Neurol. Int., Volume 12, Issue 1 (July 2020) – 4 articles

In this review, we focus on summarizing everything that is known about the neurological effects of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2). It has been shown that Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) may result in neuromuscular disorders or damage to nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord, which may lead to weakness, numbness, and pain. Published literature has stated that SARS-COV-1 may infect the central nervous system and due to its similarities to SARS-COV-2, we suspect that SARS-COV-2 has the same potential. We conclude that Covid-19 has neurological manifestations. Further research should be done in this field to understand the full extent of this virus. Full article

Parkinson’s disease (PD) has the second highest prevalence among neurodege - nerative diseases. In Colombia, PD population dynamics are currently unknown. Health records offer a unique resource to study frequency and multi-morbidity of chronic diseases. The aim of this research is to estimate prevalence and staging using administrative data (AD) provided by Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs). A cross-sectional study was conducted using 2015 AD from two Colombian HMOs (4.312.928 beneficiaries, 9.01% of the affiliated Colombian population). PD prevalence and severity was estimated by age and sex. Prevalence was adjusted to WHO demographics. Age-adjusted PD prevalence was 205.89 per 100.000 inhabitants. Prevalence increment of 62.13% was found between those aged ≥40 years and those aged ≥50 years. Similarly, each extra decade (50-80+) represented an increment of 83.65%, 80.95%, and 35.10%. Between 40 and 89 years, males exhibited a significantly higher PD prevalence compared to females. Advanced PD was more frequent as age increased from 3.77% in the group between 40 to 49 years to 25.86% in those older than 89 years. More common related comorbidities were arterial hypertension, diabetes, and psychiatric disorders; the first two increased their frequency with age, and the last one maintained its prevalence across all age groups. AD sets are useful to estimate the prevalence and staging of PD. Prevalence of PD in Colombia is higher in men and increases with age, as well as disease severity. Full article

We examined pathogenesis and clinical features of three hemichorea-hemiballism (HCHB) cases. We studied their age, magnetic resonance imaging results, vascular risk factors, management, and outcomes. One man and two women (aged 74-86 years) demonstrated acute onset of HCHB, lasting for at least several months. Patients had one or more vascular risk factors, including hypertension and diabetes. All patients presented subacute or old infarction in the basal ganglia with contralateral symptoms. We administered clonazepam (0.5-1 mg/day), haloperidol (0.375-0.75 mg/day), or both as necessary and observed symptom-control. Vascular lesions in the basal ganglia were a contributing factor. Symptoms were controlled using pharmacotherapy with gamma-aminobutyric acid-agonist (clonazepam) or anti-dopaminergic (haloperidol) medication. Full article

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurobehavioural in the children. Genetic factor is known one of the factors which contributed in ADHD development. VNTR polymorphism in 3’UTR exon 15 of DAT1 gene and exon 3 of DRD4 gene are reported to be associated in ADHD. In this study we examine the association of ADHD with VNTR polymorphism of DAT1 and DRD4 gene in Indonesian children. Sixty-five ADHD children and 70 normal children (6- 13 years of age), were included in the study, we matched by age and gender. ADHD was diagnosed by DSM-IV. We performed a casecontrol study to found the association between ADHD and VNTR polymorphism of DAT1 and DRD4 genes. The 10-repeat allele of DAT1 and 2-repeat allele of DRD4 were higher in Indonesian children. Although the frequency of these allele was higher, but it was similar both in ADHD and control groups. Neither DAT1 nor DRD4 gene showed showed significant difference in genotype distribution and frequency allele between both groups (p > 0.05). No association between ADHD and VNTR polymorphism of DAT1 and DRD4 genes found in Indonesian children. This data suggest that DAT1 and DRD4 do not contribute to etiology of ADHD in Indonesian children. Further studies are needed to clarify association between VNTR polymorphism of DAT1 and DRD4 genetic with ADHD of Indonesian children in larger sample size and family based study. Full article