Objective: To present an eight-case serie of patients with Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS). Method: All patients were initially evaluated by an ophthalmologist and then submitted to a neurologic evaluation with exclusion of alternative psychiatric and neurologic diagnoses. Results: Five patients were male (62.5%) and the mean age was 52.3+16.0 years. Two patients suffered from severe myopia and glaucoma, three had retinitis pigmentosa, one had anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, one had age-related macular degeneration and one had toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis. Mean visual acuity in the right eye was 1,12 logMAR and in the left eye 0.57 logMAR. A mean delay of 41.7 months occurred until diagnosis. All hallucinations were complexes and mostly ocurred on a weekly-basis (62.5%) and lasted for seconds (87.5%). Conclusions: Physicians who care for low vision patients should be aware of CBS and appropriately diagnose its hallucinations after exclusion of psychiatric and neurologic diseases.Keywords: Charles Bonnet syndrome, visual hallucinations, sensory hallucinations, dementia, low vision. RESUMOObjetivo: Apresentar uma série de oito casos da síndrome de Charles Bonnet (SCB). Método: Todos os pacientes foram avaliados por um oftalmologista e por um neurologista, tendo sido excluídos diagnósticos alternativos neurológicos e psiquiátricos. Resultados: Cinco pacientes eram homens (62,5%) e a média de idade foi de 52,3±16,0 anos. Do total de pacientes: dois tinham miopia grave e glaucoma, três retinose pigmentar, um neuropatia óptica isquêmica anterior, um degeneração macular relacionada à idade e um retinocoroidite toxoplásmica. A acuidade visual média no olho direito foi de 1,12 logMAR e no olho esquerdo foi de 0.57 logMAR. Houve um atraso de 41,7 meses, em média, para o diagnóstico. Todas as alucinações eram complexas, ocorriam, em sua maioria, semanalmente (62,5%) e duravam segundos (87,5%). Conclusão: Médicos que lidam com pacientes com baixa visão devem saber distinguir as características peculiares da SCB, após exclusão de doenças neurológicas e psiquiátricas.Palavras-chave: síndrome de Charles Bonnet, alucinações visuais, alucinações sensoriais, demência, baixa visão.

Although an underreported CNS infection, found mainly in underdeveloped countries, neuroschistosomiasis mansoni still causes significant incapacity and morbidity. Hence, neurologists should become familiar with this infection worldwide and include it in the differential diagnosis of CNS involvement in travelers returning from endemic areas and in immigrants.

Neuroanatomy is often considered a difficult subject to teach, due to its broad scope, multitude of terms, and high degree of complexity. Thus, newer educational strategies that facilitate learning while also stimulating students by allowing increased student autonomy and group discussions should be carefully considered. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of introducing team‐based learning (TBL) in the traditional discipline of neuroanatomy and to measure student knowledge acquisition and perception relative to traditional lectures (TL). A quasi‐experimental, nonrandomized study was performed using two consecutive TBL classes (intervention group, n = 157 students, 25% content using TBL) with a TL class (control group, n = 76). Team‐based learning sessions included all stages according to the classic description of the method. Student knowledge acquisition was assessed in regularly scheduled tests during the discipline, and their perception regarding TBL was evaluated using a questionnaire (developed by the authors). The groups presented a similar sociodemographic profile (sex and age) and the same performance in another anatomy discipline before the study. Team‐based learning was significantly associated with greater acceptance, higher motivation, better student perception, and feelings that the methodology was able to integrate clinical and basic sciences. Nevertheless, according to tests, knowledge acquisition was similar between the TBL and lectures. In conclusion, since TBL is comparable to TL for knowledge acquisition, TBL seems to be a promising strategy to improve the teaching of neuroanatomy in medical schools. It fosters group discussions and increases satisfaction and the perception of integration between clinical and basic sciences.

Cerebellar ataxia is a common finding in neurological practice and has a wide variety of causes, ranging from the chronic and slowly-progressive cerebellar degenerations to the acute cerebellar lesions due to infarction, edema and hemorrhage, configuring a true neurological emergency. Acute cerebellar ataxia is a syndrome that occurs in less than 72 hours, in previously healthy subjects. Acute ataxia usually results in hospitalization and extensive laboratory investigation. Clinicians are often faced with decisions on the extent and timing of the initial screening tests, particularly to detect treatable causes. The main group of diseases that may cause acute ataxias discussed in this article are: stroke, infectious, toxic, immune-mediated, paraneoplastic, vitamin deficiency, structural lesions and metabolic diseases. This review focuses on the etiologic and diagnostic considerations for acute ataxia.

Background Mutations in GRN (progranulin) and MAPT (microtubule-associated protein tau) are among the most frequent causes of monogenic Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), but data on the frequency of those mutations in regions such as Latin America is still lacking. Objective We aimed to investigate the frequencies of GRN and MAPT mutations in FTD cohorts from two Brazilian dementia research centers, from University of Sao Paulo (USP) and Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) medical schools. Methods We included 76 probands diagnosed with behavioral variant FTD (n=55), semantic variant Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) (n=11), or nonfluent variant PPA (n=10). Twenty-five percent of the cohort had at least one relative affected with FTD. Results Mutations in GRN were identified in seven probands, and in MAPT, in two probands. We identified three novel GRN mutations (p.Q130X, p.317Afs*12, and p.K259Afs*23), in patients diagnosed with nfvPPA or bvFTD. Plasma progranulin levels were measured and a cutoff value of 70ng/ml was found with 100% sensitivity and specificity to detect null GRN mutations. Conclusions The frequency of GRN mutations was 9.6% and of MAPT mutations, was 7.1%. Among familial cases of FTD, the frequency of GRN mutations was 31.5%, and of MAPT mutations was 10.5%.

VP can be clinically distinguished from PD based on sudden onset of parkinsonism at an older age, characterised by lower body predominance, urinary incontinence, pyramidal signs, postural instability with freezing of gait and falls, and dementia.

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