Deciphering Perspectives: A European survey on clinical decision support tools for dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

Introduction: Technological advancements like digital monitoring tools, disease modifying therapies and artificial intelligence have been shown to improve the clinical management of neurocognitive diseases like Alzheimer's disease (AD). To enhance implementation in daily practice, users' input is essential in the technology development process. This study aimed to determine clinician's perspective of clinical decision support systems (CDSS) in the management of dementia and AD.

Point of view: Challenges in implementation of new immunotherapies for Alzheimer's disease.

The advancement of disease-modifying treatments (DMTs) for Alzheimer's disease (AD), along with the approval of three amyloid-targeting therapies in the US and several other countries, represents a significant development in the treatment landscape, offering new hope for addressing this once untreatable chronic progressive disease. However, significant challenges persist that could impede the successful integration of this class of drugs into clinical practice. These challenges include determining patient eligibility, appropriate use of diagnostic tools and genetic testing in patient care pathways, effective detection and monitoring of side effects, and improving the healthcare system's readiness by engaging both primary care and dementia specialists.

Costs of Care in Relation to Alzheimer's Disease Severity in Sweden: A National Registry-Based Cohort Study.

Background: The advancement of diagnostic and therapeutic interventions in early Alzheimer's disease (AD) has demanded the economic evaluation of such interventions. Resource utilization and cost estimates in early AD and, more specifically, the amyloid-positive population are still lacking. We aimed to provide cost estimates in AD in relation to disease severity and compare these with the control population.

IPECAD Modeling Workshop 2023 Cross-Comparison Challenge on Cost-Effectiveness Models in Alzheimer's Disease.

Objectives: Decision-analytic models assessing the value of emerging Alzheimer's disease (AD) treatments are challenged by limited evidence on short-term trial outcomes and uncertainty in extrapolating long-term patient-relevant outcomes. To improve understanding and foster transparency and credibility in modeling methods, we cross-compared AD decision models in a hypothetical context of disease-modifying treatment for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD.

Methods: A benchmark scenario (US setting) was used with target population MCI due to AD and a set of synthetically generated hypothetical trial efficacy estimates.

Health-related quality of life in subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment: a longitudinal cohort analysis.

Background: Health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) is an important outcome for patients and crucial for demonstrating the value of new treatments. Health utility estimates in subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are limited, especially in biomarker-confirmed populations. Besides, little is known about the longitudinal HR-QoL trajectory.

Effect of mortality in cost-effectiveness modeling of disease-modifying treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

Introduction: We examined (1) the magnitude of mortality attributed to Alzheimer's disease (AD), and (2) the effect of mortality in cost-effectiveness modeling of hypothetical disease-modifying treatment (DMT) in AD.

Method: Data were derived from Swedish Dementia Registry ( = 39,308). Mortality was analyzed with survival analysis and multinomial logistic regression.

HIV testing uptake and HIV positivity among presumptive tuberculosis patients in Mandalay, Myanmar, 2014-2017.

Introduction: The World Health Organization's framework for TB/HIV collaborative activities recommends provider-initiated HIV testing and counselling (PITC) of patients with presumptive TB. In Myanmar, PITC among presumptive TB patients was started at the TB outpatient department (TB OPD) in Mandalay in 2014. In this study, we assessed the uptake of PITC among presumptive TB patients and the number needed to screen to find one additional HIV positive case, stratified by demographic and clinical characteristics.

Contact Investigation of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Patients: A Mixed-Methods Study from Myanmar.

There is no published evidence on contact investigation among multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients from Myanmar. We describe the cascade of contact investigation conducted in 27 townships of Myanmar from January 2018 to June 2019 and its implementation challenges. This was a mixed-methods study involving quantitative (cohort analysis of programme data) and qualitative components (thematic analysis of interviews of 8 contacts and 13 health care providers).

Evaluation of a tuberculosis active case finding project in peri-urban areas, Myanmar: 2014-2016.

Objectives: We assessed the effect of an active case finding (ACF) project on tuberculosis (TB) case notification and the yields from a household and neigbourhood intervention (screening contacts of historical index TB patients diagnosed >24months ago) and a community intervention (screening attendants of health education sessions/mobile clinics).

Design: Cross-sectional analysis of project records, township TB registers and annual TB reports.

Results: In the household and neigbourhood intervention, of 56,709 people screened, 1,076 were presumptive TB and 74 patients were treated for active TB with a screening yield of 0.

Gene structure and mutant alleles of PCDH15: nonsyndromic deafness DFNB23 and type 1 Usher syndrome.

Mutations of PCDH15, encoding protocadherin 15, can cause either combined hearing and vision impairment (type 1 Usher syndrome; USH1F) or nonsyndromic deafness (DFNB23). Human PCDH15 is reported to be composed of 35 exons and encodes a variety of isoforms with 3-11 ectodomains (ECs), a transmembrane domain and a carboxy-terminal cytoplasmic domain (CD). Building on these observations, we describe an updated gene structure that has four additional exons of PCDH15 and isoforms that can be subdivided into four classes.