Publications by authors named "Andrea Metti"

Background & Aims: Radiological progression patterns to first-line sorafenib have been associated with post-progression and overall survival in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, but these associations remain unknown for therapies in second- and later-line settings. This post hoc analysis of REACH and REACH-2 examined outcomes by radiological progression patterns in the second-line setting of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with ramucirumab or placebo.

Methods: Patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, Child-Pugh A and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status 0 or 1 with prior sorafenib were randomized to receive ramucirumab 8mg/kg or placebo every 2 weeks.

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Introduction: Poor cognitive function and postural control co-occur in older adults. It is unclear whether they share neural substrates.

Methods: Postural sway error during a novel visual tracking (VT) condition and gray matter volume (GMV) were compared between participants with normal cognition (NC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or dementia (n = 179, mean age 82, 56% females, 56% white).

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Objective: To describe and compare phenotypic features of posttraumatic headaches (PTH) and headaches unrelated to concussion.

Methods: Participants are a random sample of recently deployed soldiers from the Warrior Strong cohort, consisting of soldiers with (n = 557) and without (n = 1,030) a history of a recent mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI; concussion). mTBI+ soldiers were subdivided as PTH+ (n = 230) and PTH- (n = 327).

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Objective: Parkinsonian motor signs are common and disabling in older adults without Parkinson's disease (PD), but its risk factors are not completely understood. We assessed the influence of striatal dopamine levels, cerebral small vessel disease, and other factors on age-related parkinsonian motor signs in non-PD adults.

Methods: Striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) binding was quantified via [11C]-CFT positron emission tomography in 87 neurologically intact adults (20-85 years, 57.

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Objectives: We examined the extent to which measures of neurodegeneration and cerebrovascular disease explain the rest-activity rhythm (RAR)-cognition link.

Methods: Seventy participants (mean age at MRI = 86, standard deviation (SD) = 2.6; 53% female) had cognitive, MRI, and accelerometer data.

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Background/objectives: To assess whether gait speed under complex conditions predicts long-term risk for mobility disability as well as or better than usual-pace gait speed.

Design: Longitudinal cohort study.

Setting/participants: Subsample of Health Aging and Body Composition study with follow-up from 2002 to 2003 to 2010 to 2011, including 337 community-dwelling adults (mean age = 78.

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Background: Neurologic gait abnormalities (NGA) increase risk for falls and dementia, but their pathophysiologic substrates or association with disability have been poorly investigated. We evaluated the association of NGA with clinical characteristics and functional status in older community-dwellers.

Methods: Gait characteristics were measured in older community-dwellers without neurological or psychological diseases participating to the Health Aging Body Composition study.

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Background: Performance on complex walking tasks may provide a screen for future cognitive decline.

Objective: To identify walking tasks that are most strongly associated with subsequent cognitive decline.

Methods: Community-dwelling older adults with Modified Mini-Mental State (3MS) >85 at baseline (n = 223; mean age = 78.

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We analyzed data from a cohort of recently deployed soldiers from 2 US Army bases, Fort Carson and Fort Bragg (2009 to 2015). Soldiers with and without a recent history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) on deployment were evaluated within days of return and at 3, 6, and 12 months. Those with mTBI were more likely than those without to endorse ≥1 postconcussive symptom as "severe" and/or "very severe" (47% vs.

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Background: In older adults, impaired postural control contributes to falls, a major source of morbidity. Understanding central mechanisms may help identify individuals at risk for impaired postural control.

Aims: To determine the relationship between gray matter volume (GMV), white matter hyperintensities (WMH), mean diffusivity (MD), and fractional anisotropy (FA) with lateral postural control.

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Objectives: To determine whether intervention-induced physical activity (PA) changes in sedentary older adults differed according to dopamine-related genotype.

Design: Randomized clinical trial (Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders Trial (2010-13)).

Setting: Multicenter study, 8 U.

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Background: physical function (PF) and physical activity (PA) both decline as adults age and have been linked to negative outcomes, including dementia, depression and cardiovascular diseases. Although declines in each are associated with numerous negative outcomes, the longitudinal relationship between these two measures is unclear.

Objective: to examine the dynamic, bidirectional associations between declines in PF and PA.

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Objective: To assess associations between cognitive impairment and longitudinal changes in retinal microvasculature, over 18 years, in adults with type 1 diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: Participants of the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications Study received ≥3 fundus photographs between baseline (1986-1988) and time of cognitive assessment (2010-2015: N = 119; 52% male; mean age and type 1 diabetes duration 43 and 34 years, respectively). Central retinal arteriolar equivalent and central retinal venular equivalent were estimated via computer-based methods; overall magnitude and speed of narrowing were quantified as cumulative average and slope, respectively.

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Psychomotor slowing is common in children with sickle cell disease (SCD), but little is known about its severity in adults. We conducted a cross-sectional study to quantify psychomotor speed, measured with the digit symbol substitution test (DSST), in relationship with disease severity in adults with SCD attending an outpatient clinic (n = 88, age 36.3 years).

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Background: Age-related limitations in mobility and decreased physical activity appear to be linked cross-sectionally; however, large-scale, longitudinal analyses of the associations between age-related changes in mobility and engagement in physical activity are lacking. In this longitudinal study, we hypothesized that early mobility limitations would contribute to later decreases in physical activity to a larger degree than the reciprocal association of early decreases in physical activity to later mobility limitations.

Methods: Participants were 2,876 initially well-functioning community-dwelling older adults (aged 70-79 years at baseline; 52% women; 39% black) studied over a 9-year period.

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Objective: To identify the shared neuroimaging signature of gait slowing and cognitive impairment.

Methods: We assessed a cohort of older adults (n = 175, mean age 73 years, 57% female, 65% white) with repeated measures of gait speed over 14 years, MRI for gray matter volume (GMV) at year 10 or 11, and adjudicated cognitive status at year 14. Gait slowing was calculated by bayesian slopes corrected for intercepts, with higher values indicating faster decline.

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Objectives: To determine the association between catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) genotype and 6-m walk time and to determine whether these associations are quadratic in nature, similar to previously reported U-shaped associations between dopamine and gait and cognition.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Health, Aging and Body Composition Study.

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Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been linked with migraine in prior studies.

Objective: To evaluate the individual and joint burdens of migraine and PTSD in a population-based cohort.

Methods: The National Comorbidity Survey-Replication (NCS-R) is a general population study conducted in the United States from February 2001-April 2003.

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We aimed to investigate if trajectory components (baseline level, slope, and variability) of peripheral interleukin-6 (IL-6) over time were related to cognitive impairment and smaller hippocampal volume and if hippocampal volume explained the associations between IL-6 and cognitive impairment. Multivariable regression models were used to test the association between IL-6 trajectory components with change in neuroimaging measures of the hippocampus and with cognitive impairment among 135 older adults (70-79 years at baseline) from the Healthy Brain Project over 14 years. IL-6 variability was positively associated with cognitive impairment (odds ratio [OR] = 5.

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Importance: Apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 is an established risk factor for cognitive decline and the development of dementia, but other factors may help to minimize its effects.

Objective: Using APOE ε4 as an indicator of high risk, we investigated factors associated with cognitive resilience among black and white older adults who are APOE ε4 carriers.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Participants included 2487 community-dwelling older (aged 69-80 years at baseline) black and white adults examined at 2 community clinics in the prospective cohort Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) study.

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We aimed to examine trajectories of inflammatory markers and cognitive decline over 10 years. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the association between interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein (CRP) trajectory components (slope, variability, and baseline level) and cognitive decline among 1323 adults, aged 70-79 years in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study. We tested for interactions by sex and apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype.

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Objectives: To determine the association between interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-6 soluble receptor (sR), and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor-1 (sTNF-R1) and cognitive status in the oldest-old women.

Design: Twenty-year longitudinal cohort study.

Setting: Four clinical sites in the United States.

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Background: Low literacy is common among the elderly and possibly more reflective of educational attainment than years of school completed. We examined the association between literacy and risk of likely dementia in older adults.

Methods: Participants were 2,458 black and white elders (aged 71-82) from the Health, Aging and Body Composition study, who completed the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine and were followed for 8 years.

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Objective: To determine whether anemia is associated with incident dementia in older adults.

Methods: We studied 2,552 older adults (mean age 76.1 years; 38.

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It has been hypothesized that cellular damage caused by oxidative stress is associated with late-life depression but epidemiological evidence is limited. In the present study we evaluated the association between urinary 8-iso-prostaglandin F2α (8-iso-PGF2α), a biomarker of lipid peroxidation, and depressed mood in a large sample of community-dwelling older adults. Participants were selected from the Health, Aging and Body Composition study, a community-based longitudinal study of older persons (aged 70-79 years).

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