Volume 13 Issue 7, July 2017

In patients with acute ischaemic stroke resulting from anterior circulation occlusion, endovascular therapy provides greater long-term benefits than does intravenous tissue plasminogen activator. However, further improvement of systems of care and research regarding adjunct therapies is still needed.

The American Academy of Neurology and the American Epilepsy Society have jointly issued a new guideline on sudden expected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). The guideline emphasizes the importance of discussing SUDEP with patients and their caregivers, and uncovers gaps in the current literature that warrant further investigation.

Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation has produced striking results in patients with aggressive multiple sclerosis in small trials. In this Review, Muraro et al. provide an overview of the procedure, detail evidence for its high efficacy in multiple sclerosis, and provide recommendations for its clinical use and future trials.

Reliable biomarkers for frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are required for accurate discrimination between dementia types, prediction of clinical progression and tailoring of pharmacological interventions. This Review discusses the increasing number of available biomarkers for FTD — including novel imaging modalities and fluid biomarkers — and the future challenges in their implementation.

Effective drug treatments for intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) are still lacking. However, therapies that target microglial phenotype switching might soon become available for affected patients. Here, Wang and colleagues summarize key advances in understanding of microglial function after ICH, including modulators of microglial function and interactions with other cells.

Chronic pain presents a major health burden, affecting more than 20% of adults worldwide, but currently available analgesics lack efficacy and/or are associated with severe adverse effects. Here, Ellen Niederberger and colleagues discuss epigenetic modulation as a new opportunity in pain-relief therapy, and consider the future challenges for the clinical development of these drugs.