Effectiveness of transmural team-based palliative care in prevention of hospitalizations in patients at the end of life: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Team-based palliative care interventions have shown positive results for patients at the end of life in both hospital and community settings. However, evidence on the effectiveness of transmural, that is, spanning hospital and home, team-based palliative care collaborations is limited.

Aim: To systematically review whether transmural team-based palliative care interventions can prevent hospital admissions and increase death at home.

Accurate and fast urinalysis in febrile patients by flow cytometry.

Background: The urine culture is worldwide accepted as the gold standard in diagnosing urinary tract infections, but is time consuming and costly, other methods are fast but moderately reliable. We investigated whether counting the number of bacteria by flow cytometry could be a fast and accurate method to analyze urine samples in febrile patients at the emergency department (ED).

Methods: Urine samples were obtained from 140 febrile patients at the ED.

Accurate and fast diagnostic algorithm for febrile urinary tract infections in humans.

Background: The urine dipstick that detects nitrite and leukocyte esterase, and urine sediment is commonly used to diagnose or exclude urinary tract infections (UTIs) as the source of infection in febrile patients admitted to the emergency department of Dutch hospitals. However, the diagnostic accuracy of the urine dipstick and urine sediment has never been studied in this specific situation.

Methods: Urinary samples of 104 febrile consecutive patients were examined.

Impaired driving simulation in patients with Periodic Limb Movement Disorder and patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome.

Background: Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is considered to be responsible for increased collision rate and impaired driving simulator performance in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) patients. Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD) patients also frequently report EDS and may also have impaired driving capacities.

Methods: PLMD patients (n=16), OSAS patients (n=18), and controls (n=16) performed a monotonous 25-min driving simulation task.

Abnormal parietal function in conversion paresis.

The etiology of medically unexplained symptoms such as conversion disorder is poorly understood. This is partly because the interpretation of neuroimaging results in conversion paresis has been complicated by the use of different control groups, tasks and statistical comparisons. The present study includes these different aspects in a single data set.

Changed patterns of cerebral activation related to clinically normal hand movement in cervical dystonia.

Objectives: The relief of cervical dystonia by sensory tricks points at complex sensorimotor interaction. The relation between such stimulus-induced normalization of posture and parietal activation [Naumann M, Magyar-Lehmann S, Reiners K, Erbguth F, Leenders KL. Sensory tricks in cervical dystonia: perceptual dysbalance of parietal cortex modulates frontal motor programming.

Cerebral activation during motor imagery in complex regional pain syndrome type 1 with dystonia.

The pathogenesis of dystonia in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome type 1 (CRPS-1) is unclear. In primary dystonia, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has revealed changes in cerebral networks during execution of movement. The aim of this study was to determine cerebral network function in CRPS-1 patients with dystonic postures.

Diffusion tensor imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the brain in a patient with Sturge-Weber syndrome.

Quantitative brain MR spectroscopy (MRS) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were used to characterize one patient with Sturge-Weber syndrome. Choline increases and N-acetylaspartate decreases were observed in pathologic frontal gray matter tissue compared to contralateral unaffected brain tissue without any change in the diffusion tensor imaging parameters (fractional anisotropy, apparent diffusion coefficient). The N-acetylaspartate decreases and/or choline increases observed here and in eight previously described Sturge-Weber patients probably reflect neuronal loss or dysfunction and demyelination as a result of recurrent seizures.

Characteristics of intracranial aneurysms and subarachnoid haemorrhage in patients with polycystic kidney disease.

Background And Purpose: Subarachnoid haemorrhage is a common cause of death in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), but little is known about specific characteristics of subarachnoid haemorrhage and intracranial aneurysms in this group of patients. We performed a systematic review on site, size and number of aneurysms, age at time of rupture, gender, and family history in patients with ADPKD and intracranial aneurysms. We also studied the frequency of ADPKD in patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage treated in our hospital.