Why
on-line neurological algorithms?
 o
provide the reader a quick, updated and reliable insight in the potential differential
diagnosis of commonly (and less commonly) encountered neurological
syndromes in adolescence
and adulthood. Neurological
disorders occurring in childhood are beyond the scope of this webpage.
he website is aimed
for: medical students doing their rotations in neurology and/or preparing
for their neurology exam, physicians doing their residency training
in neurology and young neurologists. However I am convinced that many
of my fellow colleagues will find some of the information also most useful.
he most frustrating thing
for young clinicians is to learn about common and rare neurological
diseases and to find out later that the presentation in adults is
totally different than that in children. Hence I attempted to
clearly delineate the clinical picture in adults.
  he
information is based on experience as a clinical neurologist and
academician and was supplemented by classical neurological
textbooks. More importantly the information is regularly updated by
core journals in Neurology (such as Neurology, Annals of Neurology,
European Neurology, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and
Psychiatry, Journal of Neurosciences, Current Opinion in Neurology)
and Internal Medicine (New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet).
No effort has been spared to include the most recent described
disease entities and their criteria for diagnosis, giving neurology
a dimension different from what is perceived from classical
textbooks. Finally, no algorithm is perfect and is not intended to
cover all circumstances. Hence there will still be situations where
the exercise is doubtful. It is then up to the reader to critically
revise the neurological syndrome and/or follow up the case until
more evidence is available. Keep in mind that besides critical
thinking, time often will lead you to the right diagnosis.
he content is organized
as such that following the identification of a recognizable neurological
syndrome, an algorithm of differential diagnoses is provided together
with the appropriate diagnostic tests. To facilitate the understanding of the algorithms
a short up-to-date description of the disease or syndrome is given by
hyperlink. I have tried to focus as much as possible on the most common
neurological signs and symptoms or syndromes (e.g. akinetic-rigid syndrome,
headache in the elderly, myoclonus etc. ), which explains why the list
is not exhaustive. As the reader might notice quite some emphasis has
been put on adding genetic information wherever available. The reason
for this is the fast evolution of this specialty as diagnostic tool in neurology.
he
chapters are divided in common recognizable neurological signs,
symptoms and syndrome chapters, which implicates that a basic
knowledge and interpretation of neurological history and synthesis
of neurological examination is desirable. This website will not be
able to lead you to a neurological syndrome if you are not familiar
with the basics of neurology. To a certain extent this webpage also
focuses on therapy of neurological disorders.
hroughout
the text mostly standard abbreviations are used to facilitate reading.
A list of these conventional and less common abbreviations is added
as hyperlink. The italic highlights in the text indicate important features.
Finally, the non-possessive form of disease description (Alzheimer disease in
stead of Alzheimer’s disease) is used throughout the sections.
o
avoid information overload the references have been restricted to the
minimum. New sections and regular updates will be provided.
Dirk Deleu
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