Oxyhemoglobin changes in the prefrontal cortex in response to cognitive tasks: a systematic review

Purpose of the study: the aim of this study was to synthesize PFC fNIRS outcomes on the effects of cognitive tasks compared to resting/baseline tasks in healthy adults from studies utilizing a pre/post design.

Material and methods: original research studies were searched from seven databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, CINAHL, SCOPUS, PEDro and PubMed). Subsequently, two independent reviewers screened the titles and abstracts followed by full-text reviews to assess the studies' eligibility.

Results: eleven studies met the inclusion criteria and had data abstracted and quality assessed. Methodology varied considerably and yet cognitive tasks resulted in the ΔO₂Hb increasing in 8 of the 11 and ΔHHb decreasing in 8 of 8 studies that reported this outcome. The cognitive tasks from 10 of the 11 studies were classified as “Working Memory” and “Verbal Fluency Tasks”.

Conclusions: although, the data comparison was challenging provided the heterogeneity in methodology, the results across studies were similar.     

Stress Testing Versus CT Angiography in Patients With Diabetes and Suspected Coronary Artery Disease

Background

The optimal noninvasive test (NIT) for patients with diabetes and stable symptoms of coronary artery disease (CAD) is unknown.

Traumatic Cerebral Microbleeds in the Subacute Phase Are Practical and Early Predictors of Abnormality of the Normal-Appearing White Matter in the Chronic Phase

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:In the chronic phase after traumatic brain injury, DTI findings reflect WM integrity. DTI interpretation in the subacute phase is less straightforward. Microbleed evaluation with SWI is straightforward in both phases. We evaluated whether the microbleed concentration in the subacute phase is associated with the integrity of normal-appearing WM in the chronic phase.MATERIALS AND METHODS:Sixty of 211 consecutive patients 18 years of age or older admitted to our emergency department ≤24 hours after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury matched the selection criteria. Standardized 3T SWI, DTI, and T1WI were obtained 3 and 26 weeks after traumatic brain injury in 31 patients and 24 healthy volunteers. At baseline, microbleed concentrations were calculated. At follow-up, mean diffusivity (MD) was calculated in the normal-appearing WM in reference to the healthy volunteers (MD_z). Through linear regression, we evaluated the relation between microbleed concentration and MD_z in predefined structures.RESULTS:In the cerebral hemispheres, MD_z at follow-up was independently associated with the microbleed concentration at baseline (left: B = 38.4 [95% CI 7.5–69.3], P = .017; right: B = 26.3 [95% CI 5.7–47.0], P = .014). No such relation was demonstrated in the central brain. MD_z in the corpus callosum was independently associated with the microbleed concentration in the structures connected by WM tracts running through the corpus callosum (B = 20.0 [95% CI 24.8–75.2], P < .000). MD_z in the central brain was independently associated with the microbleed concentration in the cerebral hemispheres (B = 25.7 [95% CI 3.9–47.5], P = .023).CONCLUSIONS:SWI-assessed microbleeds in the subacute phase are associated with DTI-based WM integrity in the chronic phase. These associations are found both within regions and between functionally connected regions.

The yearly incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) is around 300 per 100,000 persons.^1,2 Almost three-quarters of patients with moderate to severe TBI have traumatic axonal injury (TAI).³ TAI is a major predictor of functional outcome,^4,5 but it is mostly invisible on CT and conventional MR imaging.^6,7DTI provides direct information on WM integrity and axonal injury.^5,8 However, DTI abnormalities are neither specific for TAI nor stable over time. Possibly because of the release of mass effect and edema and resorption of blood products, the effects of concomitant (non-TAI) injury on DTI are larger in the subacute than in the chronic phase (>3 months).^4,9,10 Therefore, DTI findings are expected to reflect TAI more specifically in the chronic than in the subacute phase (1 week–3 months).⁴ Even in regions without concomitant injury, the effects of TAI on DTI are dynamic, possibly caused by degeneration and neuroplastic changes.^6,11,12 These ongoing pathophysiological processes possibly contribute to the emerging evidence that DTI findings in the chronic phase are most closely associated with the eventual functional outcome.^12,13Although DTI provides valuable information, its acquisition, postprocessing, and interpretation in individual patients are demanding. SWI, with which microbleeds can be assessed with high sensitivity, is easier to interpret and implement in clinical practice. In contrast to DTI, SWI-detected traumatic microbleeds are more stable¹ except in the hyperacute^14,15 and the late chronic phases.¹⁶ Traumatic cerebral microbleeds are commonly interpreted as signs of TAI. However, the relation is not straightforward. On the one hand, nontraumatic microbleeds may be pre-existing. On the other hand, even if traumatic in origin, microbleeds represent traumatic vascular rather than axonal injury.¹⁷ Indeed, TAI is not invariably hemorrhagic.¹⁸ Additionally, microbleeds may secondarily develop after trauma through mechanisms unrelated to axonal injury, such as secondary ischemia.¹⁸DTI is not only affected by pathophysiological changes but also by susceptibility.¹⁹ The important susceptibility-effect generated by microbleeds renders the interpretation of DTI findings at the location of microbleeds complex. In the chronic phase, mean diffusivity (MD) is the most robust marker of WM integrity.^4,6 For these reasons, we evaluated MD in the normal-appearing WM.Much TAI research focuses on the corpus callosum because it is commonly involved in TAI^5,18,20 and it can reliably be evaluated with DTI,^5,21 and TAI in the corpus callosum is related to clinical prognosis.^6,20 The corpus callosum consists of densely packed WM tracts that structurally and functionally connect left- and right-sided brain structures.²² The integrity of the corpus callosum is associated with the integrity of the brain structures it connects.²³ Therefore, microbleeds in brain structures that are connected through the corpus callosum may affect callosal DTI findings. Analogous to this, microbleeds in the cerebral hemispheres, which exert their function through WM tracts traveling through the deep brain structures and brain stem,^24,25 may affect DTI findings in the WM of the latter.Our purpose was to evaluate whether the microbleed concentration in the subacute phase is associated with the integrity of normal-appearing WM in the chronic phase. We investigated this relation within the cerebral hemispheres and the central brain and between regions that are functionally connected by WM tracts.     

Early intervention in myelofibrosis and impact on outcomes: A pooled analysis of the COMFORT-I and COMFORT-II studies

Background

In a pooled analysis of the phase 3 Controlled Myelofibrosis Study With Oral JAK Inhibitor Treatment I (COMFORT-I) and COMFORT-II clinical trials, adult patients with intermediate-2 or high-risk myelofibrosis who received oral ruxolitinib at randomization or after crossover from placebo or best available therapy (BAT) had improved overall survival (OS).

Methods

This post hoc analysis of pooled COMFORT data examined relevant disease outcomes based on the disease duration (≤12 or >12 months from diagnosis) before ruxolitinib initiation.

Results

The analysis included 525 patients (ruxolitinib: ≤12 months, n = 84; >12 months, n = 216; placebo/BAT: ≤12 months, n = 66; >12 months, n = 159); the median age was 65.0–70.0 years. Fewer thrombocytopenia and anemia events were observed among patients who initiated ruxolitinib treatment earlier. At Weeks 24 and 48, the spleen volume response (SVR) was higher for patients who initiated ruxolitinib earlier (47.6% vs. 32.9% at Week 24, p = .0610; 44.0% vs. 26.9% at Week 48, p = .0149). In a multivariable analysis of factors associated with spleen volume reduction, a logistic regression model that controlled for confounding factors found that a significantly greater binary reduction was observed among patients with shorter versus longer disease duration (p = .022). At Week 240, OS was significantly improved among patients who initiated ruxolitinib earlier (63% [95% CI, 51%‒73%] vs. 57% [95% CI, 49%‒64%]; hazard ratio, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.01‒2.31; p = .0430). Regardless of disease duration, a longer OS was observed for patients who received ruxolitinib versus those who received placebo/BAT.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that earlier ruxolitinib initiation for adult patients with intermediate-2 and high-risk myelofibrosis may improve clinical outcomes, including fewer cytopenia events, durable SVR, and prolonged OS.

Plain Language Summary

• Patients with myelofibrosis, a bone marrow cancer, often do not live as long as the general population. These patients may also have an enlarged spleen and difficult symptoms such as fatigue.
• Two large clinical trials showed that patients treated with the drug ruxolitinib lived longer and had improved symptoms compared to those treated with placebo or other standard treatments.
• Here it was examined whether starting treatment with ruxolitinib earlier (i.e., within a year of diagnosis) provided benefits versus delaying treatment.
• Patients who received ruxolitinib within a year of diagnosis lived longer and experienced fewer disease symptoms than those whose treatment was delayed.

     

电针复合TCI靶控输注在单肺通气食管癌开胸手术麻醉中的应用与安全性＊

目的 探讨电针复合靶控输注（Target Controlled Infusion， TCI）在单肺通气食管癌开胸手术麻醉中的应用价值。方法 选取于我院拟行单肺通气食管癌开胸切除手术患者60例作为研究对象。随机将其分为试验组与对照组，对照组30例采取气管插管全麻及TCI靶控输注维持麻醉深度，试验组30例则在对照组方案基础上辅助电针麻醉，记录两组患者手术麻醉时间、药物用量、苏醒时间、并发症；以及术前（T_Ⅰ）、插管前即刻（T_Ⅱ）、插管后1 min（T_Ⅲ）、切皮即刻（T_Ⅳ）、去骨时（T_Ⅴ）、拔管即刻（T_Ⅵ）时平均动脉压（MAP）、平均心率（HR）、BIS值；术前、术后1天、术后3天简易智能精神状态检查量表（MMSE）；并于麻醉诱导前（T₀）、手术开始2 h（T₁）、术后1天（T₂）、术后3天（T₃）时抽取患者外周静脉血检测IL-1β、IL-6、IL-10、TNF-α浓度。结果 试验组手术用时、麻醉时间略低于对照组，但差异无统计学意义（P>0.05），试验组异丙酚、舒芬太尼用量以及苏醒时间均明显低于对照组（P<0.05）；T_Ⅱ时两组平均动脉压（Mean Arterial Pressure， MAP）、心率（Heartrate， HR）较术前明显降低，且试验组MAP明显低于对照组（P<0.05），但两组T_Ⅱ时HR比较无显著差异（P>0.05）；T_Ⅲ、T_Ⅵ时对照组MAP、HR明显高于T_Ⅰ时，而试验组MAP、HR与T_Ⅰ比较无显著差异（P>0.05）。术后1天、3天试验组简易智能精神状态检查量表（Mini-Mental State Examination， MMSE）评分低于对照组，有显著性差异（P<0.05）。T₁、T₂、T₃时试验组白介素-1β（IL-1β）、白介素-6（IL-6）、肿瘤坏死因子（Tumor Necrosis Factor-α， TNF-α）水平明显低于对照组（P<0.05），白介素-10（IL-10）水平明显高于对照组（P<0.05）。结论 采用电针复合TCI靶控输注麻醉方案可有效提升单肺通气食管癌开胸手术麻醉效果，能够降低患者术后认知功能障碍发生风险。     

Evaluation of vilazodone for the treatment of depressive and anxiety disorders

Introduction: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) significantly contribute to the global burden of disease. Vilazodone, a combined serotonin reuptake inhibitor and 5-HT1A partial agonist, is an approved therapy for the treatment of MDD and which has been further investigated for GAD.

Areas covered: This article covers the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of vilazodone and provides an evaluation of the clinical usefulness of vilazodone for the treatment of MDD and anxiety disorders. A literature search was performed using PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library.

Expert opinion: Studies have shown that vilazodone is significantly superior to placebo. However, vilazodone cannot as yet be recommended as a first-line treatment option for MDD as it is unclear whether the drug’s dual mechanism of action provides greater efficacy than prevailing treatment options. Moreover, more phase IV studies are needed to establish its efficacy and long-term safety in larger and more diverse populations. Although vilazodone may have an additional advantage for the treatment of anxiety symptoms in MDD, here also additional studies are required to confirm its efficacy over and above SSRI alternatives and other antidepressant treatments. Therefore, presently, vilazodone should be considered as a second- or third-line treatment option for MDD and GAD.