Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, characterized by cognitive impairment, neurobehavioral changes, and loss of functional ability. Current therapeutic options for AD are limited to medications that contribute to modest symptomatic improvement. The amyloid β (Aβ) peptide is central to the pathogenesis, so that immunotherapy targeting Aβ has been focused as a putative disease-modifying treatment for AD. In this review, I review the ongoing Aβ -directed immunotherapies, including aducanumab, which is the new AD medication since 2003 as well as the first disease-modifying treatment on the market approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, characterized by cognitive impairment, neurobehavioral changes, and loss of functional ability. Current therapeutic options for AD are limited to medications that contribute to modest symptomatic improvement. The amyloid β (Aβ) peptide is central to the pathogenesis, so that immunotherapy targeting Aβ has been focused as a putative disease-modifying treatment for AD. In this review, I review the ongoing Aβ -directed immunotherapies, including aducanumab, which is the new AD medication since 2003 as well as the first disease-modifying treatment on the market approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Optic neuritis encompasses a group of disorders characterized by acute or subacute vision loss caused by optic nerve inflammation. The etiologies of optic neuritis are diverse, including demyelinating events, autoimmune disorders, granulomatous disease, and infections, each influencing prognosis and treatment.Current Concepts: Optic neuritis diagnosis involves comprehensive clinical evaluation, including history taking, physical examination, visual function tests, imaging studies, and serological as well as cerebrospinal fluid analyses, to determine the underlying cause and guide appropriate treatment. Optic neuritis associated with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder is characterized by severe demyelination and axonal damage, primarily affecting the optic nerve and the spinal cord through autoimmune mechanisms. It has been identified as a condition distinct from multiple sclerosis with the discovery of the neuromyelitis optica immunoglobulin G antibody. Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody is another specific biomarker that is gaining attention.Discussion and Conclusion: Optic neuritis is a complex condition with diverse causes and clinical manifestations, requiring a multifaceted diagnostic approach to tailor treatment strategies effectively and improve visual prognosis. New biomarkers are being discovered to redefine this disease.

No abstract available.
Anesthesia* ; Hypersensitivity*

Parasomnia due to a medication or substance is suspected when symptoms occur temporally in relation to exposure to an exogenous substance, such as a drug, and improve upon discontinuation of the exposure. Zolpidem is among the most commonly prescribed medications for insomnia in Korea. However, parasomnia has sometimes been reported to occur post its usage. Here, we present two cases of patients taking zolpidem for insomnia who experienced dangerous events while asleep that they did not recall upon waking. The nature of these events was so perilous that they posed a threat to the patients’ lives. While one patient sustained a bodily injury, the other was at risk of a potentially fatal injury. However, these parasomnias did not recur after discontinuation of zolpidem.

Periodic alternating nystagmus (PAN) is characterized by horizontal nystagmus that reverses direction periodically. PAN can occur in both congenital and acquired conditions. We report a 58-year old man with peripheral vertigo and hearing impairment showing PAN in darkness.
Darkness ; Hearing Loss ; Meniere Disease ; Nystagmus, Pathologic ; Vertigo

Sensory Heterotropia is defined as a secondary deviation following loss or severe reduction in visual function in one eye. We have analyzed the records of 68 patients with sensory heterotropia in order to find the incidence, etiologic causes, the factors influencing the direction of the deviation, and the amount of deviation. The incidence of sensory heterotropia was 1.1% of total out patients, and 10.5% of strabismic patients. The major causative factors of sensory heterotropia was anisometropia(33.8%) followed in frequency by uncorrected aphakia(25.0%), cataract(16.2%), retina and vitreous diseases(16.2%), optic nerve atrophy(8.8%) and corneal opacity(2.9%). Esotropia and exotropia were encountered with almost equal frequency when the onset of visual impairment occured between birth and 5 years of age, but exotropia predominated in older children and adult. Those was statistically significant(p<0.01). The direction of a sensory heterotropia was determined by the refractive error of the sound eye, i.e., if the sound eye was emmetropic or myopic, thd blind eye was predominantly exotropic, and if it is hyperopic, it was predominantly esotropic. Also, duration of visual impairment was related to the amount of deviation in exotropic patients. If the duration was under 5 years, the amounts of deviation was 16.3 prism, and over 5 years, it was 25.5 prism, and difference was statistically significant.
Adult ; Child ; Esotropia ; Exotropia ; Humans ; Incidence ; Optic Nerve ; Outpatients ; Parturition ; Refractive Errors ; Retina ; Vision Disorders