“Sequential multimodality stimulation” for post-stroke-hemineglect: Feasibility and outcome in a pilot randomized controlled trial

ObjectiveTo test the feasibility and efficacy of multimodality stimulation combined with motor tasking as a corrective strategy for hemineglect following right hemispheric ischemic strokes.Material and methodsA prospective randomized controlled single blinded clinical trial was conducted over eighteen months from January 2017. All patients with right hemispheric ischemic strokes were screened for hemineglect and those fulfilling criteria were recruited and randomized. Patients under the therapy group (TG) received the intervention based on a structured protocol in addition to standard physiotherapy. The control group (CG) received standard physiotherapy alone. NIHSS, mRS and Neuropsychological test scores were recorded at different time points. The primary outcome measures (neuropsychological test scores) were compared between the two groups (Student's t-test to find out the difference in outcome measures) at one and three months post-stroke.ResultsOf the 14 patients recruited, data from 12 were available for analysis, 5 patients in TG and 7 in CG. There was a trend for better hemineglect and functional outcomes in TG.ConclusionMultimodality stimulation, in addition to standard physiotherapy, is feasible and potentially results in better neurocognitive and functional recovery following right hemispheric ischemic strokes. However, larger studies are warranted to prove these preliminary observations beyond doubt.     

Thrombolysis safety and effectiveness in acute ischemic stroke patients with pre-morbid disability

IntroductionRecombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) is the first-line therapy demonstrated to be safe and effective in acute ischemic stroke. People with pre-existing severe dementia or physical disability are usually excluded from rt-PA. The aim of our study was to investigate rt-PA safety and effectiveness in acute stroke with pre-existing disability (mRS ≥ 2).MethodsThe study encompassed 35 acute ischemic stroke patients with mRS ≥ 2 treated with rt-PA. In order to assess the differences in clinical outcome in three disability groups (mRS = 2; 3; 4/5), the following parameters were evaluated: intracerebral hemorrhage, mortality, NIHSS, ΔNIHSS and mRS.ResultsBaseline-NIHSS and age were not significantly different among groups. Mortality was higher in the pre-morbid mRS 4/5 group (44%) than in the pre-morbid mRS 2 (16.7%) and mRS 3 groups (21.4%). In survived patients, median ΔNIHSS% was higher in the mRS 2 and 3 groups (-63.3% and −92.3%, respectively) than in the mRS 4/5 group (−9.1%). The 247 rt-PA treated subjects with mRS < 2 in the same period showed lower mortality rate (4.7%), lower sICH (5%), lower mRS at discharge (median 1; range 0–6) and similar ΔNIHSS% (−75%).ConclusionPatients with mRS 2 and 3 may benefit from rt-PA with a moderate risk of sICH and mortality.     

Functional connectivity along the anterior–posterior axis of hippocampal subfields in the ageing human brain

While age‐related volumetric changes in human hippocampal subfields have been reported, little is known about patterns of subfield functional connectivity (FC) in the context of healthy ageing. Here we investigated age‐related changes in patterns of FC down the anterior–posterior axis of each subfield. Using high resolution structural MRI we delineated the dentate gyrus (DG), CA fields (including separating DG from CA3), the subiculum, pre/parasubiculum, and the uncus in healthy young and older adults. We then used high resolution resting state functional MRI to measure FC in each group and to directly compare them. We first examined the FC of each subfield in its entirety, in terms of FC with other subfields and with neighboring cortical regions, namely, entorhinal, perirhinal, posterior parahippocampal, and retrosplenial cortices. Next, we analyzed subfield to subfield FC within different portions along the hippocampal anterior–posterior axis, and FC of each subfield portion with the neighboring cortical regions of interest. In general, the FC of the older adults was similar to that observed in the younger adults. We found that, as in the young group, the older group displayed intrinsic FC between the subfields that aligned with the tri‐synaptic circuit but also extended beyond it, and that FC between the subfields and neighboring cortical areas differed markedly along the anterior–posterior axis of each subfield. We observed only one significant difference between the young and older groups. Compared to the young group, the older participants had significantly reduced FC between the anterior CA1‐subiculum transition region and the transentorhinal cortex, two brain regions known to be disproportionately affected during the early stages of age‐related tau accumulation. Overall, these results contribute to ongoing efforts to characterize human hippocampal subfield connectivity, with implications for understanding hippocampal function and its modulation in the ageing brain.     

Impact of sampling rate on statistical significance for single subject fMRI connectivity analysis

A typical time series in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) exhibits autocorrelation, that is, the samples of the time series are dependent. In addition, temporal filtering, one of the crucial steps in preprocessing of functional magnetic resonance images, induces its own autocorrelation. While performing connectivity analysis in fMRI, the impact of the autocorrelation is largely ignored. Recently, autocorrelation has been addressed by variance correction approaches, which are sensitive to the sampling rate. In this article, we aim to investigate the impact of the sampling rate on the variance correction approaches. Toward this end, we first derived a generalized expression for the variance of the sample Pearson correlation coefficient (SPCC) in terms of the sampling rate and the filter cutoff frequency, in addition to the autocorrelation and cross‐covariance functions of the time series. Through simulations, we illustrated the importance of the variance correction for a fixed sampling rate. Using the real resting state fMRI data sets, we demonstrated that the data sets with higher sampling rates were more prone to false positives, in agreement with the existing empirical reports. We further demonstrated with single subject results that for the data sets with higher sampling rates, the variance correction strategy restored the integrity of true connectivity.     

针灸联合推拿治疗对腰椎间盘突出症患者疼痛及功能恢复的影响

目的:探究针灸联合推拿治疗对腰椎间盘突出症患者疼痛及功能恢复的影响。方法:选取2017年8月-2018年6月于我院治疗的90例腰椎间盘突出症患者,采用随机数字表法分为两组,各45例。对照组给予常规治疗,观察组采用针灸联合推拿治疗。对比两组临床疗效、治疗前后中医证候积分、疼痛评分(Visual Analogue Scale,VAS)及功能恢复评分(Japanese Orthopaedic Association Scores,JOA)。结果:相较于对照组观察组的治疗总有效率较高,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);观察组治疗后各中医证候积分分别为(1.05±0.64)分、(1.12±0.87)分、(1.01±0.62)分、(0.94±0.12)分,VAS评分为(1.84±0.22)分均低于对照组(2.57±0.81)分、(2.63±0.91)分、(2.94±0.68)分、(1.38±0.36)分、(3.24±0.36)分,JOA评分为(21.33±2.46)分高于对照组(18.57±2.24)分,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论:针灸联合推拿在治疗腰椎间盘突出症中获得较好的临床效果,患处疼痛感有效缓解,腰椎功能明显改善,值得推广应用。     

揿针、聚乙二醇 4000 散联合生物反馈疗法治疗功能性便秘临床研究

目的:观察揿针、聚乙二醇4000散联合生物反馈疗法治疗功能性便秘的临床疗效。方法:选取102例功能性便秘患者,按随机数字表法分为对照组和观察组各51例。对照组采用揿针联合聚乙二醇4000散治疗,观察组在对照组基础上加用生物反馈疗法治疗。观察患者治疗后便秘症状改善情况及肛门直肠动力、肛门直肠感觉和生活质量的变化,比较2组临床疗效。结果:观察组总有效率96.08%,高于对照组的80.39%(P<0.05)。治疗后,2组便秘症状评分均较治疗前降低,观察组便秘症状评分低于对照组,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05)。治疗后,2组直肠最低敏感量、最大耐受量、直肠顺应性均较治疗前降低,观察组以上3项指标值均低于对照组,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05)。2组治疗前后直肠静息压、肛门括约肌压力比较,差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05)。治疗后,2组躯体不适、心理社会不适、担心和焦虑、满意度及总分均较治疗前降低,观察组躯体不适、心理社会不适、担心焦虑、满意度及总分均低于对照组,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论:揿针、聚乙二醇4000散联合生物反馈疗法治疗功能性便秘,可改善患者的便秘症状、肛门直肠动力、肛门直肠感觉及生活质量,提高治疗效果。     

探讨基于近红外脑成像技术的阈下抑郁情志刺激反应机制研究可行性

近红外脑功能成像技术是近几年发展起来用于动态检测脑功能的方法,能够很好地反映抑郁人群认知活动期间大脑有氧代谢的变化,为阈下抑郁研究提供了一个新思路。本研究通过文献综述,结合中医情志理论,在过往研究的基础上基于近红外脑功能成像技术探讨中医情志刺激对阈下抑郁的反应机制,为后期研究提供理论与实践可行性的依据。