Introducing Volume 9 of Neurodegenerative Disease Management

Abstract

Welcome to the ninth volume of Neurodegenerative Disease Management. The start of a new volume is a great time to look back at past content and think about how the field has progressed over the last year. Below, I will discuss some of 2018's most popular articles, and also look forward to what 2019 has to bring, in this issue and beyond. In this issue The first issue of 2019 features a variety of topics, and starts with three reviews evaluating specific treatments. The first, from Kristen et al., examines patisiran; a double-stranded small interfering RNA, for the treatment of hereditary ATTR amyloidosis [1]. The authors review the efficacy and safety data from the patisiran clinical trial program. Next, Benson et al. review the use of inotersen, a second-generation antisense oligonucleotide, for the treatment of transthyretin amyloidosis [2]. Finally in this section, Richard and Frank look at the use of deutetrabenazine in the treatment of chorea in Huntington's disease; specifically the drug's pharmacological properties, interactions, administration and efficacy [3]. Two papers presenting original research are also included in this issue; the first is from Poewe et al., in which the authors conduct a post hoc analysis of the GLORIA registry to examine the long-term effect of levodopacarbidopa intestinal gel on dyskinesia burden in Parkinson's disease [4]. Finally, Lee et al. present a study piloting the Person-centred Risk Assessment Framework (PCRAF)-a framework managing risk among persons living with dementia in primary care [5]. Content highlights of 2018 As in previous years, we have taken a look back over the content published in 2018 to see what topics have proved most popular with our readers (Table 1). The most-read article of 2018 (at the time of writing), is a Case Report from Hartzell et al., discussing the difficult topic of suicide in early-onset Alzheimer's disease [6]. The authors conclude that: 'for clinicians who treat and evaluate patients with neurodegenerative disorders, safety and risk assessment must become integral components of ongoing care'. Interview content has proven particularly popular with our readers in 2018, with four articles in the top ten being interviews with experts in their field [7,9-11]. These interviews took place following the ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS conference in October 2017, and highlighted some of the key research presented at that conference by F Hoffmann-La Roche (Switzerland), Biogen (MA, USA), Celgene (Switzerland) and Merck KGaA (Germany). It was great to speak with these individuals, and learn about the exciting developments that are underway in the management of multiple sclerosis. Editorials also proved popular features in 2018; in the June issue, Modrego discusses the unmet needs in the management of myasthenia gravis [8]. And back in January, Popugaeva and Bezprozvanny discussed STIM proteins as regulators of neuronal store-operated calcium influx [12]. The journal's most popular original research this year came from Ogino et al. [13] and Ripamonti et al. [15]. R...