Resident & Fellow Section

Featured Commentaries

Cerebral Venous Thrombosis: More Common Than We Think?

June 21, 2021 | Katrina Ignacio, MD

Invited Commentary on Journal Club: Trends in Incidence and Epidemiological Characteristics of Cerebral Venous Thrombosis in the United States’ by Raptis et al.¹

The accessibility of online journal articles has provided us with an ever-growing wealth of information in recent years. For trainees and neurologists, it has also become increasingly difficult to sift through the mountains of information we receive.

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International Trainees Can Also Apply To Join The RFS Editorial Team! Apply Today!
June 8, 2021 | Guillermo Delgado-García, MD

Diversity enhances the work we do in the Neurology® Resident & Fellow Section (RFS). That’s why two years ago we opened up applications to international trainees for 3-year terms on the Editorial Team.

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Training in Neurology

The COVID-19 pandemic affects neurologic care and how clinicians treat conditions during this time. We plan to highlight blogs from residents and fellows on their experiences during the pandemic, and we hope these will be useful teaching tools for other residents and fellows around the globe.

Additional Invited Commentaries

Sarah Friedman, MD
Current State of LGBTQ+ Disparities in Neurology and Neurologic Training

Kuntal Sen, MD, and John Schreiber, MD
An Atypical Presentation of a Treatable Refractory Epilepsy Diagnosed by Rapid Genetic Testing

Rachel Nayak, MD, and Zachary London, MD, FAAN
Please Pick Me Because I Love Puzzles: Searching for Meaning in the Neurology Personal Statement

Josephe Archie Honorat, MD, PhD, and Gregory Kapinos, MD, MS
The semiology of ascertaining consciousness: Looking beyond the eyelids & gazing into awareness!

Franklyn Rocha-Cabrero, MD
American Academy of Neurology Virtual Conference — Forward and Rewind

Pouya Khankhanian, MD
EEG Reading and Interpretation: Are graduating residents prepared for that panic call that they are going to get in the middle of the night?

Other Residents & Fellows News

Roy Strowd
Welcoming a New Team: excited for a new team of RFS resident editors

Jens Witsch
Invited Commentary: Rule out this, rule in that: strokes and stroke mimics

June 21, 2021

View All Featured Commentaries

May 25 | e-Pearl | Autoimmune Autonomic Ganglionopathy
e-Pearls archive: Now Searchable! | Submit an e-Pearl

Autoimmune Autonomic Ganglionopathy

Autoimmune autonomic ganglionopathy (AAG) is a rare autoimmune disorder with antibodies against ganglionic nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α3-nAChR) of the autonomic ganglia¹. Patients may experience symptoms of acute to subacute, generalized sympathetic, parasympathetic and enteric autonomic failure². Antibodies are detected in about 50% of patients and levels correlate with the severity of dysautonomia. An understanding of the underlying pathophysiology is imperative for timely diagnosis and management, including the appropriate use of immunosuppressive therapy in conjunction with plasmapheresis, supportive care and a search for malignancy. Patients may be seronegative for α3-nAChR antibodies but may still benefit from immunotherapy³. The clinical course of AAG is variable. Spontaneous improvement occurs in about one-third of patients, but recovery is typically incomplete.

References:
1. Golden EP, Vernino S. Autoimmune autonomic neuropathies and ganglionopathies: epidemiology, pathophysiology, and therapeutic advances. Clin Auton Res. 2019;29:277-288.
2. Gibbons CH, Freeman R. Antibody titers predict clinical features of autoimmune autonomic ganglionopathy. Auton Neurosci. 2009;146:8–12.
3. Golden EP, Bryarly MA, Vernino S. Seronegative autoimmune autonomic neuropathy: a distinct clinical entity. Clin Auton Res. 2018;28:115-123.
Submitted by Priyanka Shekhawat MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth; Alice Ruo Wei Tang MD, Neurology Resident, Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Massachusetts General Hospital; and Christopher Gibbons MD, Associate Professor of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Drs. Shekhawat and Tang report no disclosures. Dr. Gibbons serves as the Associate Editor for Autonomic Neuroscience: Basic and Clinical, has received research support from Grifols as well as an NIH Grant, and owns stock in CND Life Services.