ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is often accompanied by clinically identified depression. Providing effective pharmacotherapies that concomitantly treat both motor and psychological symptoms can pose a challenge to physicians. For this reason, alternatives to standard anti-depressant treatments, such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), have been evaluated within the Parkinson's population. METHODS: A literature search was conducted on the PubMed database for all studies that evaluated rTMS as a treatment in patients with both depression and PD. A meta-analysis was performed on all studies that reported mean pre- and post-rTMS depression inventory scores. Widely used depression inventories included both self-report and clinician-administered measures. Effect size for individual study groups and across all studies was calculated. RESULTS: Six of 7 studies meeting inclusion criteria reported significantly improved depression scores, large effect sizes, and significant p-values. Total weighted average effect size was calculated at 1.32 across all study groups that applied rTMS. CONCLUSIONS: Across all but one study, rTMS appears to effectively reduce depression scores among self-reported and clinician administered inventories. The total weight average effect size showed that, when considering study sample sizes and degree of findings, this form of neurostimulation can relieve PD patients of their depressive symptoms. Further, rTMS is a promising alternative to traditional anti-depressant therapies when treating refractory depression in patients with PD.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Immediate treatment has been shown to decrease the recurrence of cerebrovascular accidents following transient ischemic attacks (TIA), prompting the use of a specialized neurologic emergency department (Neuro ED) to triage patients. Despite these findings, there is little evidence supporting the notion that hospital admission improves post-TIA outcomes. Through the lens of a Neuro ED, this retrospective chart review of TIA patients examines whether hospital admission improves 90-day outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred sixty charts of patients discharged with TIA diagnosis were reviewed. These charts encompassed patients with TIA who presented to a main emergency department (ED) or Neuro ED from January 2014 to April 2015. Demographic information, admission ABCD(2) scores, admission National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores, and admission Modified Rankin Scale, and reason for any return visits within 90 days were collected. RESULTS: This review shows that patients triaged by the Neuro ED were admitted at a lower rate than those seen by the standard ED. Further, patients triaged by the Neuro ED experienced lower readmission and recurrence of stroke or TIA within 90 days. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide preliminary support for the notion that discharging appropriate TIA patients, with adequate follow-up, will not adversely affect the recurrence of TIA or stroke within 90 days.
