To study cognitive performance in depressed geriatric inpatients with or without preexisting cognitive impairment who received a first course of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
Forty-four elderly ...inpatients with major depressive disorder (ICD-10 criteria) were included in a prospective consecutive case series of a university hospital. The patients were divided into 3 groups (no cognitive impairment NCI, mild cognitive impairment MCI, dementia) and rated for cognitive performance with the MMSE before first ECT, after sixth ECT, and 6 weeks and 6 months after ECT termination. Affective symptoms were rated by 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-21) before and 6 weeks after ECT. Analysis of variance or Kruskal-Wallis tests on ECT-induced MMSE and HDRS-21 score changes were compared to baseline. Binary logistic regression was used for predictor analysis. The study was conducted from April 2004 to April 2008.
After initial nonsignificant cognitive deterioration in all 3 groups, the NCI group improved cognitively 6 weeks (P = .018) and 6 months (P = .027) after ECT. The MCI group improved in cognition 6 months (P = .036) after ECT. In the dementia group, mean MMSE scores also improved numerically over the course of ECT without significance. Dementia patients with antidementia treatment improved in cognition to a clinically relevant extent after the sixth ECT. Dementia subjects without antidementia treatment deteriorated. After the sixth ECT, 70.0% of dementia patients (P = .004) presented a cognitive decline, and 68.8% of MCI patients (P < .001) presented a decline 6 weeks after ECT. Six months after ECT, one-third of the dementia patients (P < .036) still had a cognitive decline. Affective symptoms remitted after ECT in all 3 groups (P < .001). Pre-ECT cognitive deficits were the best predictor of MMSE decline (6 weeks after ECT, P = .007; 6 months after ECT, P = .055).
ECT is effective and well tolerated in geriatric depressed inpatients regardless of preexisting cognitive impairment. Cognitive deficits were transient.
The assessment of activities of daily living (ADL) is essential for dementia diagnostics. Even in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), subtle deficits in instrumental ADL (IADL) may occur and signal a ...higher risk of conversion to dementia. Thus, sensitive and reliable ADL assessment tools are important. Smart homes equipped with sensor technology and video cameras may provide a proxy-free assessment tool for the detection of IADL deficits.
The aim of this paper is to investigate the potential of a smart home environment for the assessment of IADL in MCI.
The smart home consisted of a two-room flat equipped with activity sensors and video cameras. Participants with either MCI or healthy controls (HC) had to solve a standardized set of six tasks, e.g., meal preparation, telephone use, and finding objects in the flat.
MCI participants needed more time (1384 versus 938 seconds, p < 0.001) and scored less total points (48 versus 57 points, p < 0.001) while solving the tasks than HC. Analyzing the subtasks, intergroup differences were observed for making a phone call, operating the television, and retrieving objects. MCI participants showed more searching and task-irrelevant behavior than HC. Task performance was correlated with cognitive status and IADL questionnaires but not with participants' age.
This pilot study showed that smart home technologies offer the chance for an objective and ecologically valid assessment of IADL. It can be analyzed not only whether a task is successfully completed but also how it is completed. Future studies should concentrate on the development of automated detection of IADL deficits.
There is a growing body of evidence that subtle deficits in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) may be present in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, it is not clear if there are ...IADL domains that are consistently affected across patients with MCI. In this systematic review, therefore, we aimed to summarize research results regarding the performance of MCI patients in specific IADL (sub)domains compared with persons who are cognitively normal and/or patients with dementia.
The databases PsycINFO, PubMed and Web of Science were searched for relevant literature in December 2013. Publications from 1999 onward were considered for inclusion. Altogether, 497 articles were retrieved. Reference lists of selected articles were searched for potentially relevant articles. After screening the abstracts of these 497 articles, 37 articles were included in this review.
In 35 studies, IADL deficits (such as problems with medication intake, telephone use, keeping appointments, finding things at home and using everyday technology) were documented in patients with MCI. Financial capacity in patients with MCI was affected in the majority of studies. Effect sizes for group differences between patients with MCI and healthy controls were predominantly moderate to large. Performance-based instruments showed slight advantages (in terms of effect sizes) in detecting group differences in IADL functioning between patients with MCI, patients with Alzheimer's disease and healthy controls.
IADL requiring higher neuropsychological functioning seem to be most severely affected in patients with MCI. A reliable identification of such deficits is necessary, as patients with MCI with IADL deficits seem to have a higher risk of converting to dementia than patients with MCI without IADL deficits. The use of assessment tools specifically designed and validated for patients with MCI is therefore strongly recommended. Furthermore, the development of performance-based assessment instruments should be intensified, as they allow a valid and reliable assessment of subtle IADL deficits in MCI, even if a proxy is not available. Another important point to consider when designing new scales is the inclusion of technology-associated IADL. Novel instruments for clinical practice should be time-efficient and easy to administer.
Abstract Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorder. Rare TREM2 variants have been recently identified in families affected by FTD-like phenotype. However, ...genetic studies of the role of rare TREM2 variants in FTD have generated conflicting results possibly because of difficulties on diagnostic accuracy. The aim of the present study was to investigate associations between rare TREM2 variants and specific FTD subtypes (FTD-S). The entire coding sequence of TREM2 was sequenced in FTD-S patients of Spanish ( n = 539) and German ( n = 63) origin. Genetic association was calculated using Fisher exact test. The minor allele frequency for controls was derived from in-house genotyping data and publicly available databases. Seven previously reported rare coding variants (p.A28V, p.W44X, p.R47H, p.R62H, p.T66M, p.T96K, and p.L211P) and 1 novel missense variant (p.A105T) were identified. The p.R47H variant was found in 4 patients with FTD-S. Two of these patients showed cerebrospinal fluid pattern of amyloid beta, tau, and phosphorylated-tau suggesting underlying Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. No association was found between p.R47H and FTD-S. A genetic association was found between p.T96K and FTD-S ( p = 0.013, odds ratio = 4.23, 95% Confidence Interval 1.17–14.77). All 6 p.T96K patients also carried the TREM2 variant p.L211P, suggesting linkage disequilibrium. The remaining TREM2 variants were found in 1 patient, respectively, and were absent in controls. The present findings provide evidence that p.T96K is associated with FTD-S and that p.L211P may contribute to its pathogenic effect. The data also suggest that p.R47H is associated with an FTD phenotype that is characterized by the presence of underlying AD pathology.
Abstract 4364
Anticoagulation with dose adjusted vitamin-K antagonists (VKA, therapeutic range of the international normalized ratio (INR) of 2 to 3) and low dose aspirin (65 to 330 mg daily) enhance ...bleeding following tooth extraction. However, intensity of bleeding varies substantially between patients. Guidelines disagree regarding interruption or continuation of anticoagulation for tooth extraction. We hypothesized that personality traits may moderate bleeding intensity under anticoagulation.
A total of 180 patients (77 female, 103 male, 49.9+15.3 years (mean, standard deviation)) underwent tooth extraction without interruption of anticoagulation. Sixty three patients did not take any anticoagulant (group 1), 60 patients were on aspirin (group 2), and 57 patients on VKA (INR 2–3, group 3). Patients completed a validated state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI), a personality inventory with 12 dimensions (Freiburg personality inventory (FPI)), and a self-developed questionnaire on general attitudes regarding general feeling and anxiety before tooth extraction. Dentists (JF, PH) rated bleeding intensity ranging from 0 to 9 according a standardized protocol.
Intensity of bleeding after tooth extraction was higher in group 3 (score <5 in 40%, score >5 in 60% of patients) compared to groups 1 (40% and 60%) and 2 (53% and 47%) and higher in group 2 compared to group 1 (p<0.005, chi-square test) as expected. Higher anxiety values in STAI questionnaire correlated positively with higher bleeding scores (p<0.0001). High values of some of the FPI dimensions correlated positively with self-consciousness (p<0.0001), physical complaints (p<0.001), and emotionality (p<0.0001) life, and negatively with satisfaction (p<0.02) and extraversion (p<0.003) without differences between groups 1 to 3. Anxiety symptoms of the self questionnaire were identified as moderating factor on bleeding intensity following tooth extraction independently of anticoagulation (p<0.0001) according multinominal regression analysis. Other items of the self questionnaire such as physiological stress symptoms, regular performance of visits, bad experience with dentists, and pains during tooth extraction did not influence bleeding intensity.
A short questionnaire is developed to identify the anxiety score of patients as a tool for a non pharmaceutical medical intervention to reduce bleeding complications following tooth extraction. Because differences of the moderating effect of bleeding by personality traits may exist between cultures, the questionnaire will be made available across countries www.blutverduennung.uni-hd.de
No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
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