As most of patients with Myasthenia Gravis have limitations in their physical functioning, many experience changes in psychological states and often have depression. The objective of the current ...study was to examine the roles of communication with medical professionals, patients' loneliness, and patients' depression, in relation to their effects on the patients' quality of life.
For 120 patients with MG of 18 years and older, demographic variables, along with communication with medical professionals, loneliness, depression, and quality of life were measured.
As a result, people suffering from MG experienced lower quality of life when their career has changed due to the illness. At the same time, depression was a significant predictor of their quality of life, both in physical and mental domains.
The implications for clinical settings and the suggestions for future research are discussed.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Differentiation of multiple system atrophy with predominant parkinsonism (MSA-P) and Parkinson's disease (PD) is important, but an effective tool for differentiation has not been identified. We ...investigated the efficacy of the composite autonomic symptom scale 31 (COMPASS 31) questionnaire as a tool for evaluating autonomic function in parkinsonism patients. In this study, we enrolled drug-naïve patients with MSA-P and PD, and administered the COMPASS-31 and an objective autonomic dysfunction test (AFT). Demographic and clinical data, including parkinsonism and autonomic dysfunction, were compared between the two groups. Additionally, we determined the optimal COMPASS 31 cut-off score to differentiate MSA-P from PD for use as a screening tool. In this study, 27 MSA-P patients and 41 PD patients were recruited. The total COMPASS 31 score was well correlated with the objective AFT results. When we compared the COMPASS 31 score between the two groups, MSA-P patients showed higher total scores and sub-scores in the orthostatic intolerance, gastrointestinal, and bladder domains compared with PD patients. Similarly, MSA-P patients had more abnormalities in expiration to inspiration ratio, Valsalva ratio and pressure recovery time than PD patients in objective AFT. With 13.25 as the cut-off score for diagnosis of MSA-P, the total COMPASS-31 score demonstrated high sensitivity (92.6%) and moderate specificity (51.2%) with an area under the curve of 0.765. Based on our results, the COMPASS 31 is an effective tool for evaluation of autonomic function in patients with parkinsonism. The COMPASS-31 could be used as a sensitive and convenient screening tool, especially for the differentiation between MSA-P and PD.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Fatigue is a prevalent symptom and major burden in neuroimmunological diseases. In neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), a severe autoimmune central nervous system (CNS) inflammatory ...disease with autoantibodies reactive to aquaporin-4, there are few reports about fatigue and quality of life (QOL). We aimed to evaluate the severity of fatigue and its relationship with QOL in patients with NMOSD. We prospectively studied patients with NMOSD who were in remission and seropositive for anti-aquaporin-4 antibody, and they were divided into 2 groups based on the presence of fatigue assessed using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-fatigue score. Sleep quality, depression, pain, and QOL were also evaluated. A total of 35 patients were enrolled (mean age, 46.5 ± 14.1 years; female: male = 29:6), and the median Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score was 2.0 (range, 0 to 8.0). The patients with fatigue (N = 25, 71.4%) had poorer sleep quality and more severe depression than those without fatigue (p = 0.009 and p = 0.001). Both the physical and mental QOL scores were lower in patients with fatigue than in those without fatigue (p = 0.033 and p = 0.004). Multiple linear regression analyses showed that the degree of fatigue with EDSS score and pain were independent predictors of physical aspects of QOL (B = 0.382, p = 0.001), whereas depression was the only predictor of the mental components of QOL (B = -0.845, p = <0.001). Fatigue is a common symptom and an important predictor of QOL in patients with NMOSD.
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The composite autonomic symptom scale-31 (COMPASS-31) is a self-rated questionnaire that evaluates diverse autonomic symptoms. In the present study, we developed the Korean version of the COMPASS-31 ...(K-COMPASS-31) with appropriate translation, and verified its reliability and internal and external validity in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The original COMPASS-31 was translated independently into Korean by two bilingual neurologists. Test-retest reliability was evaluated at a 2-week interval. We investigated the correlations between the K-COMPASS-31, the scale for outcomes in PD-autonomic (SCOPA-AUT), and the results of an autonomic function test (AFT), respectively. A total of 90 patients with PD (47 females; mean age, 63.4 ± 10.8 years) were enrolled. The K-COMPASS-31 showed excellent test-retest reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient = 0.874, p < 0.001) and internal validity (Cronbach's alpha-coefficient = 0.878). The COMPASS-31 was positively correlated with SCOPA-AUT (r = 0.609, p < 0.001) and the results of the AFT. In conclusion, the K-COMPASS-31 showed excellent reliability and validity for the assessment of autonomic symptoms in PD patients. The K-COMPASS-31 is an easy-to-repeat and widely used tool for investigating autonomic dysfunction in various neurologic disorders and enables comparison of autonomic dysfunction among neurologic disorders. We recommend the K-COMPASS-31 as a valid instrument for use in clinical practice for patients with PD.
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We compared the 5-year graft occlusion rates and midterm clinical outcomes of saphenous vein composite grafts with those of right internal thoracic artery composite grafts in patients who were ...enrolled in the SAphenous VEin versus Right Internal Thoracic Artery as a Y-Composite Graft trial.
Of 224 eligible patients with multivessel coronary artery disease who were randomized to undergo off-pump revascularization using the saphenous vein (saphenous vein group, n = 112) or right internal thoracic artery (right internal thoracic artery group, n = 112) as Y-composite grafts based on the in situ left internal thoracic artery from September 2008 to October 2011, 219 patients (saphenous vein group, n = 109; right internal thoracic artery group, n = 110) entered the analysis. A third limb conduit to lengthen the graft limb for complete revascularization was used in 47 patients (saphenous vein group vs right internal thoracic artery group, 8 vs 39). Postoperative 5-year (61.7 ± 5.2 months) angiograms were performed in 186 patients (84.9%; saphenous vein group = 95; right internal thoracic artery group = 91). Follow-up was complete in 97.7% (214/219) of patients with a median follow-up of 80.7 months.
The overall graft occlusion rate was 3.6% at 5 years (3.5% in the saphenous vein group vs 3.7% in the right internal thoracic artery group, P = .910). The 5-year occlusion rate of the second limb conduits in the saphenous vein group was 4.3% and was noninferior to that of the right internal thoracic artery group (2.4%) within the 95% 2-sided confidence interval of −1.4% to 5.2% (P < .001 for noninferiority). No statistically significant differences were found in the overall survival (P = .439) and the freedom from major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular event rates (P = .354) at 5 and 8 years between the 2 groups.
The saphenous vein composite grafts were noninferior to the right internal thoracic artery composite grafts in terms of 5-year graft occlusion rates and midterm clinical outcomes.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Abstract
Expanded hemodialysis (HDx) with medium cutoff (MCO) membranes, which remove middle-to-large molecules well, may be a good option to replace online hemodiafiltration (online-HDF). To provide ...more evidence, this randomized controlled trial compared several cardiovascular parameters between patients undergoing HDx and online-HDF. Eighty patients undergoing thrice-weekly hemodialysis were randomly assigned to receive either HDx with a Theranova membrane (n = 43) or online-HDF (n = 37). The primary endpoints were changes in brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), echocardiographic parameters, and coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores over 1 year, and the secondary endpoints included blood cardiovascular biomarkers, mortality, and patient-reported outcomes. A linear mixed model and log-rank test were used to estimate the group differences. 65 patients had completed the trial. The changes in baPWV and echocardiographic parameters did not differ between the two groups. The CAC scores remained stable in the online-HDF group, whereas an increasing trend was shown in the HDx group (
P
= 0.012). Other endpoints, including cardiovascular and all-cause mortalities, were similar between the two groups. The changes in cardiovascular parameters did not differ between HDx with an MCO membrane and online-HDF. However, attention may be needed in patients with high CAC scores or scores with an increasing tendency when online-HDF is replaced with HDx with an MCO membrane.
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Meta-analyses comparing the efficacy of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) and subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) for house dust mite allergy are lacking.
To compare the efficacy of SLIT drops, SLIT ...tablets, and SCIT in patients with perennial allergic rhinitis through network analysis.
Frequentist network meta-analyses estimated the standardized mean difference (SMD) across the three immunotherapy modalities on allergic rhinitis symptom and medication score data from double-blind randomized clinical trials. Random effects models were investigated.
We included 26 double-blind randomized clinical trials in this meta-analysis for the symptom score and 18 for the medication score. In the direct pairwise meta-analysis, a significant reduction of the symptom score was observed for all immunotherapy modalities compared with the placebo: pooled SMDs of -0.461 (95% confidence interval CI, -0.795 to -0.127) for SLIT drop, -0.329 (95% CI, -0.426 to -0.231) for SLIT tablet, and -1.669 (95% CI, -2.753 to -0.585) for SCIT. For the medication score, a significant reduction was observed for all modalities. In network meta-analysis, the clinical efficacy of SCIT based on the symptom score was greater than for SLIT drop or SLIT tablet (SMD: -0.697, 95% CI, -1.105 to -0.288; and SMD: -0.819, 95% CI, -1.242 to -0.397). However, there was no significant difference in the symptom score between SLIT drop and SLIT tablet.
This study demonstrated the clinical efficacy of all house dust mite immunotherapy modalities and suggests that SCIT may be more effective than SLIT drops or tablets in controlling symptoms of allergic rhinitis.
The highly contagious and rapidly mutating COVID-19 virus is affecting individuals worldwide. A rapid and large-scale method for COVID-19 testing is needed to prevent infection. Cough testing using ...AI has been shown to be potentially valuable. In this paper, we propose a COVID-19 diagnostic method based on an AI cough test. We used only crowdsourced cough sound data to distinguish between the cough sound of COVID-19-positive people and that of healthy people. First, we used the COUGHVID cough database to segment only the cough sound from the original cough data. An effective audio feature set was then extracted from the segmented cough sounds. A deep learning model was trained on the extracted feature set. The COVID-19 diagnostic system constructed using this method had a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 94%, and achieved better results than models trained by other existing methods.
Although fatigue is a major symptom in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), the underlying mechanism remains unclear. We explored the relationship between subcortical ...structures and fatigue severity to identify neural substrates of fatigue in NMOSD. Clinical characteristics with brain magnetic resonance imaging were evaluated in forty patients with NMOSD. Fatigue was assessed using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-fatigue) questionnaire (a higher score indicates less fatigue). We assessed the correlation between subcortical structures and fatigue severity using surface-based shape analysis. Most of the enrolled patients showed fatigue (72.5%; mean FACIT-fatigue score, 34.8 ± 10.8). The FACIT-fatigue score was negatively correlated with Expanded Disability Status Scale and Beck Depression Inventory scores (r = - 0.382, p = 0.016; r = - 0.578, p < 0.001). We observed that the right thalamus was the only extracted region for various threshold experiments. Further, patients with lower FACIT-fatigue scores (more fatigue) had decreased local shape volume in the right thalamus. Fatigue is common in patients with NMOSD, and atrophy in the right thalamus is strongly correlated with fatigue severity. The local shape volume of the right thalamus might serve as a biomarker of fatigue in NMOSD.
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•MOG-EAE in dark agouti rats is characterized by predominant demyelinating involvement.•VEPs are a useful objective tool to assess the optic nerve function.•Minimally invasive VEP can ...be used at various disease stages.•VEP latencies correlate with histological evidence of demyelination.•VEPs may be a useful biomarker for demyelinating CNS diseases.
Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an animal model of Inflammatory central nervous system (CNS) disease. Dark agouti (DA) rats immunized with full-length myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG1-125) typically develop a relapsing-remitting EAE form characterized by predominant demyelinating involvement of the spinal cord and optic nerve. Visually evoked potentials (VEP) are a useful objective tool to assess the optic nerve function and monitor electrophysiological changes in optic neuritis (ON). The current study aimed to assess the VEP changes in MOG-EAE DA rats using a minimally invasive recording device and to correlate them with histological findings. Twelve MOG-EAE DA rats and four controls underwent VEP recording at day 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 post-EAE induction. Tissue samples were obtained on days 14, 21, and 28 from two EAE rats and one control. The median VEP latencies were significantly higher on days 14, 21, and 28 compared to baseline, with maximal latencies observed on day 21. The histological analyses on day 14 demonstrated inflammation with largely preserved myelin and axonal structures. Inflammation and demyelination with largely preserved axons were evident on days 21 and 28, which correlated with prolonged VEP latencies. These findings suggest that VEPs may be a reliable biomarker reflecting the optic nerve involvement in EAE. Moreover, the use of a minimally invasive device enables observation of VEP changes over time in MOG-EAE DA rats. Our findings may have important implications for testing the potential neuroprotective and regenerative effects of new therapies for CNS demyelinating diseases.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
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