Medicine
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Observational Study
A Genetic Susceptibility Mechanism for Major Depression: Combinations of polymorphisms Defined the Risk of Major Depression and Subpopulations.
Major Depression (MD) is a highly inherited psychiatric disorder. The norepinephrine transporter (NET) gene plays important role in pathophysiology of MD. This study attempted to examine the relationship between polymorphisms of NET gene and MD. ⋯ When referenced by TT genotype, the OR value increased gradient from TC to CC genotype; when referenced by T allele, the odds ratio value of C allele also increased. Compared with those having both -182 T/T and 1287 G/G genotypes, in patients with MD, early-onset MD, and MD with suicide concept group, the -182 C/C and 1287 G/A combinatorial genotype has significant risk; yet in patients with MD family history, the -182 C/C and 1287 A/A combinatorial genotype has significant risk. Different combinations of T-182C and the G1287A polymorphisms of NET gene might increase morbidity risk of MD subpopulations.
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Osteopetrosis, also known as marble bone disease, is a clinically rare genetic disease, which represents a heterogeneous group of rare, inherited bone dysplasias that share the hallmark of abnormally increased bone density caused by osteoclast dysfunction. Hereby, the authors describe a case of osteopetrosis that showed increased diffuse radioactive uptake on whole body bone (99)Tc(m)-methylene diphosphonate imaging in a 56-year-old man, which increased universal radioactive uptake on craniofacial bone imaging, and enlargement of the limb long bone near the joints with evenly symmetrical enriched distribution of radioactivity. ⋯ Skeletal scintigraphy with Tc-methylene diphosphonate imaging is helpful to the diagnosis of osteopetrosis. There is a characteristic of osteopetrosis different from other bone metabolic diseases.
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We evaluate the correlation of clinical staging on positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) and pathologic staging and the prognostic value of PET-CT after induction chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We analyzed 42 cases of clinical stage IIIA-N2 NSCLC who receive 2 to 4 cycles of preoperative chemotherapy with or without radiation followed by curative resection. The maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) of the suspected lesion on PET-CT was recorded. ⋯ Complete responders (ycT0N0M0) on PET-CT after induction chemotherapy had a significantly longer RFS time than did incomplete responders (28.3 vs 9.1 months, P = 0.021). Complete response on PET-CT after induction chemotherapy with or without radiation was a good prognosticator for RFS in stage IIIA-N2 NSCLC patients who received surgery. However, response evaluation on PET-CT after induction chemotherapy should be interpreted with caution due to its unacceptable accuracy.
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Observational Study
Risk Factors and Consequences of Cortical Thickness in an Asian Population.
Cortical thickness has been suggested to be one of the most important markers of cortical atrophy. In this study, we examined potential risk factors of cortical thickness and its association with cognition in an elderly Asian population from Singapore. This is a cross-sectional study among 572 Chinese and Malay patients from the ongoing Epidemiology of Dementia in Singapore (EDIS) Study, who underwent comprehensive examinations including neuropsychological testing and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). ⋯ Finally, in terms of specific cognitive domains, the most significant associations were found for executive function, visuoconstruction, and visual memory. Smaller cortical thickness is significantly associated with cognitive impairment, suggesting a contribution of diffuse cortical atrophy beyond the medial temporal lobe to cognitive function. These findings suggest that cortical thinning is a biomarker of neurodegenerative changes in the brain not only in dementia, but also in its preclinical stages.
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Observational Study
The Prognostic Impact of Preoperative and Postoperative Chemoradiation in Clinical Stage II and III Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinomas: A Population Based Study in Taiwan.
While preoperative chemoradiation followed by surgery (pre-OP CRT) has been widely applied in the treatment of patients with esophageal cancer, some studies have shown a survival benefit of postoperative chemoradiation (post-OP CRT). The optimal combination of multimodality therapy and the sequence of surgery and chemoradiation for esophageal cancer remain to be investigated. A total of 1385 patients with clinical stage II and III esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) were included. ⋯ In the subgroup analysis, patients with clinical T3/4 stage tumors or those with a tumor size greater than 5 cm were more likely to demonstrate an overall survival benefit from pre-OP CRT compared with post-OP CRT. Both pre-OP CRT and post-OP CRT demonstrated a survival benefit compared with surgery alone, which indicates the importance of trimodality therapy in patients with clinical stage II/III ESCC. However, no survival difference was observed among patients in the pre-OP CRT+S and S+post-OP CRT groups, which suggests that the sequence of surgery and chemoradiation may be irrelevant to the outcome.