OBJECT There is currently no consensus on the safety of sports participation for patients with Chiari I malformation (CM-I). The authors' goal was to define the risk of sports participation for children with the imaging finding of CM-I. METHODS A prospective survey was administered to 503 CM-I patients at 2 sites over a 46-month period. Data were gathered on imaging characteristics, treatment, sports participation, and any sport-related injuries. Additionally, 81 patients completed at least 1 subsequent survey following their initial entry into the registry and were included in a prospective group, with a mean prospective follow-up period of 11 months. RESULTS Of the 503 CM-I patients, 328 participated in sports for a cumulative duration of 4641 seasons; 205 of these patients participated in contact sports. There were no serious or catastrophic neurological injuries. One patient had temporary extremity paresthesias that resolved within hours, and this was not definitely considered to be related to the CM-I. In the prospective cohort, there were no permanent neurological injuries. CONCLUSIONS No permanent or catastrophic neurological injuries were observed in CM-I patients participating in athletic activities. The authors believe that the risk of such injuries is low and that, in most cases, sports participation by children with CM-I is safe.

Object Bacterial spinal infections are infrequent but may lead to significant morbidity and death. Apart from neurological complications, infections may also lead to bone destruction resulting in deformity of the spine. However, the incidence of spinal deformities and risk factors is not well characterized in the literature. Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted using electronic medical records at a single institution. All patients were over 18 years of age and had a clinically and radiologically documented spinal infection that was treated surgically during the period 2006–2013. Infections were classified according to anatomical location including disc, bone, and/or epidural space. Deformities included kyphosis and/or subluxation. The authors analyzed risk factors for developing at least 1 deformity between the time of infection and operation using the Fisher exact test and chi-square test. Change in visual analog scale (VAS) scores preoperatively versus postoperatively was also analyzed using the paired t-test. Results The study included 48 patients. The most common types of spinal infections were osteomyelitis and discitis (31%); osteomyelitis, discitis, and spinal epidural abscess (SEA; 27%); SEA only (15%); and osteomyelitis only (13%). Overall, 21 (44%) of 48 patients developed a spinal deformity. Anatomical location of infection (bone and/or disc and/or epidural space) was significantly associated with development of deformity (p < 0.001). In particular, patients with SEA had lower odds of deformity compared with patients without SEA (odds ratio 0.2, 95% confidence interval 0.05–0.9; p < 0.001). No other factor was significantly associated with deformity. Pain measured by VAS score tended to improve by a mean of 1.7 ± 2.7 points (p < 0.001) when comparing preoperative to postoperative scores. Conclusions In this cohort of patients, 44% developed at least 1 deformity, predominantly kyphosis. The only variable significantly associated with deformity was infection location. Patients with SEA alone demonstrated lower odds of developing a deformity compared with patients without SEA. Other analyzed variables, including age, body mass index, time from initial diagnosis to surgery, and comorbidities, were not found to be associated with development of deformity. Surgical intervention resulted in pain improvement.

Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) is a common complication during treatment for natalizumab-associated progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Although severe IRIS can result in acute worsening of disability and is associated with poor prognosis, effective immune reconstitution may account for the high survival rate of this cohort of PML patients. We present pathological evidence of chronic IRIS 3.5 years after diagnosis with natalizumab-associated PML. Our case showed that the IRIS initially developed after plasma exchange therapy and resolved clinically and radiologically following a combination treatment with corticosteroids, maraviroc, and cidofovir. Autopsy 3.5 years later revealed evidence of grey-white matter junction demyelinating lesions characteristic of PML and perivascular leukocyte infiltrates predominated by CD8+ T-lymphocytes, and polymerase chain reaction analysis demonstrated the presence of JC viral DNA in this tissue, indicative of persistent PML-IRIS. While clinical symptoms of PML-IRIS typically stabilize within 6 months, our case report suggests that prolonged low-grade inflammation may persist in some patients. Better assays are needed to determine the prevalence of prolonged low-grade IRIS among PML survivors.

Functional neurological disorders (FNDs), which are sometimes also referred to as psychogenic neurological disorders or conversion disorder, are common disabling neuropsychiatric disorders with limited treatment options. FNDs can present with sensory and/or motor symptoms, and, though they may mimic other neurological conditions, they are thought to occur via mechanisms other than those related to identifiable structural neuropathology and, in many cases, appear to be triggered and sustained by recognizable psychological factors. There is intriguing preliminary evidence to support the use of psychedelic‐assisted therapy in a growing number of psychiatric illnesses, including FNDs. We review the theoretical arguments for and against exploring psychedelic‐assisted therapy as a treatment for FNDs. We also provide an in‐depth discussion of prior published cases detailing the use of psychedelics for psychosomatic conditions, analyzing therapeutic outcomes from a contemporary neuroscientific vantage as informed by several recent neuroimaging studies on psychedelics and FNDs.