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Guidelines for sites linking to mayoclinic.orgArticles about current trends in neurology and neurosurgery at Mayo Clinic.
Mayo specialists consider the degree of curvature, risk of curvature progression, physical and cosmetic effects of the deformity, spinal balance, age, and pre-existing conditions before recommending that patients with thoracolumbar spinal deformities proceed to surgery. Read more.
Neuromuscular neurologists at Mayo Clinic in Florida conduct repetitive stimulation studies and single fiber EMG, considered the most sensitive electrodiagnostic test of neuromuscular transmission, to help diagnose patients with myasthenia gravis. Read more.
The Department of Neurology at Mayo Clinic in Arizona offers complimentary baseline and after-injury computerized cognitive testing to athletes of high school and middle school age as part of its comprehensive concussion program. Read more.
A series of studies confirms that treatment with deep brain stimulation results in improved outcomes for patients with Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, neuropathic pain, and restless legs syndrome. The DBS team is also participating in clinical trials that test a new stimulator. Read more.
Researchers found that the effects of immunization with myelin in mice with Theiler's virus resulted in increased remyelination, identified two new reparative antibodies, and discovered that transgenic mice altered to express the virus-replicating 3Dpol gene could resist the virus. Read more.
Identification through MRI, patient registry, and review of Mayo's large practice in Chiari malformation and syringomyelia allows specialists to trace the natural history of these disorders and to predict symptom onset and recovery from surgical intervention. Read more.
Specialists use 3-Tesla MRI scanning and petrosal sinus sampling to detect small pituitary tumors. Surgeons use an endoscopic transnasal approach to resect the tumor without interfering with other brain structures. Duration of the surgery, recovery time, and the patient's postoperative pain is reduced. Read more.
Successful deep brain stimulation treatment for treatment of essential tremor, epilepsy and other disorders in children depends on careful patient selection; precise neural targeting; and extensive, individualized stimulator programming. Read more.
Researchers who identified specific subtypes of childhood myofibrillar myopathy mutation in a protein product of the BAG-3 gene have isolated a fatal childhood type of MFM. Typically associated with cancer, BAG-3 has not been implicated in human muscle disease before. Read more.
Researchers tracked 2,000 elderly participants from Olmsted County, Minn., over time to determine the rate at which healthy individuals transition to MCI and from there to dementia. The next goal is to predict transition using imaging and biomarkers. Read more.
In a randomized trial of 2,502 patients, outcome rates of ipsilateral stroke, myocardial infarction or death were similarly low for patients who received endarterectomy or carotid stenting. Patients older than 70, however, had better outcomes with endarterectomy. Read more.
Neurosurgeons and medical geneticists are creating a registry of patients with schwannomatosis and their family members to help determine whether there is a link between schwannomatosis and other tumor types. Schwannomatosis continues to be underrecognized and often misdiagnosed. Read more.
Image-guided surgery aids in tumor localization, angled-view endoscopes move with ease through nasal passages to provide a wide-angle view of the tumor, and intraoperative MRI allows Mayo Clinic surgeons to check for residual traces of the tumor during the procedure. Read more.
Open surgical procedures or embolization are not always optimal treatment approaches for patients with spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas. An innovative surgical technique allows neurosurgeons to address SDAVFs microendoscopically. The small incision reduces the risk of infection and minimizes the blood loss. Read more.
Neurologists at Mayo Clinic in Arizona use a two-way audio-video platform and remotely controlled camera to conduct patient examinations and consultations with emergency department physicians at 7 rural affiliates. The robot may be securely activated from a laptop computer. Read more.
Research conducted at Mayo Clinic indicates that before birth, bone at the cranial sutures grows in response to signals from the dura mater and that in craniosynostosis, gene mutations alter the signal or signaling process. Read more.
An expanded epilepsy monitoring unit, mobile and continuous video-EEG monitoring capability, intraoperative MRI, and subtraction ictal SPECT coregistered to MRI (SISCOM) helped earn Mayo Clinic in Florida an NAEC Level 4 Epilepsy Center designation. Read more.
Metastatic spinal tumors and chordomas, increasingly common as the number of cancer survivors grows, can cause fractures, pain, neurologic dysfunction, and death. Without surgery, chordomas are fatal in up to 70% of patients. Read more.
Using 3-D image guidance modified when necessary and a 360° approach when indicated, Mayo neurosurgeons are improving outcomes for the correction and maintenance of cervical kyphotic deformity reconstruction. Read more.
New research at Mayo Clinic explains the systemic suppression effects of gliomas on the immune system and identifies reproductive mechanisms of brainstem tumor cells and the pathways that might be used to target them with immunotherapy. Read more.
Mayo researchers use advanced biomedical technology and novel methods of tissue engineering to manipulate neural growth factors, guidance cues, and the extracellular environment. The collaboration brings progress toward regenerating nerves once considered impossible to save. Read more.
Mayo Clinic developed a blood test for the neuromyelitis optica (NMO) antibody and is currently the only laboratory in the United States that offers it. Mayo Clinic has licensed the technology to facilitate the development of test kits for use worldwide. Read more.
Mayo Clinic neurologists and neurosurgeons team to provide treatment options for patients with trigeminal neuralgia, including drug therapy, microvascular decompression, and percutaneous denervating procedures or stereotactic radiosurgery to block pain signals. Read more.
Symptoms of non-Alzheimer's dementias (NADs) may overlap across syndromes. Apparently unrelated symptoms may emerge within a syndrome as disease progresses. The key is determining the prominence of a symptom at a given stage in the disease. Read more.
There is no definitive test to diagnose dementing illnesses, yet early detection is critical to management. Mayo researchers use advances in neuroimaging, including amyloid imaging, to identify the predominant pathology and lesser ones to permit specifically tailored drug combinations that could halt disease progression. Read more.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) restores function and relieves pain by stimulating neural activity through surgically implanted electrodes. Multidisciplinary teams at Mayo Clinic have developed new technologies and clinical applications to successfully treat the symptoms of essential tremor, Parkinson's disease, dystonia, epilepsy, neuropathic pain, and psychiatric disorders. Read more.
Some patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who take moderately high doses of aspirin for coexisting conditions report more energy and less fatigue. A current study of the efficacy and magnitude of the effect of aspirin on MS-related fatigue will allow researchers to develop objective measures of therapeutic outcome. Read more.
Patients who winter in Arizona can take full advantage of all Mayo clinical and research resources while there. Neuro-oncologists at Mayo Clinic in Arizona work on interdisciplinary teams to manage the full spectrum of confirmed and suspected brain cancers. Mayo's unified medical record ensures uninterrupted care. Read more.
Laboratories at Mayo Clinic's 3 sites perform more than 19,200 EMG studies each year. Mayo's ground-breaking clinical neurophysiology specialists work with large patient volumes and tests rarely performed elsewhere. Standardization of procedures across Mayo provides study uniformity and improved efficiencies to meet increased demand. Read more.
Advances in imaging and radiology are revealing pathogenesis and improving surgical outcomes for rare intraneural ganglia, mucinous cysts in the epineurium of nerves. New MRI techniques unique to Mayo Clinic are also changing the management of other more common peripheral nerve lesions, both benign and malignant. Read more.
Not knowing when seizures will occur is one of the most debilitating aspects of epilepsy. Seizure prevention depends on understanding the mechanisms underlying seizure generation. Mayo specialists recording EEG activity found that isolated brain regions the size of cortical columns show evidence of microseizures in patients with epilepsy. Read more.
Children with brain tumors may exhibit obvious signs, but often their symptoms are less specific. Experience is a major factor affecting pediatric brain tumor surgical outcomes. At Mayo, specialists from pediatric oncology, neurology, neuroradiology, neurosurgery and neuropathology collaborate to smooth the diagnostic process and provide state-of-the-art surgical and medical management for pediatric brain tumor. Read more.
Neurologists at Mayo Clinic in Florida are working to develop a reliable peripheral blood test to monitor the rate of nerve fiber loss in patients with Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS). Current tests used to measure the effects of therapeutic intervention to slow disease progression lack precision and can require 12 months to give results. Read more.
Mayo Clinic research on the use of oncolytic viruses and novel targeted drug combinations in the treatment of glioblastoma has translated into clinical trials that provide data for further research. Glioblastoma is a key focus area for Mayo's brain cancer researchers. These tumors are resistant to conventional therapy, including surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Read more.
Mayo Clinic physicians achieve optimal outcomes for patients with intracranial aneurysms through a multidisciplinary approach that begins in the emergency department and extends through treatment of the lesion, subsequent management in intensive care, recovery in a rehabilitation unit and post-recovery checkups. A follow-up plan to watch for aneurysm regrowth is developed if necessary. Read more.
Carotid angioplasty with stent (CAS) placement is an emerging alternative to carotid endarterectomy for the treatment of patients with carotid artery occlusive disease. In Mayo Clinic's CAS placement protocol, vascular neurologists, interventionalists, neurosurgeons and, if necessary, cardiologists meet with patients to determine treatment. The protocol allows physicians to select patients for CAS technology carefully and appropriately. Read more.
Treatment for AVM has to be carefully individualized to minimize risk to the patient and maximize the chance for obliterating the lesion. Surgery, radiosurgery or embolization, alone or in combination, are possible options, depending on the location and size of the AVM and the general health of the patient. A multidisciplinary treatment model works best to ensure that these variables receive a thorough and expert evaluation. Read more.
A stroke prevention clinic concept may achieve with stroke the success that cardiac rehabilitation clinics have obtained with secondary prevention of coronary heart disease. Mayo researchers are evaluating a physician-led, nurse-assisted program that includes atherosclerotic risk factors management, stroke risk factor modification and long-term follow-up to help close the evidence-practice gap in stroke prevention. Read more.
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