Surgical Options for Optic Disc Pit Maculopathy: Perspectives and Controversies.

Optic disc pit (ODP) is a rare congenital optic nerve head abnormality, which can be complicated by intraretinal and subretinal fluid at the macula (ODP-maculopathy) with progressive visual loss. The source of this fluid remains unclear and the most dominant hypotheses have pointed to vitreous cavity or cerebrospinal fluid. Although spontaneous resolution has been reported, the majority of untreated cases of ODP-maculopathy result in final visual acuity less than 20/200 or worse.

Impairment of Mitochondrial Redox Status in Peripheral Lymphocytes of Multiple Sclerosis Patients.

Literature suggests that oxidative stress (OS) may be involved in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS), in which the immune system is known to play a key role. However, to date, the OS in peripheral lymphocytes and its contribution to the disease remain unknown. The aim of the present study was to explore the influence of OS in peripheral lymphocytes of MS patients.

Social cognition in psychosis: Predictors and effects of META-cognitive training.

Social cognition deficits are found in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but its neural underpinnings are poorly understood. Given the complexity of psychological functions underlying this kind of cognition, we hypothesized that alterations in global structural connectivity could contribute to those deficits. To test this hypothesis, we studied a group of schizophrenia and bipolar patients with connectomics based on diffusion magnetic resonance imaging and assessments of general and social cognition.

Novel presenilin 1 mutation (p.Thr-Pro116-117Ser-Thr) in a Spanish family with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Presenilin 1 (PSEN1) is a γ-secretase component, which is in charge of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) cleavage. APP is believed to play a central role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). PSEN1 mutations are the most important causes of familial AD, being related to the earlier onset and rapid progression of the disease.

Presumed solitary circumscribed retinal astrocytic proliferation: a lesion that can regress.

A 56-year-old woman had an yellow-white retinal lesion superior to the optic disc. Optical coherence tomography demonstrated the mass with a snowball configuration and smooth surface. Autofluorescence disclosed revealed moderate hypoautofluorescence.

Cerebral Oxygen Saturation and Negative Postoperative Behavioral Changes in Pediatric Surgery: A Prospective Observational Study.

Objective: To evaluate if an intraoperative cerebral regional oxygen saturation (crSO) decrease, less pronounced than 20% below baseline (the current threshold believed to be associated with cognitive dysfunction in adults), is associated with negative postoperative behavioral changes (NPOBC) in the pediatric population after noncardiac surgeries.

Study Design: A prospective observational study was conducted with 198 children aged 2-12 years old scheduled for noncardiac procedures under general anesthesia. Intraoperatively, crSO was monitored with a cerebral oximeter.

Photoleukocoria with smartphone photographs.

A 3-year-old boy was referred with suspected leukocoria in the right eye, detected in all smartphone photographs taken by his parents. His medical and family history was unremarkable. The visual acuity was 20/20 in both eyes.

Multiple retinal hemorrhages in bilateral congenital venous tortuosity.

We present a case of a previously healthy 52-year-old woman with acute onset of scotomas in both eyes. It was associated with headache and vomiting for the past 1 week after a cold. The best-corrected visual acuity was 20/20 in both eyes.

Quantification of Graph Complexity Based on the Edge Weight Distribution Balance: Application to Brain Networks.

The aim of this study was to introduce a novel global measure of graph complexity: Shannon graph complexity (SGC). This measure was specifically developed for weighted graphs, but it can also be applied to binary graphs. The proposed complexity measure was designed to capture the interplay between two properties of a system: the 'information' (calculated by means of Shannon entropy) and the 'order' of the system (estimated by means of a disequilibrium measure).

Progressive loss of vision caused by asymptomatic pituitary macroadenoma: role of OCT.

Introduction: Most pituitary adenomas are clinically inactive. In patients with long-standing compression of the optic chiasm, ganglion cells may undergo axonal degeneration. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) is able to identify retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell loss in the retina.

Slipped capital femoral epiphysis in adults: case report and review of literature.

Slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) mainly affects overweight prepubertal children. It is usually idiopathic, but endocrinological diseases are proposed as the main cause. SCFE occurs before the closing of the femoral physis, which generally occurs at 18 years in males and 16 years in females, therefore it is considered a children's disease.

Genome-Wide DNA Copy Number Analysis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Identifies New Genetic Markers Associated with Clinical Outcome.

Unlabelled: Identifying additional genetic alterations associated with poor prognosis in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is still a challenge.

Aims: To characterize the presence of additional DNA copy number alterations (CNAs) in children and adults with ALL by whole-genome oligonucleotide array (aCGH) analysis, and to identify their associations with clinical features and outcome. Array-CGH was carried out in 265 newly diagnosed ALLs (142 children and 123 adults).

The presence of genomic imbalances is associated with poor outcome in patients with burkitt lymphoma treated with dose-intensive chemotherapy including rituximab.

The introduction of Rituximab has improved the outcome and survival rates of Burkitt lymphoma (BL). However, early relapse and refractoriness are current limitations of BL treatment and new biological factors affecting the outcome of these patients have not been explored. This study aimed to identify the presence of genomic changes that could predict the response to new therapies in BL.

Identification of two clusters within schizophrenia with different structural, functional and clinical characteristics.

Background: Several biologically distinct subgroups may coexist within schizophrenia, which may hamper the necessary replicability to translate research findings into clinical practice.

Methods: Cortical thickness, curvature and area values and subcortical volumes of 203 subjects (121 schizophrenia patients, out of which 64 were first episodes), 60 healthy controls and 22 bipolar patients were used to identify clusters using principal components and canonical discriminant analyses. Regional glucose metabolism using positron emission tomography, P300 event related potential, baseline clinical data and percentage of improvement with treatment were used to validate possible clusters based on MRI data.

Greater clinical and cognitive improvement with clozapine and risperidone associated with a thinner cortex at baseline in first-episode schizophrenia.

Cortical thickness may be useful as a treatment response predictor in first-episode (FE) patients with schizophrenia, although this possibility has been scarcely assessed. In this study we assessed the possible relation between cortical thickness in regions of interest selected because of previously reported structural alterations in schizophrenia and clinical and cognitive changes after two years of treatment with risperidone or clozapine in 31 neuroleptic-naïve FE patients with schizophrenia (16 of them treated with clozapine and 15 with risperidone). Using the last-observation-carried-forward (LOCF), a larger improvement in positive, negative and total symptoms was predicted by the amount of baseline cortical thinning in the right prefrontal cortex (pars orbitalis).

A pilot study of satisfaction in oncology nursing care: an indirect predictor of quality of care.

Purpose: Although "satisfaction" is not easy to define, excellence in health care is impossible without professional/patient satisfaction, so this paper aims to report on a pilot study designed in order to evaluate the degree of nursing staff satisfaction with the implementation of measures to improve quality of care.

Design/methodology/approach: The project consisted of several phases: writing protocols of care; training of nursing staff in their management; and a cross-sectional study to evaluate nursing staff satisfaction with them. The design of the survey consisted of a 16-item Likert scale, which had to be auto filled.

Life after breast cancer: dealing with lymphoedema.

Background: In recent years, breast cancer (BC) mortality rates have declined, reflecting advances in early detection. Prevention and management of treatment sequelae that could impair function or quality of life have increased in relevance. Lymphoedema after BC treatment is one of these sequelae.

Pilot study of a clinical pathway implementation in rectal cancer.

Background: Rectal cancer is a highly prevalent disease which needs a multidisciplinary approach to be treated. The absence of specific protocols implies a significant and unjustifiable variability among the different professionals involved in this disease. The purpose is to develop a clinical pathway based on the analysis process and aims to reduce this variability and to reduce unnecessary costs.

Steroids, cancer and vertebral fractures: a dreaded combination.

Hyporexia/anorexia is a relevant clinical problem affecting the quality of life of many cancer patients. Corticosteroids are the first drugs evaluated in placebo-controlled trials for the palliation of cancer anorexia resulting in a temporary improvement in appetite. However, this measure should be balanced with its secondary events.

Gastric cancer and the search for a good prognostic classification: a challenge.

Introduction: Gastric cancer is the second most common cancer worldwide. The standard treatment is radical surgical resection, but 60% of patients will present recurrence. TNM classification (6th edition, American Joint Committee on Cancer) recommends the removal of at least 15 regional lymph nodes to carry out an adequate pathological staging.

Unexplained liver laceration after metastasis radiofrequency ablation.

Many studies have established the role of radiofrequency (RF) ablation as a minimally invasive treatment for liver metastases. Although relatively safe, several complications have been reported with the increased use of RF ablation. We describe here a case of unexplained liver laceration after a RF procedure.

Primary Peritoneal Malignant Mixed Müllerian Tumor in a Young Woman: Achieving the Best Clinical Benefit.

Extragenital malignant mixed mesodermal müllerian tumors (MT) are rare neoplasms with poor prognosis. Most of them affect women older than 60 years. We present here a case with primary peritoneal malignant mixed müllerian tumor occurring in a young woman who underwent previous hysterectomy and double oophorectomy secondary to a benign disease.