Ultrasound pupillometry for the detection of a relative afferent pupillary defect (RAPD): Systematic evaluation in patients with optic neuritis and comparison with infrared video pupillometry.

Purpose: A relative afferent pupillary defect (RAPD) is a characteristic clinical sign of optic neuritis (ON). Here, we systematically evaluated ultrasound pupillometry (UP) for the detection of an RAPD in patients with ON, including a comparison with infrared video pupillometry (IVP), the gold standard for objective pupillometry.

Materials And Methods: We enrolled 40 patients with acute (n = 9) or past (n = 31) ON (ON+), 31 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) without prior ON, and 50 healthy controls (HC) in a cross-sectional observational study.

Hyperreflective retinal foci are associated with retinal degeneration after optic neuritis in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders and multiple sclerosis.

Background: Hyperreflective retinal foci (HRF) visualized by optical coherence tomography (OCT) potentially represent clusters of microglia. We compared HRF frequencies and their association with retinal neurodegeneration between people with clinically isolated syndrome (pwCIS), multiple sclerosis (pwMS), aquaporin 4-IgG positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (pwNMOSD), and healthy controls (HC)-as well as between eyes with (ONeyes) and without a history of optic neuritis (ONeyes).

Methods: Cross-sectional data of pwCIS, pwMS, and pwNMOSD with previous ON and HC were acquired at Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin.

Access to HIV prevention, testing and care among people with a migration background in Euregio Meuse-Rhine: a needs and assets assessment.

This study addresses disparities among people with a migration background (PMB) and those in less-urban regions, across the HIV prevention and care continuum (HIVPCC). We conducted a needs assessment and assets assessment to identify gaps between existing initiatives and persisting barriers. The research was conducted in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine (EMR), encompassing bordering regions in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands, and involved in-depth interviews with fifteen first-generation PMB, including nine with HIV.

Noise reduction in abdominal acoustic recordings of maternal placental murmurs.

Fetal phonocardiography is a well-known auscultation technique for evaluation of fetal health. However, murmurs that are synchronous with the maternal heartbeat can often be heard while listening to fetal heart sounds. Maternal placental murmurs (MPM) could be used to detect maternal cardiovascular and placental abnormalities, but the recorded MPMs are often contaminated by ambient interference and noise.