Using a Mock Rounds Model and Neurology Patients to Teach Neurological Exam Skills in a Medical Neurobiology Course

Author(s):  
Anna M. Lama ◽  
Ann M. Murray ◽  
Jessica Frey ◽  
Brandon Neeley ◽  
James W. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
2020 ◽  
Vol 78 (8) ◽  
pp. 494-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adalberto STUDART-NETO ◽  
Bruno Fukelmann GUEDES ◽  
Raphael de Luca e TUMA ◽  
Antonio Edvan CAMELO FILHO ◽  
Gabriel Taricani KUBOTA ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Background: More than one-third of COVID-19 patients present neurological symptoms ranging from anosmia to stroke and encephalopathy. Furthermore, pre-existing neurological conditions may require special treatment and may be associated with worse outcomes. Notwithstanding, the role of neurologists in COVID-19 is probably underrecognized. Objective: The aim of this study was to report the reasons for requesting neurological consultations by internists and intensivists in a COVID-19-dedicated hospital. Methods: This retrospective study was carried out at Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil, a 900-bed COVID-19 dedicated center (including 300 intensive care unit beds). COVID-19 diagnosis was confirmed by SARS-CoV-2-RT-PCR in nasal swabs. All inpatient neurology consultations between March 23rd and May 23rd, 2020 were analyzed. Neurologists performed the neurological exam, assessed all available data to diagnose the neurological condition, and requested additional tests deemed necessary. Difficult diagnoses were established in consensus meetings. After diagnosis, neurologists were involved in the treatment. Results: Neurological consultations were requested for 89 out of 1,208 (7.4%) inpatient COVID admissions during that period. Main neurological diagnoses included: encephalopathy (44.4%), stroke (16.7%), previous neurological diseases (9.0%), seizures (9.0%), neuromuscular disorders (5.6%), other acute brain lesions (3.4%), and other mild nonspecific symptoms (11.2%). Conclusions: Most neurological consultations in a COVID-19-dedicated hospital were requested for severe conditions that could have an impact on the outcome. First-line doctors should be able to recognize neurological symptoms; neurologists are important members of the medical team in COVID-19 hospital care.


Background: Binasal Occlusion (BNO) is a clinical technique used by many neurorehabilitative optometrists in patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and increased visual motion sensitivity (VMS) or visual vertigo. BNO is a technique in which partial occluders are added to the spectacle lenses to suppress the abnormal peripheral visual motion information. This technique helps in reducing VMS symptoms (i.e., nausea, dizziness, balance difficulty, visual confusion). Case Report: A 44-year-old AA female presented for a routine eye exam with a history of mTBI approximately 33 years ago. She was suffering from severe dizziness for the last two years that was adversely impacting her ADLs. The dizziness occurred in all body positions and all environments throughout the day. She was diagnosed with vestibular hypofunction and had undergone vestibular therapy but reported little improvement. Neurological exam revealed dizziness with both OKN drum and hand movement, especially in the left visual field. BNO technique resulted in immediate relief of her dizziness symptoms. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first case that illustrates how the BNO technique in isolation can be beneficial for patients with mTBI and vestibular hypofunction. It demonstrates the success that BNO has in filtering abnormal peripheral visual motion in these patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (04) ◽  
pp. 640-642
Author(s):  
Halil Onder

AbstractGait disorders are common in the elderly as there are various causes of neurological and non-neurological conditions. On the other hand, most of the gait parameters do change with advancing age which is identified as age-related physiological changes in gait. At this point, the discrimination between age-related physiological changes and gait disorders may be strictly challenging. After identifying gait as an abnormal pattern, classification of it and making the responsible pathophysiology also require high-level expertise in this regard. Herein, we present a rare patient with corticobasal degeneration (CBD) who had admitted initially due to complaints of gait problems. Over a long time, the patient had received the misdiagnosis of gait abnormality due to musculoskeletal problems by multiple physicians. However, the detailed neurological exam showed a higher level gait disorder (HLGD). Further investigations at this point yielded the diagnosis of CBD.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7_suppl3) ◽  
pp. 2325967121S0004
Author(s):  
Eduardo A. Lindsay ◽  
Gerardo Olivella ◽  
Manuel Rodríguez ◽  
Edwin Burgos-Rossy ◽  
Natalia Torres-Acevedo ◽  
...  

Background & Objectives: Recently, constant and night pain has been discarded as adequate clinical markers to predict the presence of an underlying pathology in pediatric back pain. The pain intensity has been recognized as an important domain in the pain assessment. Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) is one of the most common validated tools to assess pediatric pain intensity in children above 8 years of age. The aim of this study is to assess NRS as a predictor of underlying pathologies found by magnetic resonance image (MRI) in pediatric back pain. We hypothesize that a higher NRS score is associated with a high sensitivity, specificity and likelihood ratio to identify the present of organic pathology in pediatric chronic back pain. Methodology: After obtaining Institutional Review Board approval, a retrospective electronical medical record review was conducted. All pediatric patients who reported back pain lasting > 4 weeks between 2009 to 2018 were enrolled in the study. As per regular protocol, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon evaluated all patients who presented with back pain. After a non-diagnostic history, physical examination and spinal x-ray; spine MRI was order. Pain was graded with the use of NRS from 0 to 10. Patients were divided in two groups: NRS (1-5) & NRS (6-10). Variables such as gender, age, pain frequency, night pain, neurological exam, and the presence of an underlying pathology were compared between both groups. Patients that presented with injury due to trauma, previous diagnosis of back pain or cervical pain were excluded. Results: A total of 467 patients were evaluated in the study. Mean age of subjects was 15 years; 69% being female. An underlying pathology was identified in 131/315 (41.6%) patients with NRS (6-10), and 55/152 (36.2%) patients with NRS (1-5) (P=0.27). Patients with NRS (6-10) had two times more probability of suffering constant pain (P<0.03) and three times more likely of having an abnormal neurological examination (P<0.05). See table 1. Conclusion: Evaluation and treatment of children and adolescent with chronic back pain is challenging. Our study shows a strong association between NRS high (6-10) and constant pain and/or abnormal neurological exam. However, the use of NRS of (6-10) was not found as adequate predictor for the presence of an underlying organic pathology in children and adolescent patients. Therefore, physicians should not rely only high NRS score to recommend advance imaging study to assess chronic back pain in children and adolescent patients. Summary [Table: see text]


2012 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 432-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven M. Rothman
Keyword(s):  

2009 ◽  
Vol 67 (2b) ◽  
pp. 457-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taís Sica da Rocha ◽  
Ana Guardiola ◽  
Jefferson Pedro Piva ◽  
Cláudia Pires Ricachinevski ◽  
Aldemir Nogueira

There are few Brazilian studies on neuropsychomotor follow-up after open-heart surgery with circulatory bypass in infants. Twenthy infants had neurodevelopmental outcomes (neurological exam and Denver II test) assessed before open-heart surgery, after intensive care unit discharge and 3-6 months after hospital discharge. Heart lesions consisted of septal defects in 11 cases (55%). The mean circulatory bypass time was 67 ± 23.6 minutes. Fifteen infants had altered neurological examination and also neurodevelopment delay before surgery. After 6 months it was observed normalization in 6 infants. When Denver II test indexes were analysed, it was observed an improvement in all domains except personal-social. Although those infants were in risk of new neurological findings, an early improvement on neuropsychomotor indexes were seen.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Ali Shalash ◽  
Meredith Spindler ◽  
Esther Cubo

Telemedicine programs are particularly suited to evaluating patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other movement disorders, primarily because much of the physical exam findings are visual. Telemedicine uses information and communication technologist to overcome geographical barriers and increase access to healthcare services, and it is particularly beneficial for rural and underserved communities, groups that traditionally suffer from lack of access to healthcare. There is a growing evidence of the feasibility of telemedicine, cost and time savings, patients’ and physicians’ satisfaction, and its outcome and impact on patients’ morbidity and quality of life. In addition, given the unusual current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine has offered the opportunity to address the ongoing healthcare needs of patients with PD, to reduce in-person clinic visits, and human exposures (among healthcare workers and patients) to a range of infectious diseases including COVID-19. However, there are still several challenges to widespread implementation of telemedicine including the limited performance of parts of the neurological exam, limited technological savvy, fear of loss of a personal connection, or uneasiness about communicating sensitive information. On the other hand, while we are facing the new wave of COVID-19 pandemic, patients and clinicians are gaining increasing experience with telemedicine, facilitating equity of access to specialized multidisciplinary care for PD. This article summarizes and reviews the current state and future directions of telemedicine from a global perspective.


Stroke ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Richardson ◽  
Omid Salehi ◽  
Kevin Hinkelman ◽  
Clarke Tyan ◽  
Teresa Young ◽  
...  

Background: An effective hand-off process promotes transfer of critical information during transitions of care, thus decreasing the risk of adverse events. For patients with neurological symptoms, exchanging information over the phone may not provide the complete clinical picture of the patient and may contribute to the receiving nurse under appreciating early neurological changes. However, having the nurse leave a busy emergency department (ED) to perform bedside hand-off on the neuroscience unit (NSU) is often not realistic. Purpose: To improve nursing satisfaction with the hand-off process between the ED and the NSU, comparing video and phone report. Methods: The population consisted of stroke patients admitted from the ED to the NSU over a three month period. The intervention was offering a computer with video for the ED nurse to share pertinent information and perform a neurological exam, a process which allowed the receiving nurse to ask questions and interact with the patient. Nurses who used the video hand-off (n=24) were surveyed at the end of the pilot project to measure their satisfaction. Results: Overall, the nurses were more satisfied using video. (Figure). The increase in percentage of nurses answering “Strongly Agree”/ “Agree” were noted in these areas: 71%-85% for relevance of information, 68%-81% for efficiency, 54%-58% for staff relationships, 33%-63% for patient engagement, and 42%-75% for reducing risk for error. Conclusions: The use of video during transition of care provides an option for hospitals to employ an interactive handoff between departments without the sacrifice of time. Nursing should further explore the benefits of video technology during transitions of care, particularly inter-departmental transfers for special populations.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natália Merten Athayde ◽  
Alzira Alves de Siqueira Carvalho

Context: Myofibrillar myopathies (MFM) represent a heterogeneous group of disorders of skeletal and cardiac muscle caused by mutations in genes that encode proteins of sarcomere. Diagnosis is a challenge due to clinical and genetic variability. Case report: Woman, 36 years old, presenting stumbles and falls for 3 years evolving with proximal limb weakness. At age 30, she fainted and a cardiac pacemaker was implanted. Non-consanguineous parents. Neurological exam: proximal and distal weakness in lower limbs and distal atrophy; osteotendinous reflexes normal. Bilateral scapula alata. Exams: CPK = 457 U / l; EMG: myopathic pattern. Muscle MRI: diffuse and heterogeneous fatty degeneration, marked in sartorius, gracilis and semitedinous. Panel NGS myopathies: pathogenic variant, c.1175T> C, missense in heterozygosis in desmin gene. CONCLUSION: The diagnosis of MFM is based on the morphological findings of muscle biopsy with the presence of protein aggregates as a determining factor. Currently, genetic testing by NGS has facilitated early diagnosis allowing for a more appropriate clinical approach. The desmin gene was the first one described to be associated with this group of myopathies. It encodes the desmin protein, a member of the intermediate filament family present in cardiac and skeletal muscle. Several phenotypes are related to desmin gene: isolated dilated cardiomyopathy; scapuloperoneal weakness and distoproximal weakness with cardiac alterations. Desminopathy is a rare cause of cardiomyopathy and / or myopathy. The diagnosis should be thought in patient with muscle weakness and cardiac changes.


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