Plos One
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Correlation between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical features in cauda equina syndrome (CES) is unknown; nor is known whether there are differences in MRI spinal canal size between lumbar herniated disc patients with CES versus lumbar herniated discs patients without CES, operated for sciatica. The aims of this study are 1) evaluating the association of MRI features with clinical presentation and outcome of CES and 2) comparing lumbar spinal canal diameters of lumbar herniated disc patients with CES versus lumbar herniated disc patients without CES, operated because of sciatica. ⋯ This is the first study demonstrating differences in lumbar spinal canal size between lumbar herniated disc patients with CES and lumbar herniated disc patients without CES, operated for sciatica. This finding might imply that lumbar herniated disc patients with a relative small lumbar spinal canal might need to be approached differently in managing complaints of herniated disc. Since the number of studied patients is relatively small, further research should be conducted before clinical consequences are considered.
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Spinal flexibility is an essential parameter for clinical decision making on the patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Various methods are proposed to assess spinal flexibility, but which assessment method is more effective to predict the effect of orthotic treatment is unclear. ⋯ The spinal flexibility in the prone position is the closest to and most correlated with the initial in-orthosis correction among the 4 studied positions. Thus, the prone position could be an effective method to predict the initial effect of orthotic treatment on the patients with AIS.
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Comparative Study
Volume versus surface-based cortical thickness measurements: A comparative study with healthy controls and multiple sclerosis patients.
The cerebral cortex is a highly folded outer layer of grey matter tissue that plays a key role in cognitive functions. In part, alterations of the cortex during development and disease can be captured by measuring the cortical thickness across the whole brain. Available software tools differ with regard to labor intensity and computational demands. ⋯ Comparison of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with age-matched healthy control subjects showed highly comparable clusters of MS-related thinning for both methods. Likewise, both methods yielded comparable clusters of age-related cortical thinning, although correlations between age and average cortical thickness were stronger for FreeSurfer. Our data suggest that, for the analysis of cortical thickness, the volume-based CAT tool can be regarded a considerable alternative to the well-established surface-based FreeSurfer tool.
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Imported malaria in France is characterized by various clinical manifestations observed in a heterogeneous population of patients such as travelers/expatriates and African migrants. In this population, host factors and parasite biomass associated with severe imported malaria are poorly known. ⋯ Prior exposure to P. falciparum is associated with high anti-plasmodial antibody levels which influence clinical presentation of imported malaria and its correlated circulating and sequestered parasite burden.
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Deceptive behavior is common in human social interactions. Researchers have been trying to uncover the cognitive process and neural basis underlying deception due to its theoretical and practical significance. We used Event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the neural correlates of deception when the participants completed a hazard judgment task. ⋯ In addition, hazardous information evoked larger N1 and P300 than safe information, reflecting an early processing bias and a later evaluative categorization process based on motivational significance, respectively. Finally, the interaction between honesty (truthful/deceptive) and safety (safe/hazardous) on accuracy and LPP indicated that deceptive responses towards safe information required more effort than deceptive responses towards hazardous information. Overall, these results demonstrate the neurocognitive substrates underlying deception about hazard information.