Resilience Among Caregivers of People With Multiple Sclerosis: Exploring the Influence of Personality Traits, Coping, and Caregiver Burden.

Background: Resilience has been recognized as a vital protective factor in coping with stress and adversity. Multiple sclerosis (MS) caregiving is a complex and demanding role, often characterized by challenges.

Methods: Caregivers of people with MS were recruited through health care professionals affiliated with the Jacobs MS Center for Treatment and Research in Buffalo, New York.

Novel technique of monocuspid reconstruction of pulmonary valve in children requiring transannular patch for right ventricular outflow tract relief during tetralogy of Fallot surgery.

Unlabelled: Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) repair involves the placement of a transannular patch (TAP) to relieve right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) obstruction. TAP results in free pulmonary regurgitation (PR) after surgery. PR is responsible for most of the long-term complications in patients with operated TOF.

Ocrelizumab in Early-Stage Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: The Phase IIIb ENSEMBLE 4-Year, Single-Arm, Open-Label Trial.

Background And Objectives: Early treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) reduces disease activity and the risk of long-term disease progression. Effectiveness of ocrelizumab is established in relapsing MS (RMS); however, data in early RMS are lacking. We evaluated the 4-year effectiveness and safety of ocrelizumab as a first-line therapy in treatment-naive patients with recently diagnosed relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS).

Which Environmental Pollutants Are Toxic to Our Ears?-Evidence of the Ototoxicity of Common Substances.

Ototoxicity refers to the adverse effects of substances on auditory or vestibular functions. This study examines the evidence of ototoxicity's association with exposure to common environmental pollutants, as documented in toxicological profiles by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Our aim was to evaluate whether the evidence supports modifying the charting of ototoxic effects in the summary tables of these toxicological profiles and providing a guide for scientists to access these data.

The time to include cognition in the multiple sclerosis concept of progression independent from relapse activity is now.

Progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA) has been recently proposed in multiple sclerosis (MS) as a model identifying a continuous silent progression of disability without the manifestation of new clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) events that contribute to MS worsening. Despite evidence suggesting that clinical MS manifestations often affect cognitive functioning and the importance of neuropsychological monitoring over time, attention to silent cognitive progression is lacking, and the PIRA concept does not include a measure of cognitive function. In this personal viewpoint, we highlight the need to include cognition in the PIRA model to have a more comprehensive understanding of clinical progression in patients with MS.

Cognitive progression independent of relapse in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Substantial physical-disability worsening in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) occurs outside of clinically recorded relapse. This phenomenon, termed progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA), is yet to be established for cognitive decline.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of RRMS patients.

Clinical risk stratification: Development and validation of the DAAE score, a tool for estimating patient risk of transition to secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.

Background: Because secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) is associated with worse prognosis, early predictive tools are needed. We aimed to use systematic literature review and advanced methods to create and validate a clinical tool for estimating individual patient risk of transition to SPMS over five years.

Methods: Data from the Jacobs Multiple Sclerosis Center (JMSC) and the Multiple Sclerosis Center Amsterdam (MSCA) was collected between 1994 and 2022.

Cognitive function in severe progressive multiple sclerosis.

Cognitive impairment is common in multiple sclerosis and negatively impacts quality of life. Cognitive status has yet to be described in people with severe progressive multiple sclerosis, in whom conventional neuropsychological testing is exceptionally difficult. The objective for the study was to characterize cognitive performance in severe progressive multiple sclerosis and compare them with age-, sex- and disease duration-matched less disabled people with multiple sclerosis using a specifically developed auditory, non-motor test of attention/cognitive processing speed-Auditory Test of Processing Speed.

Cognitive performance and magnetic resonance imaging in people with multiple sclerosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Several studies have shown the different relationships between cognitive functions and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). However, there is an ongoing debate regarding the magnitude of correlation between MRI measurements and specific cognitive function tests. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to synthesize the most consistent correlations between MRI measurements and cognitive function in pwMS.

Neuroimaging assessment of facility-bound severely-affected MS reveals the critical role of cortical gray matter pathology: results from the CASA-MS case-controlled study.

Background: A subgroup of people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) will develop severe disability. The pathophysiology underlying severe MS is unknown. The comprehensive assessment of severely affected MS (CASA-MS) was a case-controlled study that compared severely disabled in skilled nursing (SD/SN) (EDSS ≥ 7.

Dynamic disability measures decrease the clinico-radiological gap in people with severely affected multiple sclerosis.

Background: Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) is limited when utilized in highly disabled people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS).

Objetive: To explore the relationship between disability measures and MRI outcomes in severely-affected pwMS.

Methods: PwMS recruited from The Boston Home (TBH), a specialized residential facility for severly-affected pwMS and University at Buffalo (UB) MS Center were assessed using EDSS, MS Severity Scale, age-related MSS, Scripps Neurological Rating Scale (SNRS) and Combinatorial Weight-Adjusted Disability Score (CombiWISE).

Hearing Loss and Urinary ,-Muconic Acid (,-MA) in 6- to 19-Year-Old Participants of NHANES 2017-March 2020.

Hearing loss (HL) is associated with poorer language development and school performance. Ototoxic substances such as metals and solvents, including benzene, are a risk factor associated with HL. This study examines potential associations between the benzene metabolite ,-muconic acid (,-MA) and HL in youth of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Is child anemia associated with early childhood development? A cross-sectional analysis of nine Demographic and Health Surveys.

Anemia is a significant public health problem in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with young children being especially vulnerable. Iron deficiency is a leading cause of anemia and prior studies have shown associations between low iron status/iron deficiency anemia and poor child development outcomes. In LMICs, 43% of children under the age of five years are at risk of not meeting their developmental potential.

Disutility of Cognitive Processing Speed (CPS) Impairment in the Context of Multiple Sclerosis: A Time Trade-Off (TTO) Elicitation Study.

Introduction: Cognitive impairment, especially relating to cognitive processing speed, is a major cause of disability in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Utility values are quantitative estimates of the quality of life experienced in specific health states and are a key component of cost-effectiveness modelling. However, existing health state utility values in MS typically focus on physical ability and are generally derived using generic (not disease-specific) measures of quality of life.

Internet-delivered lifestyle physical activity intervention for cognitive processing speed in multiple sclerosis.

Background: We propose a randomized controlled trial(RCT) of a Social Cognitive Theory-based(SCT), Internet-delivered behavioral intervention targeting lifestyle physical activity(LPA) for yielding improvements in cognitive processing speed(CPS), learning and memory(L/M), symptoms, and quality of life(QOL) among persons with mild multiple sclerosis(MS)-related ambulatory impairment who have impaired CPS.

Methods/design: The study involves a Phase-II, parallel group, RCT design. Participants with MS(N = 300) will be randomly assigned on an equal basis(1:1) into behavioral intervention(n = 150) or attention and social contact control(n = 150) conditions.

Proteomic signatures of physical, cognitive, and imaging outcomes in multiple sclerosis.

Background: A quantitative measurement of serum proteome biomarkers that would associate with disease progression endpoints can provide risk stratification for persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) and supplement the clinical decision-making process.

Materials And Methods: In total, 202 PwMS were enrolled in a longitudinal study with measurements at two time points with an average follow-up time of 5.4 years.

Multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis remains one of the most common causes of neurological disability in the young adult population (aged 18-40 years). Novel pathophysiological findings underline the importance of the interaction between genetics and environment. Improvements in diagnostic criteria, harmonised guidelines for MRI, and globalised treatment recommendations have led to more accurate diagnosis and an earlier start of effective immunomodulatory treatment than previously.

Cognitive phenotypes predict response to restorative cognitive rehabilitation in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Cognitive phenotyping may be useful for predicting rehabilitation response in multiple sclerosis.

Objective: To evaluate the association between cognitive phenotype(s) and response to restorative cognitive rehabilitation (RRCR).

Methods: In a post hoc retrospective analysis of the RRCR study including 51 multiple sclerosis patients, we evaluated both impairment within specific cognitive domains as well as overall global impairment severity to investigate their relationship to improvement following rehabilitation.

Auditory Test of Processing Speed: Preliminary validation of a smartphone-based test of mental speed.

Background: The Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) is a gold-standard measure of cognitive efficiency and processing speed for people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) but relies on vision and oculomotor function.

Objectives: To develop and validate a new processing speed test with minimal memory involvement and no eye function requirements.

Methods: We created an Auditory Test of Processing Speed (ATOPS).

Detecting isolated cognitive relapses in persons with MS.

Background: The existence of isolated cognitive relapses (ICRs) in persons with MS (PwMS) has been debated.

Objective: To examine relapses with decline on Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) but no change on Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS).

Methods: This 3-year prospective cohort study identified PwMS experiencing a relapse with decrease on SDMT.

Cortical thickness and cognition in older people with multiple sclerosis.

Background: The structural changes associated with cognitive performance in older people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS; age ≥ 50 years old) remain unknown.

Objective: To determine the relationship between whole-brain (WBV), thalamus as the largest deep gray matter nuclei, and cortex-specific volume measurements with both cognitive impairment and numerical performance in older PwMS. The main hypothesis is that cognitive impairment (CI) in older PwMS is explained by cortical thinning in addition to global and thalamic neurodegenerative changes.

Living kidney donors with HIV: experience and outcomes from a case series by the HOPE in Action Consortium.

Background: Living kidney donation is possible for people living with HIV (PLWH) in the United States within research studies under the HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act. There are concerns that donor nephrectomy may have an increased risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in PLWH due to HIV-associated kidney disease and antiretroviral therapy (ART) nephrotoxicity. Here we report the first 3 cases of living kidney donors with HIV under the HOPE Act in the United States.

Predicting employment deterioration with the Processing Speed Test (PST) and SDMT in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Employment deterioration is common in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Clinicians often learn of job loss after its occurrence, leaving no opportunity for preventive measures.

Objectives: Identify which neuropsychological measures discriminate between healthy volunteers (HVs) and employed/disabled PwMS at baseline and predict work deterioration over 2 years.