Longitudinal trajectories of Alzheimer's disease CSF biomarkers and blood pressure in cognitively healthy subjects.

Introduction: We examined whether hypertension (HTN) was associated with Alzheimer's disease-related biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and how changes in blood pressure (BP) related to changes in CSF biomarkers over time.

Methods: A longitudinal observation of cognitively healthy normotensive subjects (n = 134, BP < 140/90, with no antihypertensive medication), controlled HTN (n = 36, BP < 140/90, taking antihypertensive medication), and 35 subjects with uncontrolled HTN (BP ≥ 140/90). The follow-up range was 0.

Performances of bioinformatics tools for the analysis of sequencing data of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains.

Whole-genome sequencing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) strains is a rapidly growing tool to obtain results regarding the resistance and phylogeny of the strains. We evaluated the performances of two bioinformatics tools for the analysis of whole-genome sequences of MTBC strains. Two hundred and twenty-seven MTBC strains were isolated and whole-genome sequenced at the laboratory of Avicenne Hospital between 2015 and 2021.

Role of adherent and invasive in Crohn's disease: lessons from the postoperative recurrence model.

Objective: We used the postoperative recurrence model to better understand the role of adherent and invasive (AIEC) bacteria in Crohn's disease (CD), taking advantage of a well-characterised postoperative cohort.

Design: From a prospective, multicentre cohort of operated patients with CD, AIEC identification was performed within the surgical specimen (M0) (N=181 patients) and the neoterminal ileum (n=119 patients/181) during colonoscopy performed 6 months after surgery (M6). Endoscopic postoperative recurrence was graded using Rutgeerts' index.

The Brain-Nose Interface: A Potential Cerebrospinal Fluid Clearance Site in Humans.

The human brain functions at the center of a network of systems aimed at providing a structural and immunological layer of protection. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) maintains a physiological homeostasis that is of paramount importance to proper neurological activity. CSF is largely produced in the choroid plexus where it is continuous with the brain extracellular fluid and circulates through the ventricles.

Visual Corticocortical Inputs to Ferret Area 18.

Visual cortical areas in the adult mammalian brain are linked by a network of interareal feedforward and feedback circuits. We investigated the topography of feedback projections to ferret () area 18 from extrastriate areas 19, 21, and Ssy. Our objective was to characterize the anatomical organization of the extrastriate feedback pool to area 18.

The nonlinear relationship between cerebrospinal fluid Aβ42 and tau in preclinical Alzheimer's disease.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) studies consistently show that CSF levels of amyloid-beta 1-42 (Aβ42) are reduced and tau levels increased prior to the onset of cognitive decline related to Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the preclinical prediction accuracy for low CSF Aβ42 levels, a surrogate for brain Aβ42 deposits, is not high. Moreover, the pathology data suggests a course initiated by tauopathy contradicting the contemporary clinical view of an Aβ initiated cascade.

Cerebrospinal Fluid Clearance in Alzheimer Disease Measured with Dynamic PET.

Evidence supporting the hypothesis that reduced cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) clearance is involved in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer disease (AD) comes primarily from rodent models. However, unlike rodents, in which predominant extracranial CSF egress is via olfactory nerves traversing the cribriform plate, human CSF clearance pathways are not well characterized. Dynamic PET with F-THK5117, a tracer for tau pathology, was used to estimate the ventricular CSF time-activity as a biomarker for CSF clearance.

Greater specificity for cerebrospinal fluid P-tau231 over P-tau181 in the differentiation of healthy controls from Alzheimer's disease.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) measures of phosphorylated-tau (P-tau) 231 and P-tau181 are two biomarkers for the identification of tau pathology as related to Alzheimer's disease (AD). While both are pathologically validated, their relative diagnostic performances are not well known. This cross-sectional diagnostic study of 87 normal (NL) subjects and 28 AD subjects compared CSF P-tau231 with CSF P-tau181.

Executive Function, Survival, and Hospitalization in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. A Longitudinal Analysis of the National Emphysema Treatment Trial (NETT).

Rationale: Cognitive dysfunction has been demonstrated in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but studies are limited to cross-sectional analyses or incompletely characterized populations.

Objectives: We examined longitudinal changes in sensitive measures of executive function in a well-characterized population of patients with severe COPD.

Methods: This study was performed on patients enrolled in the National Emphysema Treatment Trial.

Randomized trial of atrial arrhythmia monitoring to guide anticoagulation in patients with implanted defibrillator and cardiac resynchronization devices.

Aims: Atrial tachyarrhythmias (ATs) detected by implanted devices are often atrial fibrillation or flutter (AF) associated with stroke. We hypothesized that introduction and termination of anticoagulation based upon AT monitoring would reduce both stroke and bleeding.

Methods And Results: We randomized 2718 patients with dual-chamber and biventricular defibrillators to start and stop anticoagulation based on remote rhythm monitoring vs.

Clinical safety of the ProMRI pacemaker system in patients subjected to head and lower lumbar 1.5-T magnetic resonance imaging scanning conditions.

Background: Permanent cardiac pacemakers have historically been considered a contraindication to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Objective: The purpose of the ProMRI/ProMRI AFFIRM Study, which was a multicenter, prospective, single-arm, nonrandomized study, was to evaluate the clinical safety of the Biotronik ProMRI Pacemaker System under specific MRI conditions.

Methods: The ProMRI Study (in the United States) and the ProMRI AFFIRM study (outside the United States) with identical design enrolled 272 patients with stable baseline pacing indices implanted with an Entovis or Evia pacemaker (DR-T or SR-T) and Setrox or Safio 53-cm or 60-cm lead.

Acute diplopia as the presenting sign of silent sinus syndrome.

Silent sinus syndrome is a rare acquired condition that typically presents as enophthalmos and hypoglobus due to atelectasis of the maxillary sinus. The chronic negative pressure in the sinus slowly retracts the orbital floor, altering orbital anatomy and affecting the function of orbital contents. The authors present the first case of acute vertical diplopia as the presenting symptom of silent sinus syndrome.

Severe leptospirosis in hospitalized patients, Guadeloupe.

We evaluated prognostic factors for leptospirosis in 168 consecutive hospitalized patients in Guadeloupe. Factors independently associated with severity included chronic hypertension or chronic alcoholism, late initiation of antibacterial therapy, abnormal chest auscultation results, icterus, oligoanuria, disorders of consciousness, elevated aspartate aminotransferase levels, hyperamylasemia, and Leptospira interrogans serovar Icterohemorrhagiae.

Reversible hyperglycemic homonymous hemianopia.

We report a 67-year-old female diabetic with homonymous hemianopia as the presenting sign of nonketotic hyperglycemia. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was abnormal with diffuse bilateral hyperintense white matter changes. A follow-up MRI scan 15 years later showed persisting abnormality.

Lateral rectus muscle palsy, facial numbness and ataxia as the initial manifestation of multiple sclerosis.

Lateral rectus muscle (LRM) palsy due to a nuclear or fascicular sixth nerve lesion is rare as the presenting sign of multiple sclerosis (MS). It is more common to find this palsy in the company of other nearby cranial nerves deficits. Facial numbness in association with a LRM palsy or paresis may go unappreciated and therefore underreported.

Procalcitonin and C-reactive protein as markers of bacterial infection in critically ill children at onset of systemic inflammatory response syndrome.

Objective: To compare the accuracy of procalcitonin and C-reactive protein as diagnostic markers of bacterial infection in critically ill children at the onset of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS).

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary care, university-affiliated pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).

Fasting plasma glucose versus glucose challenge test: screening for gestational diabetes and cost effectiveness.

Objective: To compare the performance in screening for gestational carbohydrate intolerance of the 1-h 50-g glucose challenge test (GCT), fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and fasting capillary glucose (FCG).

Design And Methods: FPG and FCG were measured at the same time as the GCT in 188 women. Gestational carbohydrate intolerance was diagnosed according to the Canadian Diabetes Association criteria.

Serum procalcitonin and C-reactive protein levels as markers of bacterial infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

A meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the accuracy of determination of procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels for the diagnosis of bacterial infection. The analysis included published studies that evaluated these markers for the diagnosis of bacterial infections in hospitalized patients. PCT level was more sensitive (88% [95% confidence interval [CI], 80%-93%] vs.

Seroprevalence of antibodies against rubella virus in pregnant women in Haiti.

Objective: To assess the seroprevalence of immunity to the rubella virus in pregnant women in Haiti attending the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of the State University Hospital, in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, in order to help with the introduction of the rubella vaccine for the population and provide protection for women of reproductive age in the country.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was done between February 2002 and May 2002. A total of 503 pregnant women were tested for rubella-specific immunoglobulin G antibodies, using enzyme immunoassay; 8 of those women were later excluded because they did not know their age, leaving 495 women in the analysis.

Postoperative gas bubble foot drop. A case report.

Study Design: An unusual case of foot drop occurring 10 days after disc surgery is reported. Imaging studies identified a gas bubble compressing the nerve root.

Objective: To describe the origin and management of a radiculopathy caused by an intraspinal gas bubble.

Neonatal enterococcal bacteremia: an increasingly frequent event with potentially untreatable pathogens.

Background: Enterococci can cause serious infections in the newborn. The increased number of these infections since the late 1970s and the increased isolation of organisms resistant to many commonly used antimicrobials prompted review of our experience with enterococcal bacteremia in the neonatal intensive care unit. This review was aimed at defining the character of illness of newborns who had these infections during a 20-year period.

[Acute tubular necrosis in patients after kidney transplantation: associated factors and impact on functional survival of the graft].

Acute tubular necrosis (ATN) represents a serious problem in kidney transplantation. We have reviewed the causes and effects of ATN on kidney transplant patients treated in our hospital between June 1981 and December 1992. We analyzed 359 consecutive kidney transplants performed in 338 patients (213 male and 125 female).

Optimizing radiologic costs in the DRG environment.

Previously developed consensus algorithms expressing a suggested radiologic workup for the diagnostic related groups (DRGs) specified by the prospective reimbursement policy have proven to be useful tools for investigating radiologic decision making and the resulting economic implications. The mathematical equations for determining diagnostic and therapeutic costs for two alternative algorithms for suspected acute cholecystitis are formulated. Illustrative examples and graphic displays are given regarding how such algorithms and equations are useful in finding answers to questions about the appropriate diagnostic workup, time, and cost.