Use of Narrow Band Imaging to Guide Endobronchial Biopsy for Suspected Sarcoidosis.

Background: Diagnosis of sarcoidosis often involves endobronchial biopsy (EBB), but studies have shown varying yields for EBB in suspected sarcoidosis, partly due to differences in identifying abnormal mucosa under white light (WL). Narrow band imaging (NBI) may assist in the visualization of abnormal mucosa, but its role in sarcoidosis remains to be characterized.

Methods: Individuals referred for suspected sarcoidosis were considered for enrollment.

Brief Report: Evaluating Early Stage Lung Cancer Survival Patterns in Patients at the Upper Age Limit for Lung Cancer Screening.

Introduction: Older individuals have an elevated lung cancer risk but may also have substantial comorbidities that preclude curative treatment options and limit the survival benefits of screening. The objective of this study was to assess early stage lung cancer survival patterns among those at the upper age limit for screening and identify older individuals who have the potential to benefit from lung cancer screening.

Methods: We identified all early stage (I or II) lung cancers diagnosed in Alberta, Canada between 2010 and 2020.

Working memory multicomponent model outcomes in individuals with traumatic brain injury: Critical review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) often leads to cognitive impairments, particularly regarding working memory (WM). This meta-analysis aims to examine the impact of TBI on WM, taking into account moderating factors which has received little attention in previous research, such as severity of injury, the different domains of Baddeley's multi-component model, and the interaction between these two factors, as well as the interaction with other domains of executive functions.

Method: Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines, a systematic review and meta-analysis searched Google Scholar, PubMed, and PsycNET for studies with objective WM measures.

The complex interplay between cognitive reserve, age of diagnosis and cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease: a retrospective study.

Objective: The present study examined the cognitive reserve (CR) theory at late stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The objective is to replicate previous studies and examine the complex role of education and family size as indicators of CR.

Participants And Methods: This is a retrospective study included 642 patients diagnosed with AD after age 65, categorized into low education (LE, ≤ 8 years,  = 141) and medium-high education (MHE, ≥ 9 years,  = 442) groups.

Large-scale evidence for the validity of remote MoCA administration among people with cerebellar ataxia.

: For over half a century, studies of rare diseases using in-person cognitive tools have faced challenges, such as long study periods and small sample sizes (e.g.  = 10).

Different delayed consequences of attaining a plateau phase in practicing a simple (finger-tapping sequence learning) and a complex (Tower of Hanoi puzzle) task.

In practicing a new task, the initial performance gains, across consecutive trials, decrease; in the following phase, performance tends to plateau. However, after a long delay additional performance improvements may emerge (delayed/ "offline" gains). It has been suggested that the attainment of the plateau phase is a necessary condition for the triggering of skill consolidation processes that lead to the expression of delayed gains.

Gravity- vs Wall Suction-Driven Large-Volume Thoracentesis: A Randomized Controlled Study.

Background: Prior studies have found no differences in procedural chest discomfort for patients undergoing manual syringe aspiration or drainage with gravity after thoracentesis. However, whether gravity drainage could protect against chest pain due to the larger negative-pressure gradient generated by wall suction has not been investigated.

Research Question: Does wall suction drainage result in more chest discomfort compared with gravity drainage in patients undergoing large-volume thoracentesis?

Study Design And Methods: In this multicenter, single-blinded, randomized controlled trial, patients with large free-flowing effusions of ≥ 500 mL were assigned at a 1:1 ratio to wall suction or gravity drainage.

The processing of verbal memories after traumatic brain injury.

Memory dysfunction is a persistent cognitive symptom following traumatic brain injury (TBI), negatively impacting capacity for independent living and productivity. Traditional scoring of neuropsychological memory tests does not allow for differentiation of specific impairments of encoding, consolidation and/or retrieval, or the potential impact of strategy deficits. The current study examined performance of 142 moderate-to-severe TBI participants and 68 demographically matched healthy controls on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) using Item Specific Data Analysis (ISDA) and strategy use analyses.

Molecular analysis of endobronchial ultrasound needle aspirates in patients with non-small cell lung cancer: Results from the SCOPE database.

Objective: Molecular subtyping of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is critical in the diagnostic evaluation of patients with advanced disease. This study aimed to examine whether samples from endobronchial ultrasound transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) of intrathoracic lymph nodes and/or lung lesions are adequate for molecular analysis across various institutions.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all cases of linear EBUS-TBNA with a final bronchoscopic diagnosis of NSCLC entered in the Stather Canadian Outcomes registry for chest ProcEdures database.

The Global Burden of Pleural Diseases.

Pleural diseases include a spectrum of disorders broadly categorized into pneumothorax and pleural effusion. They often cause pain, breathlessness, cough, and reduced quality of life. The global burden of diseases reflects regional differences in conditions and exposures associated with pleural disease, such as smoking, pneumonia, tuberculosis, asbestos, cancer, and organ failure.

Brain reserve theory: Are adults with intellectual disability more vulnerable to age than peers with typical development?

Background: Life expectancy is on rise and the intriguing question is: When does cognitive decline occur among adults with intellectual disability, compared to adults with typical development? This cross-sectional study examined cognitive performance of crystallised/fluid intelligence, working and long-term memory of adults with intellectual disability of etiologies other than Down syndrome (IQ 50-68) and adults with typical development (IQ 85-114) in four age cohorts (30-39; 40-49; 50-59; 60-69).

Method: The WAIS III and the Rey-AVLT were administered to both groups.

Results: Four patterns of cognitive performance were found: (a) Vocabulary (crystallised intelligence), Spatial Span Forward and Retention yielded similar scores across all four age cohorts in participants with typical development and with intellectual disability.

Endobronchial Ultrasound Transbronchial Needle Aspiration With a 19-Gauge Needle vs 21- and 22-Gauge Needles for Mediastinal Lymphadenopathy.

Background: Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is commonly used to evaluate mediastinal lymphadenopathy. Studies focusing on malignant lymphadenopathy have compared 21- and 22-gauge (21G and 22G, respectively) needles and have not identified an advantage of one needle size over the other in terms of diagnostic yield.

Research Question: Does the 19-gauge (19G) EBUS needle offer greater diagnostic yield and sensitivity vs the 21G and 22G EBUS needles for a diagnosis of sarcoidosis, lymphoma, or mediastinal lymphadenopathy not yet diagnosed?

Study Design And Methods: This study retrospectively examined records of 730 patients from the Stather Canadian Outcomes Registry for Chest Procedures (SCOPE) database who underwent EBUS-TBNA for a diagnosis of suspected sarcoidosis, lymphoma, or mediastinal lymphadenopathy not yet diagnosed.

Predicting malignant pleural effusion during diagnostic pleuroscopy with biopsy: A prospective multicentre study.

Background And Objective: Pleuroscopy with pleural biopsy has a high sensitivity for malignant pleural effusion (MPE). Because MPEs tend to recur, concurrent diagnosis and treatment of MPE during pleuroscopy is desired. However, proceeding directly to treatment at the time of pleuroscopy requires confidence in the on-site diagnosis.

Remdesivir for the treatment of patients in hospital with COVID-19 in Canada: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The role of remdesivir in the treatment of patients in hospital with COVID-19 remains ill defined in a global context. The World Health Organization Solidarity randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluated remdesivir in patients across many countries, with Canada enrolling patients using an expanded data collection format in the Canadian Treatments for COVID-19 (CATCO) trial. We report on the Canadian findings, with additional demographics, characteristics and clinical outcomes, to explore the potential for differential effects across different health care systems.

The benefit of assessing implicit sequence learning in pianists with an eye-tracked serial reaction time task.

Playing piano professionally has been shown to benefit implicit motor sequence learning. The aim of the current study was to determine whether this advantage reflects generally enhanced implicit sequence learning unrelated to pianists' higher motor and/or visual-motor coordination abilities. We examined implicit sequence learning using the ocular serial reaction time (O-SRT) task, a manual-free eye-tracked version of the standard SRT, in 29 pianists and 31 controls.

The adapted symbol digit modalities test: Examining the impact of response modality.

Background: Information processing speed is often impaired in neurological disorders, as well as with healthy aging. Thus, being able to accurately assess information processing speed is of high importance. One of the most commonly used tests to examine information processing speed is the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), which has been shown to have good psychometric properties.

Optimizing Diagnostic and Staging Pathways for Suspected Lung Cancer: A Decision Analysis.

Background: The optimal diagnostic and staging strategy for patients with suspected lung cancer is not known.

Research Question: What diagnostic and staging strategies are most cost-effective for lung cancer?

Study Design And Methods: A decision model was developed by using a hypothetical patient with a high probability of lung cancer. Sixteen unique permutations of bronchoscopy with fluoroscopy, radial endobronchial ultrasound, electromagnetic navigation, convex endobronchial ultrasound with or without rapid-onsite evaluation (ROSE), CT-guided biopsy (CTBx), and surgery were evaluated.

Day versus night consolidation of implicit sequence learning using manual and oculomotor activation versions of the serial reaction time task: reaction time and anticipation measures.

This study presents two experiments that explored consolidation of implicit sequence learning based on two dependent variables-reaction time (RT) and correct anticipations to clarify the role of sleep, and whether the manual component is necessary for consolidation processes. Experiment 1 (n = 37) explored the performance of adults using an ocular variant of the serial reaction time task (O-SRT) with manual activation (MA), and Experiment 2 (n = 37) used the ocular activation (OA) version of the task. Each experiment consisted of a Day and a Night group that performed two sessions of the O-SRT with an intervening 12-h offline period (morning/evening in Day group, evening/following morning in Night group).

The effectiveness of memory remediation strategies after traumatic brain injury: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a steadily rising health concern associated with significant risk of emotional, behavioral and cognitive impairments. Cognitive memory impairment is one of the most concerning outcomes after TBI, affecting a wide range of everyday activities, social interactions and employment. Several comparative and comprehensive reviews on the effects of cognitive interventions in individuals with TBI have been conducted but usually with a qualitative rather than quantitative approach.

Oculomotor anticipation reveals a multitude of learning processes underlying the serial reaction time task.

Sequence learning is the cognitive faculty enabling everyday skill acquisition. In the lab, it is typically measured in speed of response to sequential stimuli, whereby faster responses are taken to indicate improved anticipation. However, response speed is an indirect measure of anticipation, that can provide only limited information on underlying processes.

Associative recognition memory for identity, spatial and temporal relations in healthy aging.

The ability to generate associative representations and to retrieve them from long-term episodic memory generally declines in healthy aging. However, it is unclear whether healthy aging has differential effects on associative memory for identity, spatial configuration, and temporal order relationships. In the current study, we assessed how healthy aging impacts on associative memory for identity, spatial, or temporal relationships between pairs of visual objects via discrimination of intact and rearranged pairs.

Protocol for the Stather Canadian Outcomes Registry for Chest ProcedurEs (SCOPE).

Introduction: The Stather Canadian Outcomes registry for chest ProcedurEs (SCOPE registry) is a Canadian multicentre registry of chest procedures.

Methods And Analysis: The SCOPE registry is designed as a multicentre prospective database of specific bronchoscopic or other pulmonary procedures. Each procedure of interest will be associated with a registry module, and data capture designed to evaluate effectiveness of procedures on relevant patient outcomes.

Implicit sequence learning in individuals with Parkinson's disease: The added value of using an ocular version of the serial reaction time (O-SRT) task.

Introduction: Though the majority of studies reported impaired sequence learning in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) tested with the Serial Reaction Time (SRT) task, findings are inconclusive. To elucidate this point, we used an eye tracker in an ocular SRT task version (O-SRT) that in addition to RT, enables extraction of two measures reflecting different cognitive processes, namely, Correct Anticipation (CA) and number of Stucks.

Methods: Individuals with PD (n = 29) and matched controls (n = 31) were tested with the O-SRT task, consisting of a repeated sequence of six blocks, then a block with an interference sequence followed by an original sequence block.

New insights in implicit sequence learning of adults with traumatic brain injury: As measured by an ocular serial reaction time (O-SRT) task.

We investigated the effect of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on implicit sequence learning (ISL) and its relation with demographic, clinical, and working memory (WM) capacity using an eye-tracked variant of the standard serial reaction time (RT; SRT) task. Besides RT, this ocular SRT (O-SRT) task enables generation of correct anticipations (CA) and stucks, reflecting other critical aspects of ISL. ISL was tested in 26 individuals with TBI and 28 healthy controls using the O-SRT task.