Duke Neurology at AAN 2021: Highlights from a virtual year

The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has moved its annual meeting to a virtual setting this year, but its offerings of the latest education and scientific programming continue. This year, members of the Duke Neurology Department collaborated with their colleagues at Duke and with other academic institutions to advance our understanding of neuro-oncology, myasthenia gravis, ALS, and other fields and disciplines. 

Among other projects, this year our faculty and trainees led one class and contributed to ten abstracts showcased at the AAN meeting. Read more about these individual contributions below, or browse the AAN program here.

AAN Untangled, revisited

In 2019, Rick Bedlack, MD, PhD, won the AAN’s Shark Tank competition for his ALS Untangled project (www.alsuntangled.org), which systematically reviews alternative and off-label treatments for ALS. This project opens the door for participation for patients and their families. On Monday, he provided an update on ALS Untangled’s evolution over the past two years. Read about that presentation here.

Abstracts:

Autoimmune Neurology

• Vivacity-MG: A Phase 2, Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study to Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability, Efficacy, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Immunogenicity of Nipocalimab Administered to Adults with Generalized Myasthenia -Jeffrey Guptill, MD, MHS, and colleagues
• A Case of Leber’s Plus Causing Recurrent Myelopathy Due to a Mutation at G3635A - Elijah Lackey, MD, and Christopher Eckstein, MD

Neuromuscular and Clinical Neurophysiology (EMG)

• Analysis of the Duke Myasthenia Gravis (MG) Clinic Registry: Thymectomy - Shruti Raja, MD, Donald Sanders, MD, Jeffrey Guptill, MD, MHS, Lisa Hobson-Webb, MD, Vern Juel, MD, and Janice Massey, MD

Neuro-Oncology

• Synchronous Diagnosis of Multicentric Glioma with Distinct Molecular Profiles - Katherine Peters, MD, PhD, and colleagues
• Glioblastoma Clinical Trials for Urban and Rural Patients in the United States from 2010-2020 - Katherine Peters, MD, PhD, and colleagues
• High Grade Glioma of the Spinal Cord: A Cases Series of Rare Malignancy - Katherine Peters, MD, PhD, and colleagues

Research Methodology and Education 

• Neuro-Jeopardy and Neurophobia: Lessons from a Pilot Intervention - Sneha Mantri, MD, MS, Chris Berry, and Vern Juel, MD

Cerebrovascular Disease and Interventional Neurology 

• Extracranial Hemorrhage in the Setting of Gastrointestinal or Genitourinary Cancer is Associated with Increased Risk of Ischemic Stroke in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation - Brian Mac Grory, MB BCh, MRCP, and colleagues
• Stroke Utilization and Outcomes Under Alternative Payment Models: A Systematic Review - Nada El Husseini, MD, and colleagues

General Neurology

• Irreversible Cerebellar Ataxia Following Treatment with 5-Fluorouracil - Deborah Rose, MD, and colleagues