The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of coprolalia in younger patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS). Coprolalia, which is the least understood and perhaps most unusual symptom of GTS, is reported to occur in 4-60% of all patients with GTS. Most reports indicate a prevalence > 30%. The widely varying prevalence figures for coprolalia may reflect cultural differences, severity of disease, and the age of the population surveyed. This study is a chart review of 112 patients seen in a pediatric neurology clinic in South Florida who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (3rd ed., revised) criteria for GTS. Only 8% of the patients in the study exhibited coprolalia. This unusually low frequency of coprolalia suggests that coprolalia may be rarer than previously believed in younger patients. It may also better reflect the frequency of coprolalia in a community-based pediatric neurology practice.

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Previous reports and the Physicians' Desk Reference caution against the use of levodopa in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with melanoma. A critical review of the literature reveals only anecdotal evidence to support a link between levodopa and melanoma. In fact, levodopa has an antitumor effect on melanoma. We report nine patients with PD and melanoma who were treated with levodopa/carbidopa (L/C). Current evidence suggests that L/C can be used safely in PD patients with a history of melanoma.

Clinical quality data registries are increasingly popular tools used by providers to improve the quality of clinical care and satisfy growing numbers of regulatory and reporting requirements. Specialty societies use registries to provide value to their members and guide improvements in care at the population level. In this article, we outline the rationale, structure, function, and challenges related to the American Academy of Neurology's development of its own clinical quality data registry: the Axon Registry.