Combination therapy for Sneddon syndrome to reduce the incidence of cerebrovascular complications.

Background: Sneddon syndrome is an occlusive vasculopathy that presents clinically with generalized livedo racemosa on the skin and transient ischemic attacks, strokes, and cognitive or motor deficits in the central nervous system. Antiplatelet or anticoagulant therapy is recommended. Due to the limited therapeutic efficacy and the resulting serious complications, we propose combination therapy with additional infusion cycles of alprostadil and captopril and report initial long-term results.

Afferent vagal stimulation via gastric electrical stimulation alters sympathetic-vagal balance in domestic pigs - a pilot trial.

The disturbance of the sympathetic-vagal balance with increasing sympathetic activity and consecutive increase in cytokine release is a major threat in numerous hyperinflammatory syndromes. Therapeutic interventions that modulate the activity in the sympathetic-vagal system are suggested as an effective treatment in these incidences. The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the effect of electrical stimulation of the gastric wall on sympathetic-vagal balance.

Autonomic balance determines the severity of COVID-19 courses.

COVID-19 has left mankind desperately seeking how to manage dramatically rising infection rates associated with severe disease progressions. COVID-19 courses range from mild symptoms up to multiple organ failure and death, triggered by excessively high serum cytokine levels (IL 1β, IL 6, TNF α, IL 8). The vagally driven cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway (CAP) stops the action of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), the transcriptional factor of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

QLiS-SF: Development of a short form of the quality of life in schizophrenia questionnaire.

Background: There is a need for useful standardized Quality of Life (QoL) measures for people diagnosed with schizophrenia. Therefore, a short form of the self-administered Quality of Life in Schizophrenia (QLiS) scale was developed and validated.

Methods: Four steps were taken to develop the abridged version using samples from the Clinical Analysis of the Treatment of Schizophrenia (CATS) study.

Methodology of performance scoring in the d2 sustained-attention test: Cumulative-reliability functions and practical guidelines.

We provide a psychometric analysis of commonly used performance indices of the d2 sustained-attention test, and give methodical guidelines and recommendations, based on this research. We examined experimental effects of repeated testing on performance speed and accuracy (omission and commission errors), and further evaluated aspects of test reliability by means of cumulative reliability function (CRF) analysis. These aspects were also examined for a number of alternative (yet commonly used) scoring techniques and valuation methods.

Neuroborreliosis-associated cerebral vasculitis: long-term outcome and health-related quality of life.

Neuroborreliosis affects the nervous system after systemic infection with the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. Previously, cerebral vasculitis has been regarded as an extremely rare complication of neuroborreliosis. The data on the long-term outcome in patients with cerebral vasculitis due to neuroborreliosis are limited.