Bone mineral density in primary care patients related to serum calcium concentrations: a longitudinal cohort study from Sweden.

Objective: Elevated calcium concentration is a commonly used measure in screening analyses for primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) and cancer. Low bone mineral density (BMD) and osteoporosis are common features of pHPT and strengthen the indication for parathyroidectomy. It is not known whether an elevated calcium concentration could be a marker of low BMD in suspected pHPT patients with a normal parathyroid hormone concentration.

Reduced Cerebrospinal Fluid Concentration of Apolipoprotein A-I in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) has been extensively studied in Alzheimer's disease (AD), but little is known of apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

Objective: Plasma lipids as well as ApoA-I and ApoE in plasma and CSF were determined and related to Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score, APOE genotype, and CSF AD biomarkers.

Methods: Consecutive patients with AD (n = 29), stable mild cognitive impairment (n = 13), other dementias (n = 14), and healthy controls (n = 18) were included at a single center.

Reduced cerebrospinal fluid concentration of interleukin-12/23 subunit p40 in patients with cognitive impairment.

Background: The role of inflammation in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other cognitive disorders is unclear. In a well-defined mono-center population, we measured cytokines and chemokines in paired serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples.

Methods: Consecutive patients with AD (n = 30), stable mild cognitive impairment (SMCI, n = 11), other dementias (n = 11), and healthy controls (n = 18) were included.

Cerebrospinal fluid substance P concentrations are elevated in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

The neuropeptides substance P, orexin A (hypocretin-1) and neurotensin are signaling molecules that influence brain activity. We examined their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels in a study population consisting of Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) diagnosed with AD dementia upon follow-up (n=32), stable MCI (SMCI, n=13), other dementias (n=15), and healthy controls (n=20). CSF substance P level was increased in AD patients compared to patients with other dementias and healthy controls (P<0.

Body composition and bone mineral density in women with Cushing's syndrome in remission and the association with common genetic variants influencing glucocorticoid sensitivity.

Objective: Adverse body compositional features and low bone mineral density (BMD) are the characteristic of patients with active Cushing's syndrome (CS). The aim of this study was to evaluate body composition and BMD in women with CS in long-term remission and the influence of polymorphisms in genes affecting glucocorticoid (GC) sensitivity on these end-points.

Design, Patients And Methods: This was a cross-sectional, case-controlled study, including 50 women previously treated for CS and 50 age and gender-matched controls.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration and CSF acetylcholinesterase activity are reduced in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Little is known of vitamin D concentration in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and its relation with CSF acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, a marker of cholinergic function.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 52 consecutive patients under primary evaluation of cognitive impairment and 17 healthy controls. The patients had AD dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) diagnosed with AD dementia upon follow-up (n = 28), other dementias (n = 12), and stable MCI (SMCI, n = 12).

Long-term follow-up of patients with elevated serum calcium concentrations in Swedish primary care.

Objective: To follow up patients with elevated calcium concentrations after 10 years.

Design: Longitudinal, using medical records, questionnaires, and clinical investigation.

Setting: Primary care in Tibro, Sweden, 2008-2010.

Reduced cerebrospinal fluid level of thyroxine in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Little is known of the association between thyroid hormones in the central nervous system and Alzheimer's disease (AD). We determined thyroid hormone levels in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in a well-defined homogeneous mono-center population.

Methods: Fifty-nine consecutive patients under primary evaluation for cognitive impairment were recruited.

The association between the IGF-I axis, thyroid hormones and cortical bone in patients with mild primary hyperparathyroidism.

Objectives: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is associated with low bone mineral density (BMD) and increased risk of osteoporotic fractures. This study investigated whether the IGF-I axis and thyroid hormones are associated with BMD and osteoporotic fractures before and after parathyroidectomy (PTX).

Materials And Methods: Forty-five patients with mild PHPT were examined before and 1 year after PTX.

Factors influencing insulin sensitivity in patients with mild primary hyperparathyroidism before and after parathyroidectomy.

Objectives: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is associated with cardiovascular disease. The aims of this study were to investigate lipid and glucose metabolism in mild PHPT, and to identify whether insulin sensitivity correlates with circulating levels of adiponectin, SHBG, and osteocalcin before and after parathyroidectomy (PTX).

Materials And Methods: Forty-five patients with PHPT were examined before and 1 year after PTX.

Adrenal lesions in patients with extra-adrenal malignancy - benign or malignant?

Background: Adrenal lesions in patients with extra-adrenal malignancy can be part of disseminated tumour disease, but may also be incidental, benign finding. Strict characterisation is therefore crucial, and may have profound effects on patient management.

Purpose: To prospectively characterise and follow-up adrenal lesions in patients with extra-adrenal malignancy, stratified into those with past or concurrent malignancy, with or without metastases.

Cohort study of patients with adrenal lesions discovered incidentally.

Background: This prospective cohort study investigated the incidence, clinical features and natural history of incidentally discovered adrenal mass lesions (adrenal incidentaloma, AI) in an unselected population undergoing radiological examination.

Methods: During an 18-month period, all patients with AI were reported prospectively from all 19 radiology departments in western Sweden. Inclusion criteria were: incidentally discovered adrenal enlargement or mass lesion in patients without extra-adrenal malignancy on detection.

Increased markers of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction in patients with mild primary hyperparathyroidism.

Objectives: The association between primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) and cardiovascular disease is incompletely understood. The aims of this study were to evaluate how cardiac function and markers of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction correlate in patients with mild PHPT, and how these markers are influenced by surgical cure of the parathyroid disease (PTX).

Material And Methods: Forty-five patients with PHPT were examined before and 1 year after PTX.

Adrenal lesion frequency: A prospective, cross-sectional CT study in a defined region, including systematic re-evaluation.

Background: incidentally detected adrenal lesions have become a growing clinical problem.

Purpose: to prospectively estimate and validate the prevalence of incidentally detected adrenal lesions (adrenal incidentaloma) in patients with or without malignant disease undergoing CT.

Material And Methods: during 18 months all adult patients with incidentally discovered adrenal lesions detected at CT were prospectively reported from the radiology departments of all hospitals in Western Sweden (1.

Experimenting with Minnaert's Cigar.

We have studied the seldom-seen halo phenomenon that can arise in divergent light, Minnaert's Cigar, which we produced in laboratory experiments and computer simulation. In the laboratory experiments halos or transections were produced in clouds of alum crystals precipitated in a solution of ethyl alcohol or in alum crystals deposited upon glass plates. The three-dimensional cigar form was less pronounced in our small-scale experiments than when the form was observed over several meters.

Increased plasma concentrations of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide in patients with mild primary hyperparathyroidism.

Objective: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is associated with heart disease. The aims of the present study were to evaluate how cardiac function and secretion of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) correlate in patients with mild PHPT, and how the plasma level of NT-proBNP is influenced by cure of the parathyroid disease.

Design And Patients: Forty-two patients with PHPT without symptoms of heart disease were examined before and 1 year after curative parathyroidectomy.

Increase of bioavailable testosterone is associated with gain in bone mineral density after cure of primary hyperparathyroidism in postmenopausal women.

Objective: The recovery of bone mineral density (BMD) after surgical cure of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) seems to be multifactorial and not just dependent on declining PTH. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of sex steroids in this context.

Design And Patients: Thirty-six postmenopausal women with PHPT were examined before and 1 year after curative parathyroidectomy.

Early parathyroidectomy increases bone mineral density in patients with mild primary hyperparathyroidism: a prospective and randomized study.

Background: There is an ongoing controversy regarding how to take care of patients with mild primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) and how to grade their disease activity in terms of bone parameters. This prospective and randomized study was undertaken to evaluate skeletal effects of delayed surgical treatment in such patients.

Methods: Fifty patients with mild PHPT (serum calcium, 2.

Huntington's Disease-like 2 (HDL2) in North America and Japan.

Huntington's Disease-like 2 (HDL2) is a progressive, autosomal dominant, neurodegenerative disorder with marked clinical and pathological similarities to Huntington's disease (HD). The causal mutation is a CTG/CAG expansion mutation on chromosome 16q24.3, in a variably spliced exon of junctophilin-3.

Evidence for a modifier of onset age in Huntington disease linked to the HD gene in 4p16.

Huntington disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by the abnormal expansion of CAG repeats in the HD gene on chromosome 4p16.3. A recent genome scan for genetic modifiers of age at onset of motor symptoms (AO) in HD suggests that one modifier may reside in the region close to the HD gene itself.

Caudate volume as an outcome measure in clinical trials for Huntington's disease: a pilot study.

Previous research has demonstrated that longitudinal change in caudate volume could be observed over a period of 3 years in subjects with Huntington's disease (HD). The current pilot study was designed to determine whether measurement of caudate change on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a feasible and valid outcome measure in an actual clinical trial situation. We measured caudate volumes on pre- and post-treatment MRI scans from 19 patients at two sites who were participating in CARE-HD (Co-enzyme Q10 and Remacemide: Evaluation in Huntington's Disease), a 30-month clinical trial of remacemide and co-enzyme Q(10) in symptomatic patients with HD.

Psychological consequences and predictors of adverse events in the first 5 years after predictive testing for Huntington's disease.

The promise of genetic medicine is to provide information, based on genotype, to persons not yet sick about their risk of future illness. However, little is known of the long-term psychological effects for asymptomatic persons learning their risk of having a serious disease. Predictive genetic testing for Huntington's disease (HD) has been offered for the longest time for any disease.

A genome scan for modifiers of age at onset in Huntington disease: The HD MAPS study.

Huntington disease (HD) is caused by the expansion of a CAG repeat within the coding region of a novel gene on 4p16.3. Although the variation in age at onset is partly explained by the size of the expanded repeat, the unexplained variation in age at onset is strongly heritable (h2=0.

Predictive, pre-natal and diagnostic genetic testing for Huntington's disease: the experience in Canada from 1987 to 2000.

Predictive and pre-natal testing for Huntington's Disease (HD) has been available since 1987. Initially this was offered by linkage analysis, which was surpassed by the advent of the direct mutation test for HD in 1993. Direct mutation analysis provided an accurate test that not only enhanced predictive and pre-natal testing, but also permitted the diagnostic testing of symptomatic individuals.