Neurology
Expert perspectives on neurological conditions, stroke management, movement disorders, and neuromuscular disease.
Recent Discussions
How do you approach workup for patients with suspected muscular dystrophy?
I would like to put a couple of notes of caution regarding the approach of starting with sponsored (free) next-gen sequencing for muscular dystrophies before any other tests are done: One has to recognize the phenotypes of certain MDs that can NOT be diagnosed with Next-Gen sequencing, because they...
In the interest of brain health, are you avoiding TCAs in migraine treatment due to increased dementia risk?
One more reason to abandon the old-fashioned non-specific preventive migraine medications: anticonvulsants, tricyclics, and calcium antagonists. The only class of old-fashioned medications that I still use, be it rarely, is that of the beta-blockers, with the exception of propranolol. There is good ...
Do you recommend or have any clinical experience with "migraine surgery"?
I do not as well. My understanding is that most of the plastic surgeons who perform this procedure have been trained by Dr. Bahman Guyuron, who developed the procedure. I think the published studies by Dr. Guyuron, showing some efficacy of this procedure, have a flawed methodology, and I do not thin...
What is your approach to a child with toe walking with a reassuring exam but a family history of difficulty walking?
For all children with toe walking, it is critical to perform a full neurological examination to look for CNS (i.e., CP/HIE or HSP) or neuromuscular (i.e., CMT, myopathy) issues. We also do NCV and EMG (the latter if indicated) even if the examination is normal and have found early CMT in a few of th...
Based on the FIREFLY-1 data, would you consider using tovorafenib monotherapy front-line in pediatric patients who have low grade gliomas that are only amenable to subtotal resection or are unresectable?
Not yet. I think it is important to wait for the results of FIREFLY-2 and also ACNS1831/ACNS1833. We have to keep in mind that the combination of trametinib and dabrafenib is already FDA-approved as frontline treatment for paediatric patients with BRAF V600 mutated LGG. This approval was based on th...
How would you prioritize physiotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy for functional movement disorders in a resource-limited setting where access to both might be constrained?
I have a dedicated clinic for people with functional movement disorder/functional neurologic disorder (FMD/FND) in New York City and even in a city like New York, it is difficult or actually impossible to refer patients for appropriate therapy.For some people with rather straightforward cases, a ref...
What is the appropriate workup and treatment for patients with SMART syndrome following radiation for brain tumors?
Stroke-like migraine attacks after radiation therapy (SMART) is a late presentation after treatment for a CNS malignancy (or brain radiation for another cause; e.g., prophylactic cranial radiation). It is one of many late effects of radiation therapy. Others may include vasculopathy, cognitive dysfu...
How do you explain the clinical benefit of lecanemab or donanemab to patients?
I do feel that the study outcomes are clinically meaningful, especially for patients with mild cognitive impairment due to AD. A clinically meaningful outcome is the ability to stay at an early symptomatic stage for a longer time than the natural history of the disease would otherwise allow. It appe...
Can giant cell arteritis present with a partial cranial neuropathy?
Giant cell arteritis (although giant cells on temporal artery biopsy are not a sine qua non) most typically presents to the neuro-ophthalmologist with ischemic optic neuropathy (usually anterior and sometimes posterior).Ophthalmoplegia is uncommon in GCA but has been attributed to oculomotor and abd...
What is your approach to the treatment of visual snow syndrome?
Visual snow is not a syndrome. It's a symptom that consists of static vision. I opine that it's origin is retinal (not brain) and that it relates to ongoing activity. In the past I have referred to it as retinal repolarization disorder. It should not be confused with migraine aura status, which is a...