Results of an International Survey on the Investigation and Endovascular Management of Cerebral Vasospasm and Delayed Cerebral Ischemia.

Background: Delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Endovascular management of this condition offers a new hope in preventing adverse outcome; however, a uniform standard of practice is lacking owing to a paucity of clinical trials. We conducted an international survey on the use of investigative and endovascular techniques in the treatment of DCI to assess the variability of current practice.

Hereditary angioedema and lupus: A French retrospective study and literature review.

Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare genetic disorder that is primarily caused by a defect in the C1 inhibitor (C1-INH). The recurrent symptoms are subcutaneous edema and abdominal pain. Laryngeal edema, which can also occur, is life threatening if it goes untreated.

Brain metabolic changes in Hodgkin disease patients following diagnosis and during the disease course: An F-FDG PET/CT study.

The aim of the present study was to investigate brain glucose metabolism in patients with Hodgkin disease (HD) after diagnosis and during chemotherapy treatment. Following the administration of first-line doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine (ABVD) chemotherapy, 74 HD patients underwent F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography brain scans, both baseline (PET0) and interim (PET2) at the Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata (Rome, Italy). Fifty-seven patients were further evaluated 15±6 days after four additional cycles (PET6).

Volume of interest-based [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose PET discriminates MCI converting to Alzheimer's disease from healthy controls. A European Alzheimer's Disease Consortium (EADC) study.

An emerging issue in neuroimaging is to assess the diagnostic reliability of PET and its application in clinical practice. We aimed at assessing the accuracy of brain FDG-PET in discriminating patients with MCI due to Alzheimer's disease and healthy controls. Sixty-two patients with amnestic MCI and 109 healthy subjects recruited in five centers of the European AD Consortium were enrolled.

Colonic spirochetosis is associated with colonic eosinophilia and irritable bowel syndrome in a general population in Sweden.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional disorder defined by symptoms in the absence of overt pathology. Colonic spirochetosis (CS), defined by histologic observation of spirochetal strains of Brachyspira in colonic biopsies, is uncommon and considered of doubtful significance. We aimed to determine the prevalence of CS in the general population, identify subtle colon pathologies, and evaluate a link with symptoms of IBS.

Asymmetry of cerebral gray and white matter and structural volumes in relation to sex hormones and chromosomes.

Unlabelled: Whilst many studies show sex differences in cerebral asymmetry, their mechanisms are still unknown. This report describes the potential impact of sex hormones and sex chromosomes by comparing MR data from 39 male and 47 female controls and 33 men with an extra X-chromosome (47,XXY).

Methods: Regional asymmetry in gray and white matter volumes (GMV and WMV) was calculated using voxel based moprhometry (SPM5), by contrasting the unflipped and flipped individual GMV and WMV images.

Novel mechanism of macrophage-mediated metastasis revealed in a zebrafish model of tumor development.

Cancer metastasis can occur at early stages of tumor development due to facilitative alterations in the tumor microenvironment. Although imaging techniques have considerably improved our understanding of metastasis, early events remain challenging to study due to the small numbers of malignant cells involved that are often undetectable. Using a novel zebrafish model to investigate this process, we discovered that tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) acted to facilitate metastasis by binding tumor cells and mediating their intravasation.

Effects of albendazole on the clinical outcome and immunological responses in helminth co-infected tuberculosis patients: a double blind randomised clinical trial.

Despite several review papers and experimental studies concerning the impact of chronic helminth infection on tuberculosis in recent years, there is a scarcity of data from clinical field studies in highly endemic areas for these diseases. We believe this is the first randomised clinical trial investigating the impact of albendazole treatment on the clinical and immunological outcomes of helminth co-infected tuberculosis patients. A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of albendazole (400mg per day for 3 days) in helminth-positive tuberculosis patients was conducted in Gondar, Ethiopia.

Sexual orientation related differences in cortical thickness in male individuals.

Previous neuroimaging studies demonstrated sex and also sexual orientation related structural and functional differences in the human brain. Genetic information and effects of sex hormones are assumed to contribute to the male/female differentiation of the brain, and similar effects could play a role in processes influencing human's sexual orientation. However, questions about the origin and development of a person's sexual orientation remain unanswered, and research on sexual orientation related neurobiological characteristics is still very limited.

Effectiveness of the ketogenic diet used to treat resistant childhood epilepsy in Scandinavia.

Background: This Scandinavian collaborative retrospective study of children treated with ketogenic diet (KD) highlights indications and effectiveness over two years follow-up.

Methods: Five centres specialised in KD collected data retrospectively on 315 patients started on KD from 1999 to 2009. Twenty-five patients who stopped the diet within four weeks because of compliance-problems and minor side-effects were excluded.

Neuroimaging in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: insights into structural and functional changes.

In the past two decades, structural and functional neuroimaging findings have greatly modified longstanding notions regarding the pathophysiology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Neuroimaging studies have shown that anatomical and functional lesions spread beyond precentral cortices and corticospinal tracts, to include the corpus callosum; frontal, sensory, and premotor cortices; thalamus; and midbrain. Both MRI and PET studies have shown early and diffuse loss of inhibitory cortical interneurons in the motor cortex (increased levels of functional connectivity and loss of GABAergic neurons, respectively) and diffuse gliosis in white-matter tracts.

Nursing care in a high-technological environment: Experiences of critical care nurses.

Objectives: Management of technical equipment, such as ventilators, infusion pumps, monitors and dialysis, makes health care in an intensive care setting more complex. Technology can be defined as items, machinery and equipment that are connected to knowledge and management to maximise efficiency. Technology is not only the equipment itself, but also the knowledge of how to use it and the ability to convert it into nursing care.

PyTMs: a useful PyMOL plugin for modeling common post-translational modifications.

Background: Post-translational modifications (PTMs) constitute a major aspect of protein biology, particularly signaling events. Conversely, several different pathophysiological PTMs are hallmarks of oxidative imbalance or inflammatory states and are strongly associated with pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases or cancers. Accordingly, it is of interest to assess both the biological and structural effects of modification.

Estimation of drug receptor occupancy when non-displaceable binding differs between brain regions – extending the simplified reference tissue model.

Aim: The simplified reference tissue model (SRTM) is used for estimation of receptor occupancy assuming that the non-displaceable binding in the reference region is identical to the brain regions of interest. The aim of this work was to extend the SRTM to also account for inter-regional differences in non-displaceable concentrations, and to investigate if this model allowed estimation of receptor occupancy using white matter as reference. It was also investigated if an apparent higher affinity in caudate compared with other brain regions, could be better explained by a difference in the extent of non-displaceable binding.

Change in population prevalences of human papillomavirus after initiation of vaccination: the high-throughput HPV monitoring study.

Background: Organized human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination was introduced in Sweden in 2012. On-demand vaccination was in effect from 2006 to 2011. We followed the HPV prevalences in Southern Sweden from 2008 to 2013.

Endovascular treatment of mycotic aortic aneurysms: a European multicenter study.

Background: Mycotic aortic aneurysm (MAA) is a rare and life-threatening disease. The aim of this European multicenter collaboration was to study the durability of endovascular aortic repair (EVAR) of MAA, by assessing late infection-related complications and long-term survival.

Methods And Results: All EVAR treated MAAs, between 1999 and 2013 at 16 European centers, were retrospectively reviewed.

Validation of self-reported start year of mobile phone use in a Swedish case-control study on radiofrequency fields and acoustic neuroma risk.

The possible effect of radiofrequency exposure from mobile phones on tumor risk has been studied since the late 1990s. Yet, empirical information about recall of the start of mobile phone use among adult cases and controls has never been reported. Limited knowledge about recall errors hampers interpretations of the epidemiological evidence.

Tracking the origin of metastatic prostate cancer.

Unlabelled: Metastatic prostate cancer is a monoclonal disease. We previously failed to identify a common somatic denominator between primary tumor tissue and two lymph-node metastases by exome sequencing [Lindberg J, et al. Eur Urol 2013;63:702-8].

Retinol-binding protein 4 as a novel risk factor for cardiovascular disease in patients with coronary artery disease and hyperinsulinemia.

Background: Retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) is an adipokine associated with insulin resistance (IR) and obesity-related metabolic disorders. To evaluate its association with cardiovascular disease, we compared serum RBP4 concentrations in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and in controls.

Methods: Sixty patients with coronary angiography-confirmed CAD, including 30 with CAD and 30 with CAD and hyperinsulinemia (CAD/HIns group), and 29 healthy subjects were enrolled.

Functional pattern of brain FDG-PET in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Objective: We investigated a large sample of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at rest in order to assess the value of (18)F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose ((18)F-FDG) PET as a biomarker to discriminate patients from controls.

Methods: A total of 195 patients with ALS and 40 controls underwent brain (18)F-FDG-PET, most within 5 months of diagnosis. Spinal and bulbar subgroups of ALS were also investigated.

Ocular vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (oVEMPs) in response to bone-conducted vertex vibration.

Objective: To investigate low-frequency vertex bone-conducted (BC) vibration for evoking ocular vestibular myogenic potentials (oVEMPs) and its ability to discriminate between lesioned and healthy ears.

Methods: oVEMPs were analysed in response to 125-Hz single cycle vertex BC vibration in healthy subjects (n=50) and in patients with severe unilateral vestibular loss (n=10). Both positive and negative initial stimulus motions were used.

The IGF-1 receptor inhibitor picropodophyllin potentiates the anti-myeloma activity of a BH3-mimetic.

The ABT-analogous 737, 263 and 199 are BH3 mimetics showing potent anti-myeloma (MM) activity, but only on defined molecular subgroups of MM patients presenting a Bcl-2high/Mcl-1low profile. IGF-1 is a major survival factor in MM regulating the expression of Bcl-2 proteins and might therefore be a resistance factor to these ABT-analogous. We first show that IGF-1 protected human MM cell lines (HMCLs) against ABT-737.

Vestibular findings in patients with persistent geotropic positional nystagmus: the 'light cupula' phenomenon.

Conclusions: Persistent geotropic nystagmus indicates a condition of a light cupula, which is accompanied by vestibular disability and a high incidence of pathological findings in the vestibular tests. The prevalence of migraine is high.

Objectives: To examine subjective symptoms and characteristics of nystagmus in patients with persistent geotropic nystagmus using vestibular tests, as well as possible correlations to migraine in this group.