Psoriasis and IgE-mediated allergy: correlation or mutual inhibition? : A prospective cohort study in patients with mild or moderate to severe psoriasis.

Background: Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease caused by overactivation of T1 (Type 1 helper cells) and T17 (T helper 17) cells. Overactivation of T1 cells inhibits the activity of T2 cells involved in type 1 allergies, therefore, psoriasis patients might be less affected by type 1 allergies. This study tested if allergies were less frequent in patients with moderate to severe than with mild psoriasis.

Health-related quality of life, self-reported impairments and activities of daily living in relation to muscle function in post-polio syndrome.

Background: The symptoms of post-polio syndrome (PPS) and its resulting disabilities can affect quality of life and the ability to perform daily activities. No study has comprehensively analysed how various patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are associated with objectively assessed physical function in patients with PPS.

Aim: To investigate health-related quality of life (HRQOL), self-reported impairments and activities of daily living during 6 months and evaluate their association with clinical muscle function outcomes in individuals with PPS.

Clinical, Hematologic, Biologic and Molecular Characteristics of Patients with Myeloproliferative Neoplasms and a Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia-Like Phenotype.

Patients with a myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) sometimes show a chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML)-like phenotype but, according to the 2016 WHO classification, a documented history of an MPN excludes the diagnosis of CMML. Forty-one patients with an MPN (35 polycythemia vera (PV), 5 primary myelofibrosis, 1 essential thrombocythemia) and a CMML-like phenotype (MPN/CMML) were comprehensively characterized regarding clinical, hematologic, biologic and molecular features. The white blood cell counts in MPN/CMML patients were not different from CMML patients and PV patients.

Language network reorganization before and after temporal lobe epilepsy surgery.

Objective: Epilepsy surgery is the recommended treatment option for patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). This method offers a good chance of seizure freedom but carries a considerable risk of postoperative language impairment. The extremely variable neurocognitive profiles in surgical epilepsy patients cannot be fully explained by extent of resection, fiber integrity, or current task-based functional MRI (fMRI).

Results of frozen elephant trunk from the international E-vita Open registry.

Background: Over the years, frozen elephant trunk (FET) has become the treatment of choice for multisegmental thoracic aortic disease. This multicenter study presents the evolution of FET results using the E-vita Open hybrid graft with respect to institutional experience and time.

Methods: The data of International E-vita Open registry were studied according to the institutional experience of the participating centers (high- versus low-volume centers) and according to the evolution of FET treatment during time (1 period, 2005-2011 versus 2 period, 2012-2018).

Secukinumab Use in Patients with Moderate to Severe Psoriasis, Psoriatic Arthritis and Ankylosing Spondylitis in Real-World Setting in Europe: Baseline Data from SERENA Study.

Introduction: Secukinumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody that directly inhibits interleukin-17A, has demonstrated robust efficacy in the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis (PsO), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS), with a rapid onset of action, sustained long-term clinical responses and a consistently favourable safety profile across phase 3 trials. Here, we report the clinical data at enrolment from SERENA, designed to investigate the real-world use of secukinumab across all three indications.

Methods: SERENA is an ongoing, longitudinal, observational study conducted at 438 sites across Europe in patients with moderate to severe plaque PsO, active PsA or active AS.

Non-invasive detection of portal hypertension by enhanced liver fibrosis score in patients with different aetiologies of advanced chronic liver disease.

Background And Aims: The enhanced liver fibrosis (ELF) score comprises serum markers of fibrogenesis and matrix remodelling and was developed to detect liver fibrosis, however, it may also be useful for the non-invasive detection of portal hypertension (PHT).

Methods: ELF score and its single components (TIMP1/PIIINP/HA) were analysed in 201 patients with advanced chronic liver disease (ACLD; ie hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) ≥6 mm Hg). Patients with pre-/post-hepatic PHT, hepatocellular carcinoma beyond Milan criteria, and history of TIPS implantation or liver transplantation were excluded.

The impact of subclinical congestion on the outcome of patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Background: We investigated the impact of an elevated plasma volume status (PVS) in patients undergoing TAVI on early clinical safety and mortality and assessed the prognostic utility of PVS for outcome prediction.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively calculated the PVS in 652 patients undergoing TAVI between 2009 and 2018 at two centres. They were then categorized into two groups depending on their preoperative PVS (PVS ≤-4; n = 257 vs PVS>-4; n = 379).

Could the 2017 ILAE and the four-dimensional epilepsy classifications be merged to a new "Integrated Epilepsy Classification"?

Over the last few decades the ILAE classifications for seizures and epilepsies (ILAE-EC) have been updated repeatedly to reflect the substantial progress that has been made in diagnosis and understanding of the etiology of epilepsies and seizures and to correct some of the shortcomings of the terminology used by the original taxonomy from the 1980s. However, these proposals have not been universally accepted or used in routine clinical practice. During the same period, a separate classification known as the "Four-dimensional epilepsy classification" (4D-EC) was developed which includes a seizure classification based exclusively on ictal symptomatology, which has been tested and adapted over the years.

Medication overuse headache in 787 patients admitted for inpatient treatment over a period of 32 years.

Background: Definitions of medication overuse headache have changed over time.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical characteristics of medication overuse headache patients admitted for inpatient withdrawal therapy over a period of 32 years.

Methods: We included all patients with medication overuse headache treated from 1 January 1984 to 31 December 2015.

The pro-inflammatory marker soluble suppression of tumorigenicity-2 (ST2) is reduced especially in diabetic morbidly obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery.

Background: High soluble suppression of tumorigenicity-2 (sST2) is a marker of poor prognosis in chronic inflammatory conditions. ST2 and its ligand interleukin (IL)-33 are elevated in adipose tissue of obese individuals. We aimed to evaluate circulating sST2 and IL-33 as possible markers of metabolic benefit in morbidly overweight patients after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) bariatric surgery.

Lesion-Specific Language Network Alterations in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

Background And Purpose: Temporal lobe epilepsy, structural or nonlesional, may negatively affect language function. However, little is known about the lesion-specific influence on language networks. We hypothesized that different epileptogenic lesions are related to distinct alterations in the functional language connectome detected by fMRI.

Endogenous arterial blood pressure increase after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Objective: Spontaneous blood pressure rise is a frequently observed phenomenon following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Facing the risk of aneurysmal rebleeding and the occurrence of delayed cerebral ischemia it is unclear how to react to these endogenous-driven blood pressure changes, as their predictive value for clinical course and functional outcome is still unknown.

Patients And Methods: Endogenous blood pressure characteristics within 21 days after SAH were retrospectively analyzed in 93 patients.

Genotypic and phenotypic evolution in a patient with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.

The correlation of molecular and phenotypic evolution in individual patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is poorly investigated. The longitudinal follow up of a CMML patient for more than 10 years illustrates that the emergence of clones harboring mutations in and finally in multiple genes, respectively, was mirrored by thrombocytopenia, thrombocytosis, myeloproliferation and transformation into acute myeloid leukemia. Moreover, molecular aberrations of the genes were associated with markedly increased spontaneous in vitro myeloid colony formation which has been shown to be a functional indicator of RAS pathway hyperactivation.

Roux-en-Y-Bariatric Surgery Reduces Markers of Metabolic Syndrome in Morbidly Obese Patients.

Background: Obesity is closely linked to increased markers of metabolic syndrome and development of diabetes. Roux-en-Y bariatric surgery reduces hyperinsulinemia and improves insulin sensitivity and hence benefits morbidly obese patients.

Aim: To determine changes in markers of metabolic syndrome, pancreatic function, and hepatic insulin sensitivity in patients before and 1 year after undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery.

Presurgical epilepsy evaluation and epilepsy surgery.

With a prevalence of 0.8 to 1.2%, epilepsy represents one of the most frequent chronic neurological disorders; 30 to 40% of patients suffer from drug-resistant epilepsy (that is, seizures cannot be controlled adequately with antiepileptic drugs).

Fatal Recurrent Infection in a Patient With an Aortic Endostent Under Alirocumab.

Purpose: Aortic stent-graft infection (SGI) entails a high mortality. Alirocumab is a monoclonal antibody to proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), approved for treatment of therapy-refractory hypercholesterolemia. Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 might play a role in infections.

Alterations in GABAA Receptor Subunit Expression in the Amygdala and Entorhinal Cortex in Human Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

The amygdala has long been implicated in the pathophysiology of human temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). The different nuclei of this complex structure are interconnected and share reciprocal connections with the hippocampus and other brain structures, partly via the entorhinal cortex. Expression of GABAA receptor subunits α1, α2, α3, α5, β2, β2/3, and γ2 was evaluated by immunohistochemistry in amygdala specimens and the entorhinal cortex of 12 TLE patients and 12 autopsy controls.

Psychosocial adjustment and parental stress in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Objective: This cross-sectional study aimed to assess psychosocial adjustment of children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) and to explore its possible association to parental stress.

Methods: 34 children with DMD, 9-14.1 years of age, and their parents were included in the study.

Effects of Psychotropic Medication on Cognition, Caregiver Burden, and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Alzheimer's Disease over 12 Months: Results from a Prospective Registry of Dementia in Austria (PRODEM).

Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia are common in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and associated with a more rapid decline in cognitive function. Psychotropic substances are frequently used in AD, but we lack conclusive evidence of their efficacy in this setting. SSRI and trazodone were reported to have positive effects on cognition.

Association Between Health-Related Quality of Life and Motor Function in Ambulant and Nonambulant Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Patients.

This cross-sectional study assessed health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in ambulant and nonambulant patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and explored the association between health-related quality of life and clinically assessed motor function. The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) Generic Core Scale and PedsQL Neuromuscular module were completed by 34 parent-child dyads. Association between PedsQL scores and overall motor abilities and the transfers and standing posture domain measured by the Motor Function Measure were examined.