Practical Neurology Podcast

Another packed episode for this month's issue of the journal. There's a special emphasis on case reports this time, showing their value as a way to understand the rarely encountered. For the more common conditions there are guidelines, and the editors give you an introduction to the new ABN guidelines on myasthenia gravis, as a preview to an upcoming full episode on the topic. There's a birder's take on the use of EEG for status epilepticus, a review of the benefits and challenges for digital health records, and some deliberation on ophthalmological pronunciation. Plus, an opportunity to test your knowledge on illicit drug slang: do you know your "jeff" from your "khat"?

Read the highlights: https://pn.bmj.com/content/25/5/391

Please subscribe to the Practical Neurology podcast on your favourite platform to get the latest podcast every month. If you enjoy our podcast, you can leave us a review or a comment on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/3vVPClm) or Spotify (https://spoti.fi/4baxjsQ). We'd love to hear your feedback on social media - @PracticalNeurol.

Production by Brian Kennedy, Letícia Amorim. Editing by Brian O'Toole. Thank you for listening.

The wonders of the animal kingdom make an absorbing reappearance this episode, so grab your scuba mask before listening - or your chef’s hat.

The first case this month is the kind that even an experienced neurologist would be nervous to encounter (1:35). A holidaymaker in his sixties presents to the emergency department with vomiting, dizziness, and an inability to walk, amongst several other symptoms. A suspicion of stroke was quickly replaced by a different hypothesis following discussions with the patient’s family members.

https://pn.bmj.com/content/25/4/377

The second case follows a presentation over the span of multiple decades (18:44). A woman first presents in her thirties with extreme lethargy and occasional migraines. She was diagnosed with panhypopituitarism and treated with steroid replacement. Following breast cancer in her late forties, treated by surgery and radiotherapy, the migraines worsened, prompting further investigation.

https://pn.bmj.com/content/25/4/359

The case reports discussion is hosted by Prof. Martin Turner¹, who is joined by Dr. Ruth Wood² and Dr. Babak Soleimani³ for a group examination of the features of each presentation, followed by a step-by-step walkthrough of how the diagnosis was made. These case reports and many others can be found in the June 2025 issue of the journal.

(1) Professor of Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, and Consultant Neurologist at John Radcliffe Hospital.

Please subscribe to the Practical Neurology podcast on your favourite platform to get the latest podcast every month. If you enjoy our podcast, you can leave us a review or a comment on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/3vVPClm) or Spotify (https://spoti.fi/4baxjsQ). We'd love to hear your feedback on social media - @PracticalNeurol.

Production by Brian Kennedy, Letícia Amorim. Editing by Brian O'Toole. Thank you for listening.

"This is a disorder that you don't want to miss", says Prof. Jon Stone¹, describing the condition at the heart of this episode, alongside co-author Dr. Huw Green². Their paper "Health anxiety in a neurological setting" is the subject of the Editors' Choice podcast for the August 2025 issue, hosted by Dr. Amy Ross Russell. They cover the assumptions to avoid, the problematic pattern of patient reassurance and return, effective treatment methods, and even touch on a light bit of existentialism.

Read the paper: https://pn.bmj.com/content/25/4/330

See also: https://neurosymptoms.org/

(1) Neuropsychology, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK

(2) Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Please subscribe to the Practical Neurology podcast on your favourite platform to get the latest podcast every month. If you enjoy our podcast, you can leave us a review or a comment on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/3vVPClm) or Spotify (https://spoti.fi/4baxjsQ). We'd love to hear your feedback on social media - @PracticalNeurol.

Production by Amy Ross Russell and Brian O'Toole, editing by Brian O'Toole. Thank you for listening. 

Simplification is everything - that's the message for the latest issue of the journal. Assisted by a cast of characters including Albert Einstein and deep sea sponges, your editors Phil Smith and Geraint Fuller take on topics from hyponatraemia to health anxiety. You'll also find bread and butter epileptology, somatosensory evoked potentials, creatine kinase, and a guide for exploring the hinterlands of essential tremor.

Read the issue: https://pn.bmj.com/content/25/4/297 

Please subscribe to the Practical Neurology podcast on your favourite platform to get the latest podcast every month. If you enjoy our podcast, you can leave us a review or a comment on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/3vVPClm) or Spotify (https://spoti.fi/4baxjsQ). We'd love to hear your feedback on social media - @PracticalNeurol.

Production and editing by Brian O'Toole. Thank you for listening. 

In the latest bonus podcast, the practical use of intravenous immunoglobulin is discussed with perspectives from three continents.

Participants:

Please subscribe to the Practical Neurology podcast on your favourite platform to get the latest podcast every month. If you enjoy our podcast, you can leave us a review or a comment on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/3vVPClm) or Spotify (https://spoti.fi/4baxjsQ). We'd love to hear your feedback on social media - @PracticalNeurol.

Production and editing by Letícia Amorim. Thank you for listening. 

Gastric sleeve surgery is the key feature of a pair of recent cases from the journal, which start this episode (1:17). Both cases feature 25-yo women with presentations in common: paraesthesia and limb weakness, along with disordered eye movement. Their symptoms arose soon after the gastrectomy operation. 

The second report is a "true grey case" (22:14), with a myriad of presenting symptoms in a 27-yo man: fevers, weight loss, lethargy, light sensitivity, and skin plaques around the nose and mouth. Steroid treatment was started with a suspicion of a  connective tissue disease, but was halted when his condition soon worsened. Some feathered friends of the podcast shine a light on the diagnosis.

The case reports discussion is hosted by Prof. Martin Turner¹, who is joined by Dr. Ruth Wood² and Dr. Babak Soleimani³ for a group examination of the features of each presentation, followed by a step-by-step walkthrough of how the diagnosis was made. These case reports and many others can be found in the June 2025 issue of the journal.

(1) Professor of Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, and Consultant Neurologist at John Radcliffe Hospital.

Please subscribe to the Practical Neurology podcast on your favourite platform to get the latest podcast every month. If you enjoy our podcast, you can leave us a review or a comment on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/3vVPClm) or Spotify (https://spoti.fi/4baxjsQ). We'd love to hear your feedback on social media - @PracticalNeurol.

Production by Amy Ross Russell and Brian O'Toole, editing by Brian O'Toole. Thank you for listening.

A neuroinflammatory disorder with the potential to affect virtually any organ in the body, IgG4-related disease is a challenge on many fronts. The latest Editors' Choice paper in the June 2025 issue takes on this systemic disease, presenting a treatment algorithm for its management. This episode, PN's podcast editor Dr. Amy Ross Russell speaks with author Dr. Claire Rice. Hear an overview on the disease background, the signs in presentation, what to look for in the histology, and steroid treatment strategy. 

Read the paper: IgG4-related disease in the nervous system 

Please subscribe to the Practical Neurology podcast on your favourite platform to get the latest podcast every month. If you enjoy our podcast, you can leave us a review or a comment on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/3vVPClm) or Spotify (https://spoti.fi/4baxjsQ). We'd love to hear your feedback on social media - @PracticalNeurol.

Production by Amy Ross Russell and Brian O'Toole. Editing by Brian O'Toole. Thank you for listening. 

This episode’s theme is new diseases, whether they are newly described, or old diseases back in a new form. We start off with IgG4-related disease, a chronic multisystem disorder that is still being understood. Then there is a genetics paper on repeat expansion disorders, a group of conditions often thought as disparate but with quite a few commonalities. Next along is a fascinating case following gastric sleeve bariatric surgery, highlighting the dangers of travelling for unsupervised surgeries, and raising the question, “Are you getting enough soil in your diet?” There’s also a discussion of what else Hoover’s sign might represent, and the evolution of immunoglobulin use. Closing the episode is a paper offering a masterclass on the assessment of best interests in  prolonged disorder of consciousness.

Read the issue: https://pn.bmj.com/content/25/3/199

Please subscribe to the Practical Neurology podcast on your favourite platform to get the latest podcast every month. If you enjoy our podcast, you can leave us a review or a comment on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/3vVPClm) or Spotify (https://spoti.fi/4baxjsQ). We'd love to hear your feedback on social media - @PracticalNeurol.

Production and editing by Brian O'Toole. Thank you for listening. 

Two wide open cases from the latest issue of the journal. Starting with a case from Italy (1:18), of a 63-yo man having a history of behavioural and cognitive problems since retiring. His many changes included low mood, significant weight loss, and problems with sleep and temperature regulation. He had a background of type 2 diabetes. Initial treatment was on a suspicion of Alzheimer's, but there was no clinical improvement. https://pn.bmj.com/content/25/2/159 

A case from the United States is next (17:36), featuring a 66-yo lady experiencing 10 days of generalised weakness, with episodes of forgetfulness and a series of falls. She had previously been treated for left-sided ophthalmic herpes zoster. Neurological examination showed mild right arm and leg weakness. https://pn.bmj.com/content/25/2/164 

The case reports discussion is hosted by Prof. Martin Turner¹, who is joined by Dr. Ruth Wood² and Dr. Babak Soleimani³ for a group examination of the features of each presentation, followed by a step-by-step walkthrough of how the diagnosis was made. These case reports and many others can be found in the April 2025 issue of the journal.

(1) Professor of Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, and Consultant Neurologist at John Radcliffe Hospital.

Please subscribe to the Practical Neurology podcast on your favourite platform to get the latest podcast every month. If you enjoy our podcast, you can leave us a review or a comment on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/3vVPClm) or Spotify (https://spoti.fi/4baxjsQ). We'd love to hear your feedback on social media - @PracticalNeurol.

Production and editing by Brian O'Toole. Thank you for listening. 

Immune checkpoint inhibitors can significantly improve cancer survival rates. But resulting immune-related toxicities are common, requiring multidisciplinary cooperation between oncology and neurology. 

This episode, PN's podcast editor Dr. Amy Ross Russell speaks with a panel of experts on the balancing act required when treating cancer patients with these new drugs. Oncologist Dr. Heather Shaw¹ is alongside neurologists Dr. Aisling Carr² and Dr. Mark Willis³, and they are amongst the authors of the editors' choice paper for the latest issue of Practical Neurology.

Read the paper: Neurological complications of immune checkpoint inhibitors: a practical guide 

(1) Department of Oncology, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, London, UK

Please subscribe to the Practical Neurology podcast on your favourite platform to get the latest podcast every month. If you enjoy our podcast, you can leave us a review or a comment on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/3vVPClm) or Spotify (https://spoti.fi/4baxjsQ). We'd love to hear your feedback on social media - @PracticalNeurol.

Production by Letícia Amorim, Brian Kennedy, Amy Ross Russell and Brian O'Toole. Editing by Brian O'Toole. Thank you for listening.