Relative impact of diagnosis and clinical stage on response to electroconvulsive therapy: a retrospective cohort.

Objective: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is commonly indicated for refractory psychiatric disorders. However, response comparison across diagnoses is scantly investigated. Here, we aimed to evaluate the relative impact of diagnosis and clinical staging as response predictors in a cross-diagnostic sample.

Concomitant diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection: case report and the review of literature.

Background: To date, few cases of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with concomitant Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection have been described. However, none of the previously described cases has been treated with Natalizumab, probably due to the increasing risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).

Case: We report the case of a patient concomitantly diagnosed for HIV infection and MS treated with combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) and Natalizumab for 19 months, without clinical or radiological MS activity.

MR Imaging Signs of Gadolinium Retention Are Not Associated with Long-Term Motor and Cognitive Outcomes in Multiple Sclerosis.

Background And Purpose: The long-term impact of gadolinium retention in the dentate nuclei of patients undergoing administration of seriate gadolinium-based contrast agents is still widely unexplored. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of gadolinium retention on motor and cognitive disability in patients with MS during long-term follow-up.

Materials And Methods: In this retrospective study, clinical data were obtained from patients with MS followed in a single center from 2013 to 2022 at different time points.

AQP4-MOG Double-Positive Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder: Case Report with Central and Peripheral Nervous System Involvement and Review of Literature.

(1) The co-occurrence of AQP4 and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibodies in patients with demyelinating disorders is extremely rare. In addition, a concomitant involvement of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) has been described either in association with AQP4 antibodies-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), or MOG-associated disease. We report on a case of NMOSD with co-occurrence of AQP4 and MOG antibodies and concomitant central and peripheral nervous system involvement.

A virtual reality craving study in tobacco addiction: The role of non-pharmacological support in tobacco detox therapy.

Nicotine addiction is a widespread, worldwide epidemic, causing six million deaths per year. A large variety of treatments for smoking cessation are currently available, including Cytisine, which is a promising drug due to its low cost and high safety levels. Notwithstanding the important amount of research on tobacco addiction treatments, smoking remains one of the most difficult substance use disorders to treat, probably also due to the fact that pharmacological treatment often overlooks other maintaining factors in this addiction, such as sensory impact and cue reactivity.

Quantitative MRI in Multiple Sclerosis: From Theory to Application.

Quantitative MR imaging techniques allow evaluating different aspects of brain microstructure, providing meaningful information about the pathophysiology of damage in CNS disorders. In the study of patients with MS, quantitative MR imaging techniques represent an invaluable tool for studying changes in myelin and iron content occurring in the context of inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes. In the first section of this review, we summarize the physics behind quantitative MR imaging, here defined as relaxometry and quantitative susceptibility mapping, and describe the neurobiological correlates of quantitative MR imaging findings.

Default-Mode Network Connectivity Changes Correlate with Attention Deficits in ALL Long-Term Survivors Treated with Radio- and/or Chemotherapy.

Whether chemotherapy (ChT) and radiotherapy (RT) determine neurocognitive impairment in acute lymphoblastic leukemia long-term survivors (ALL LTSs) through similar mechanisms affecting the same brain regions is still unknown. We compared neurocognitive alterations, regional brain tissue volumes (by voxel-based morphometry), and functional connectivity of the main default-mode network hubs (by seed-based analysis of resting state functional MRI data), in 13 ALL LTSs treated with RT and ChT (Group A) and 13 treated with ChT only (Group B). Group A performed significantly worse than Group B at the digit span and digit symbol tests ( = 0.

Fear in groups: Increasing group size reduces perceptions of danger.

When we face danger or stress, the presence of others can provide a powerful signal of safety and support. However, despite a large literature on group living benefits in animals, few studies have been conducted on how group size alters subjective emotional responses and threat perception in humans. We conducted 5 experiments (N = 3,652) to investigate whether the presence of others decreases fear in response to threat under a variety of conditions.

Learned temporal statistics guide information seeking and shape memory.

Curiosity drives information seeking and promotes learning. Prior work has focused on how curiosity is elicited by intrinsic qualities of information, leaving open questions about how curiosity, exploration, and learning are shaped by the environment. Here we examine how temporal dynamics of the learning environment shape curiosity and learning.

A Combined Radiomics and Machine Learning Approach to Overcome the Clinicoradiologic Paradox in Multiple Sclerosis.

Background And Purpose: Conventional MR imaging explains only a fraction of the clinical outcome variance in multiple sclerosis. We aimed to evaluate machine learning models for disability prediction on the basis of radiomic, volumetric, and connectivity features derived from routine brain MR images.

Materials And Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, 3T brain MR imaging studies of patients with multiple sclerosis, including 3D T1-weighted and T2-weighted FLAIR sequences, were selected from 2 institutions.

NO-HYPE: a novel hydrodynamic phantom for the evaluation of MRI flow measurements.

Accurate and reproducible measurement of blood flow profile is very important in many clinical investigations for diagnosing cardiovascular disorders. Given that many factors could affect human circulation, and several parameters must be set to properly evaluate blood flows with phase-contrast techniques, we developed an MRI-compatible hydrodynamic phantom to simulate different physiological blood flows. The phantom included a programmable hydraulic pump connected to a series of pipes immersed in a solution mimicking human soft tissues, with a blood-mimicking fluid flowing in the pipes.

Mild Clinical Presentation of Joubert Syndrome in a Male Adult Carrying Biallelic Truncating Variants.

Pathogenic variants in the gene are responsible for a ciliopathy with a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations ranging from Meckel and Joubert syndrome (JBTS) to Bardet-Biedl syndrome, and involving the central nervous system, liver, kidney, skeleton, and retina. We report a 39-year-old male individual presenting with isolated Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), as assessed by full ophthalmological evaluation including Best-Corrected Visual Acuity measurements, fundus examination, Goldmann Visual Field test, and full-field Electroretinography. A clinical exome identified biallelic nonsense variants in that prompted post-genotyping investigations for systemic abnormalities of ciliopathy.

Diffuse functional brain disconnection syndrome in critically ill patients with COVID-19.

The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is most closely related to severe respiratory syndrome; however, recent reports showed that it is capable of causing neurological disease. Here we report a case-series of 4 critically ill COVID-19 patients who recovered from pneumonia but showed serious neurological symptoms and eventually died.

Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Reinfection in a Healthy Healthcare Worker in Italy Confirmed by Whole-Genome Sequencing.

This study describes a case of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection confirmed by whole-genome sequencing in a healthy physician who had been working in a COVID-19 hospital in Italy since the beginning of the pandemic. Nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained from the patient at each presentation as part of routine surveillance. Nucleic acid amplification testing was performed on the two samples to confirm SARS-CoV-2 infection, and serological tests were used to detect SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies.

Unraveling Deep Gray Matter Atrophy and Iron and Myelin Changes in Multiple Sclerosis.

Background And Purpose: Modifications of magnetic susceptibility have been consistently demonstrated in the subcortical gray matter of MS patients, but some uncertainties remain concerning the underlying neurobiological processes and their clinical relevance. We applied quantitative susceptibility mapping and longitudinal relaxation rate relaxometry to clarify the relative contribution of atrophy and iron and myelin changes to deep gray matter damage and disability in MS.

Materials And Methods: Quantitative susceptibility mapping and longitudinal relaxation rate maps were computed for 91 patients and 55 healthy controls from MR images acquired at 3T.

Possible progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy and active multiple sclerosis under dimethyl fumarate: the central role of MRI in informing therapeutic decisions.

Background: Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) can rarely occur in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients undergoing dimethyl fumarate (DMF) treatment. Our case stresses the limits of current diagnostic and stratification risk criteria, highlighting the potential role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in advising clinical choices.

Case Presentation: A 54 years old MS male patient treated with DMF, after 3 years of clinical stability developed a subacute clinical worsening.

Brain Plasticity in Charcot-Marie-Tooth Type 1A Patients? A Combined Structural and Diffusion MRI Study.

Central nervous system involvement has been described in peripheral neuropathies, including different forms of Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease. The aim of our study was to systematically investigate possible brain structural modifications in CMT1A patients, using volumetric MRI, and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). In this prospective cross-sectional study, from May 2017 to May 2019, we acquired 3T MRI brain scans of genetically confirmed CMT1A patients and age- and sex-comparable healthy controls.

Diffuse brain connectivity changes in Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1a patients: a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Background And Purpose: Changes of brain structure and function have been described in peripheral neuropathies. The aim of our study was to systematically investigate possible modifications of major large-scale brain networks using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI) in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A (CMT1A) patients.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 3-T MRI brain scans were acquired of right-handed genetically confirmed CMT1A patients and age- and sex-comparable healthy controls.

Factors Associated With Seizure Adequacy Along the Course of Electroconvulsive Therapy.

Objectives: Eliciting a generalized seizure is essential to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), but there is still a need to understand how patient and session variables interact to generate a seizure of adequate quality. Here, we investigate factors associated with motor seizure length as a measure of quality in a large database of patients who underwent ECT.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort including data from all adult inpatients who underwent ECT at a university hospital in Brazil from 2009 to 2015.