Hell J Nucl Med
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The aim of this study was to compare the metabolic activity of metastatic foci from breast and prostate cancer patients as scanned by fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) and by technetium-99m methyl diphosphonate (99mTc-MDP) bone scan (BS). ⋯ No significant correlation was noticed in the metabolic activity-glucose utilization of metastatic bone foci between breast and prostate cancer cases. This observation validates the independent value of analyzed diagnostic methods and suggests negligible influence of glucose utilization in bone re-modeling in the above metastatic cancer cells. The 18F-FDG PET/CT bone scan was much better in diagnosing metastases compared to the 99mTc-MDP scan.
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Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is an effective surgical approach for treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD), dystonia and essential tremor (ET). Traditionally, DBS is performed using frame-based stereotactic technique. Recently, image guided surgery (IGS) using neuronavigation has gained popularity in neurosurgical procedures. We aim to investigate whether DBS using neuronavigation is capable of improving patient's outcome and minimize its complications. ⋯ IGS using neuronavigation allowed more accurate deep nucleus targeting, minimized intra- and post-operative complications and improved clinical outcome in DBS candidate patients. Our study revealed that increased white matter connections with remote parts of the brain would suggest that isolated deep nucleus stimulation could not explain symptom recovery and that patients' specific white matter stimulation by tractography coupled with IGS should be in priority.
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The term "Subjective Cognitive Impairment (SCI)" is the most widely accepted term for cognitive complaints of otherwise apparently healthy older adults. It is presently clear that SCI might be a risk factor for the development of Mild Cognitive Impairment and dementia. As regards SCI measurement and potential diagnosis, several studies showed that SCI is a condition in which people score in the normal range on common tests but believe they experience cognitive decline. Hence, to assess the characteristic of the SCI subtle cognitive decline, self-report measures were developed to estimate "self-experience" of minimal decline in cognition seem the most appropriate tools. In this vein, the present study aimed at examining the capacity of the Greek version of two self-report instruments of the aforementioned type to detect SCI in community dwelling older adults. ⋯ Self-report questionnaires of "everyday" cognitive and memory failures seem to be associated with specific objective tests of cognition in aging. Hence, they are useful tools for detecting early cognitive impairment at least in older adults. Their administration together with objective cognitive tasks of high difficulty could substantially help for SCI screening. Given that there is also evidence that the experience of subtle impairment in cognition is related to increased likelihood of biomarker abnormalities indicative of AD pathology, the assessment of subjective estimations is revealed as a useful primary indicator of early AD effects on cognitive functioning.