Correction to: The Italian Dystonia Registry: rationale, design and preliminary findings.

In the original article, Gina Ferrazzano was affiliated to Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Neuromed Institute IRCCS, Sapienza University of Rome, Pozzilli, Italy.The corrected affiliation should be: Neuromed Institute IRCCS, Pozzilli, IS, Italy.

Relationship between pain and motor and non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Although female gender, depressive symptoms and medical conditions predisposing to pain are more common in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with pain, no study has yet explored the relationship between pain and other non-motor symptoms (NMS). METHODS: A total of 321 consecutive patients with PD [190 men/131 women aged 68.3 (SD 9.2) years] attending four Italian movement disorder clinics were studied. Demographic/clinical data were obtained by a standardized interview and the NMS scale. The association of pain with motor and NMS was assessed by multivariable logistic regression models. RESULTS: At the time of the study, 180 patients with PD (56%) reported chronic pain that, in most cases, was described as being muscular or arthralgic pain. Pain preceded the onset of motor signs in 36/180 patients. In the main-effect model, factors independently associated with pain were female sex [odds ratio (OR), 2.1; P = 0.01], medical conditions predisposing to pain (OR, 2.9; P < 0.001), Hoehn-Yahr staging (OR, 1.9; P = 0.04), motor complications (OR, 4.7; P = 0.04) and NMS belonging to the sleep/fatigue (OR, 1.6; P = 0.04) and mood/cognition (OR, 1.6; P = 0.03) domains. Most explanatory variables in the multivariable analysis were similarly distributed in patients in whom pain may have been related to PD or to a cause other than PD. CONCLUSIONS: We confirm that pain in PD is more frequent in women and in subjects with medical conditions predisposing to painful symptoms. Moreover, this strengthens the association between pain and motor severity measures and NMS domains, particularly sleep and mood disturbances.

The Italian Dystonia Registry: rationale, design and preliminary findings.

The Italian Dystonia Registry is a multicenter data collection system that will prospectively assess the phenomenology and natural history of adult-onset dystonia and will serve as a basis for future etiological, pathophysiological and therapeutic studies. In the first 6 months of activity, 20 movement disorders Italian centres have adhered to the registry and 664 patients have been recruited. Baseline historical information from this cohort provides the first general overview of adult-onset dystonia in Italy. The cohort was characterized by a lower education level than the Italian population, and most patients were employed as artisans, builders, farmers, or unskilled workers. The clinical features of our sample confirmed the peculiar characteristics of adult-onset dystonia, i.e. gender preference, peak age at onset in the sixth decade, predominance of cervical dystonia and blepharospasm over the other focal dystonias, and a tendency to spread to adjacent body parts, The sample also confirmed the association between eye symptoms and blepharospasm, whereas no clear association emerged between extracranial injury and dystonia in a body site. Adult-onset dystonia patients and the Italian population shared similar burden of arterial hypertension, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, dyslipidemia, and hypothyroidism, while hyperthyroidism was more frequent in the dystonia population. Geographic stratification of the study population yielded no major difference in the most clinical and phenomenological features of dystonia. Analysis of baseline information from recruited patients indicates that the Italian Dystonia Registry may be a useful tool to capture the real world clinical practice of physicians that visit dystonia patients.

Spinal infection multidisciplinary management project (SIMP): from diagnosis to treatment guideline.

Spine infections require a multidisciplinary approach to be treated and solved. A guide line to drive physicians in the deep complexity of such a disease is extremely helpful. SIMP suggests a flow-chart built up on clear concepts such as right and well managed antibiotic therapy, sound stability of the spine, correct and smart use of the standard and functional imaging techniques, such as f18 FDG PET/CT. In 16 months a total of 41 patients have been treated for spondylodiscitis, discitis and vertebral osteomyelitis by our team of physicians and 25 patients have been enrolled in a prospective study whose target is the assessment of the SIMP flow-chart and of every single aspect that characterize it.