News Express

Practice: CMS Releases Proposed Updates to Physician Fee Schedule and the Quality Payment Program

August 18, 2021

AANEM policy staff is diligently reviewing the 1,700+ page rule that was issued by the CMS on July 13, 2021. Here are a few highlights from the proposal. 
 

Science News: The Value of Sensory Nerve Conduction Studies in the Diagnosis of Guillain-Barré Syndrome

August 18, 2021

Detecting Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) early is important for effective treatment. Present electrodiagnostic criteria are exclusively based on motor studies, although sensory testing abnormalities occur early in most patients. This article reviews the utility of sensory testing for GBS.

Science News: Rate of Change in Acetylcholine Receptor Antibody Levels Predicts Myasthenia Gravis Outcome

August 18, 2021

Up to 80% of myasthenia gravis (MG) patients are seropositive for anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies (AChR-Ab) and these antibodies are routinely checked as diagnostic markers in clinical practice. However, their use in prognosis is thought to be limited.

Kerry H. Levin, MD Receives 2021 Distinguished Physician Award

August 05, 2021

Dr. Levin has been named the winner of the 2021 Distinguished Physician Award. He has been a dedicated member of AANEM since 1982, the year he graduated from his fellowship. Dr. Levin was chosen for this award due to his many years of service as a clinician and educator. 
 

Science News: Guillain-Barré Syndrome in Association With COVID-19 Infection: A Tale of Two Studies

August 03, 2021

As the COVID-19 pandemic has spread, there have been increasing reports of neurological manifestations. In one study 36.4% patients reported dysgeusia or anosmia, headaches, dizziness, stroke and encephalopathy. In another, up to 84% of patients with severe COVID-19 had neurological complaints. There have been reports of concomitant COVID-19 and GBS which led the authors to the above meta-analysis and multi-center case-control study. 

Teerin Liewluck, MD is Named 2021 Scientific Impact Award Winner

July 26, 2021

Teerin Liewluck, MD, has been chosen as one of two recipients for the 2021 Scientific Impact Award. Dr. Liewluck was the senior author on a published paper titled, Neuromuscular Transmission Defects in Myopathies: Rare but Worth Searching For.

Sandra L. Hearn, MD Recipient of 2021 Scientific Impact Award

July 26, 2021

Sandra L. Hearn, MD, has been named as the winner of our 2021 Scientific Impact Award. She served as the second author on an article titled Motor Amplitudes May Predict Electromyography-Confirmed Radiculopathy in Patent Referred for Radiating Limb Pain.

Science News: Comorbidities, Anthropometric, Demographic, and Lifestyle Risk Factors for Ulnar Neuropathy at the Elbow: A Case Control Study

July 25, 2021

Ulnar neuropathy at the elbow (UNE) is second only to carpal tunnel syndrome as the most frequently encountered focal neuropathy. The clinical presentation of UNE can vary from intermittent fourth and fifth digit paresthesias to anesthesia as well as weakness and atrophy of the ulnar muscles.

Science News: Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy Type 2 in CT, USA: A Single-Center Experience With 50 Patients

July 25, 2021

Myotonic muscular dystrophy type 2 (DM2) is a an autosomal dominant genetic disease stemming from expansion of the first intron of the Cellular Nucleic acid Binding Protein (CNBP) gene which encodes for a zinc finger protein. This disease tends to course with wasting muscle weakness, characteristic myotonia, and cataracts.

Science News: Comparison of Corticosteroid Tapering Regimens in Myasthenia Gravis: A Randomized Clinical Trial

July 13, 2021

This multicenter, parallel, single-blind randomized trial was conducted to compare the efficacy of the standard slow-tapering regimen of prednisone therapy with a rapid-tapering regimen in patients with generalized myasthenia gravis (MG) treated with Azathioprine (n=117).

Andrew H. Dubin, MD, Receives Ernest Johnson Outstanding Educator Award

July 13, 2021

AANEM has selected Andrew H. Dubin, MD to receive the Ernest Johnson Outstanding Educator Award in 2021. AANEM Outstanding Educator Awards honor members for their significant contributions related to neuromuscular and electrodiagnostic medicine education. Dr. Dubin, currently Professor of PM&R and Program Director at the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Florida, has been a member of AANEM since 1995. He has been a practicing physiatrist for 31 years.
 

Science News: Natural History of "Pure" Primary Lateral Sclerosis

July 13, 2021

This retrospective review of pure primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) patients seen at Mayo Clinic-Rochester over a 26 year period (1990-2016), describes clinical characteristics and laboratory findings of 43 patients.

Michael Cartwright, MD, MS, Receives Jun Kimura Outstanding Educator Award

July 13, 2021

AANEM has selected Michael Cartwright, MD, MS to receive the Jun Kimura Outstanding Educator Award in 2021. AANEM Outstanding Educator Awards honor members for their significant contributions related to neuromuscular and electrodiagnostic medicine education. Dr. Cartwright, currently a Professor of Neurology, Neuromuscular Fellowship Director, and MDA Clinic Director, has been a member of AANEM since 2004. He has been a practicing neurologist/physiatrist for 15 years.

Dr. Janice M. Massey Receives 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award

June 29, 2021

AANEM’s Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honor bestowed to a member. The award celebrates a lifetime’s worth of dedication to the field of NM or EDX medicine through teaching, research, or publications. The recipient of the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award has checked all of these boxes over her more than 30 years of service. Janice M. Massey, MD is the second woman in history to receive this prestigious award. She currently serves as the Executive Vice Chair in the Department of Neurology at Duke University Medical Center.
 

Patient Safety: Safety of DOACs in Needle EMG

June 28, 2021

Limited data is available regarding the risk of bleeding with EMG in patients taking DOACs. One small retrospective study looked at the risk of bleeding after EMG in this patient population and in those taking warfarin, using ultrasound of studied muscles. Nine patients out of the 58 included had hemorrhagic complications, six of which were classified as clinically relevant non-major bleeding and three as asymptomatic bleeding, with a higher incidence of hemorrhage in the DOAC group as compared to the warfarin group. No cases of major bleeding were found.
 

Science News: Value of Systematic Genetic Screening of Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

June 23, 2021

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease comprising injury and cell death of upper and lower motor neurons in the brainstem, spinal cord and cortex. The authors sought to determine the value added by screening ALS patients for genetic factors.

Science News: Relation of Exercise and Pain in Patients With Idiopathic Distal Axonal Polyneuropathies

June 23, 2021

This cross-sectional study looked at relation between self-reported exercise and severity of neuropathy in IPN.

Science News: Sensory Neuronopathies: A Case Series and Literature Review

June 14, 2021

In the first article, Drs. Amato and Ropper provide an elegant review of sensory neuronopathies. The article is limited to the acquired sensory ganglionopathies and not the rare hereditary ganglionopathies.

Science News: Amyloid Typing by Mass Spectrometry in Clinical Practice: a Comprehensive Review of 16,175 Samples

June 14, 2021

This is a very extensive summary of the experience of the Mayo Clinic over ten years – from 2008 to 2018 with analyzing the congo red positive biopsy samples from throughout the country from a variety of tissues (heart, fat pad, GI, kidney, liver, muscle, nerve, tendons, breast, lymph nodes, bone marrow, etc.) in a way that is able to report even rare amyloid types usually not detected by the standard amyloid immunohistochemistry panels.

Science News: Long-Term Safety and Efficacy of Patisiran for Hereditary Transthyretin-Mediated Amyloidosis With Polyneuropathy: 12-Month Results of an Open-Label Extension Study

May 31, 2021

This article summarizes the world wide experience of treating patients with HTTR with Patisiran in terms of safety and efficacy.