From the Co-Editor
Posted in Editor's introduction on 19th May 2020
Universally, like many writers, I can only begin by expressing my deep shock at the worldwide impact of COVID-19 and also by offering deep gratitude to the healthcare responders.
Medical teams worldwide have met unprecedented challenges with bravery and flexibility, many lives have been lost, and there is no clear end in sight. Yet, there is a great focus on gathering and sharing information, and a powerful drive to find solutions.
This issue of ACNR is a reflection of what this type of thinking can achieve, with Gavin Giovannoni interrogating the relationship between COVID and immunosuppression, and Ruth Dobson, as part of the review of multiple sclerosis and Pregnancy, giving us a view on COVID in multiple sclerosis and pregnancy. Using the clinical frailty scale in patient escalation plans is imperfect, as discussed by Stephen Halpin and Alice Jundi at the University of Leeds.
Rhys Davies looks back on the first 100 days of COVID and introduces CoroNerve, (links on the ABN RaDAR page) an initiative to gather information on the neurological impact of coronavirus. This is part of an international collaborative movement to gather data. More articles will follow with a more specific neuro-rehabilitation view, online first.
Turning our gaze away, there is a description of acute ataxia in the returning traveller, a rare cause, and JMS Pearce reviews early publications on diabetic amyotrophy, which reveal the exquisite skill of a detailed description which still is accurate today. It highlights how little additional knowledge we still have, 70 years later, about this often disabling condition. What is the role of the B cell in multiple sclerosis? Felix Marsh-Wakefield et al. describe how mass cytometry helps us to define the phenotype of B cell subsets in multiple sclerosis, which can help us understand their pathological or protective roles. Roula Ghaoui and Merrilee Needham both evaluate the role of next generation sequencing in the diagnosis of hereditary muscle disorders.
Claire Farrington-Douglas and Alex Leff emphasise the principle of ‘more is more’ in aphasia rehabilitation as they delineate the components of their Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Programme, with innovations such as communication partner training.
For this issue we have conference reports, and it will be interesting to see how virtual conferences can work. I give special thanks to Andrew Boardman who reviewed Spasticity: early and on-going management in an insightful and humorous way.
ACNR was established almost 20 years ago, to provide succinct articles, which aim to enrich clinical practice. Now, more than ever, this communication and propagation of good ideas is vital. We will be publishing further articles on the rehabilitation, neurology and neuroscience response to COVID, and welcome submissions from our national and international audience regarding this.
I wish you all the best of health,
Stay safe,
Ann