 613 participants in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study.

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What Is in the Neuromuscular Junction Literature?

David Lacomis, MD, published a review of literature that covers several articles on diagnosis and misdiagnosis of myasthenia gravis (MG), the role of complement in MG, and then an impressive number of recent treatment trials.

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Common Data Elements for Disorders of Consciousness: Recommendations from the Working Group on Goals-of-Care and Family/Surrogate Decision-Maker Data.

Alexis Steinberg, MD, along with colleagues from other institutions, published research aiming to identify common data elements related to goals-of-care decisions and family/surrogate decision-making for patients with disorders of consciousness.

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What is a Challenging Clot? : A DELPHI Consensus Statement from the CLOTS 7.0 Summit.

Raul G. Nogueira, MD, along with colleagues from outside institutions, published research that explored the opinions of stroke thrombectomy and clot research experts regarding challenging clots, defined as difficult to recanalize clots by endovascular approaches, and clot/patient features that may be indicative of such clots.

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Most Promising Approaches to Improve Stroke Outcomes: The Stroke Treatment Academic Industry Roundtable XII Workshop.

Lawrence R. Wechsler, MD, along with colleagues from outside institutions, was part of The Stroke Treatment Academic Industry Roundtable XI, which included a workshop to discuss the most promising approaches to improve outcome from acute stroke. The discussion examined approaches in 4 epochs: pre-reperfusion, reperfusion, post-reperfusion, and access to acute stroke interventions. The participants identified areas of priority for developing new and existing treatments and approaches to improve stroke outcomes.

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