The role of immunologic tests in the diagnosis of neurocysticercosis (NC) is controversial and few studies have made comparisons among them. The objective of this study was to compare immunological tests in both serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for the diagnosis of NC. We conducted a case-control study in Cuenca, Ecuador, enrolling patients with NC (N = 24) and matching them with other neurosurgical patients (N = 18). To detect cysticercal antigen, we used an HP10 antigen assay in serum and CSF ("HP10 Ag -serum -CSF") and a commercial antigen assay in serum (apDia, "ELISA-Ag-serum"), and to detect cysticercal DNA, we used a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay in CSF ("PCR-CSF"). Assay sensitivities were: HP10 Ag-serum (41.7%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 22.1-63.4), HP10 Ag-CSF (87.5%, 95% CI: 67.6-97.3), ELISA-Ag-serum (62.5%, 95% CI: 40.6-81.2), and PCR-CSF (79.2%, 95% CI: 57.9-92.9). Sensitivities were higher when limiting to participants with extraparenchymal NC. Specificity was 100% for all assays except ELISA-Ag-serum (72.2%). This preliminary study demonstrated the potential usefulness of the PCR and HP10 Ag assay in CSF, especially for extraparenchymal NC; thus, they could be considered as complementary diagnostic tools when neuroimaging is not conclusive.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00991 | DOI Listing |
BMC Pulm Med
January 2025
Unidade de Broncologia e Pneumologia de Intervenção - Instituto Português de Oncologia Francisco Gentil, Coimbra, Portugal.
Background: Esophageal ultrasound with bronchoscope fine needle aspiration (EUS-B-FNA) is a valuable tool for the diagnosis and staging of lung cancer, complementing endobronchial lung ultrasound (EBUS). While generally considered safe, there is a notable lack of comprehensive knowledge within the interventional pulmonology community regarding potential complications.
Case Presentation: We present a case involving a 66-year-old male with squamous cell lung carcinoma undergoing mediastinal staging.
Nature
January 2025
Department of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
Clinical decision-making is driven by multimodal data, including clinical notes and pathological characteristics. Artificial intelligence approaches that can effectively integrate multimodal data hold significant promise in advancing clinical care. However, the scarcity of well-annotated multimodal datasets in clinical settings has hindered the development of useful models.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGraefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol
January 2025
Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Purpose: Assessing the quality of the visual field is important for the diagnosis of ophthalmic and neurological diseases and, consequently, for rehabilitation. Visual field defects (VFDs) are typically assessed using standard automated perimetry (SAP). However, SAP requires participants to understand instructions, maintain fixation and sustained attention, and provide overt responses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Immunother Cancer
January 2025
Providence Portland Medical Center, Portland, Oregon, USA.
Objectives: Multiplex immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence (mIHC/IF) are emerging technologies that can be used to help define complex immunophenotypes in tissue, quantify immune cell subsets, and assess the spatial arrangement of marker expression. mIHC/IF assays require concerted efforts to optimize and validate the multiplex staining protocols prior to their application on slides. The best practice guidelines for staining and validation of mIHC/IF assays across platforms were previously published by this task force.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZhongguo Zhen Jiu
January 2025
Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100029, China.
Visual minimally invasive acupotomy is applicable for the diseases with the pathological characteristics of soft tissue injury, including disorders of spine, four limbs and joints, peripheral nerve compression and chronic soft tissues. The diseases with superior effect obtained are cervicogenic headache, lumbar disc herniation, carpal tunnel syndrome and flexor tendon stenosing tenosynovitis. Under the guidance with ultrasound, visual minimally invasive acupotomy is advantaged at preoperative diagnosis, intraoperative guidance and postoperative evaluation in clinical practice so that it is precise, safe and reliable in clinical treatment.
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