Gender differences in anxiety and depressive symptoms in patients with primary hyperaldosteronism: A cross-sectional study

Objective. The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone-system (RAAS) has gained increasing attention in the investigation of the pathogenesis of depression. Primary hyperaldosteronism (PA) is associated with a marked aldosterone excess. Prior studies on PA describe an increased prevalence of anxiety and sub-threshold depressive symptoms in these patients. Methods. In a cross-sectional exploratory study we investigated 132 patients with PA. Twenty-seven patients were studied before initiation of specific treatment (U = untreated), 56 were studied 5.4 years after initiation of mineralocorticoid antagonist treatment (MRA) and 49 patients were studied 4.3 years after unilateral adrenalectomy (ADX). GAD-7 and PHQD self-rating questionnaires were used to assess symptoms for anxiety and depression. Results. No significant difference was found between the three investigated groups. A higher prevalence for depression and anxiety compared to the normal population was found. Women of all groups had higher mean values compared to men, for depression in untreated patients this difference was found to be significant. Correlations between the psychopathology and hormones were only found for renin. Plasma renin concentration correlated significantly with anxious symptoms of untreated females. Conclusions. This study supports the RAAS to be involved in the pathogenesis of depression as patients with PA seem to be more depressive and anxious compared to the normal population. Gender differences in the regulation of the RAAS seem to be apparent, as females were more affected by the dysregulation than males.     

Current status of identification of victims of the National Socialist regime whose bodies were used for anatomical purposes

Research on the history of anatomy in the Third Reich has often focused on anatomists who collaborated with the National Socialist (NS) regime. Only recently has attention shifted to investigations of the victims, of which there are two groups: anatomists whose careers were disrupted by NS policies, and victims of the NS regime whose bodies were used for anatomical purposes. No systematic approach has yet been undertaken toward the identification of all the different groups of victims and the individuals' fates. This overview of currently available data on NS victims whose bodies were used for anatomical purposes reveals that an estimated total number of all bodies delivered to departments of anatomy lies at more than 40,000, and the so far documented number of executed persons among them at a minimum of 3,749. The traditional sources of body procurement and their significant changes in character during the NS period can be traced. Postwar attempts on finding the fate and identity of bodies of NS victims in anatomy can be divided into three phases. Most investigations focused on the removal of remaining “material” from NS victims from the anatomical collections, while identification and remembrance of individual victims was not a priority. So far, about 500 NS victims' names and biographies have been at least partially identified. Existing memorials rarely name individuals. New approaches to the identification of victims and the potential of a databank for these victims' biographies as an appropriate manner of remembrance are examined in this study. Clin. Anat. 514–536, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Histopathological evaluation of duodenal biopsy in the PreventCD project. An observational interobserver agreement study

Aim of the current study was to evaluate the inter‐observer agreement between pathologists in the diagnosis of celiac disease (CD), in the qualified context of a multicenter study. Biopsies from the “PreventCD” study, a multinational‐ prospective‐ randomized study in children with at least one‐first‐degree relative with CD and positive for HLA‐DQ2/HLA‐DQ8. Ninety‐eight biopsies were evaluated. Considering diagnostic samples with villous atrophy (VA), the agreement was satisfactory (κ = 0.84), but much less when assessing the severity of these lesions. The use of the recently proposed Corazza‐Villanacci classification showed a moderately higher level of agreement (κ = 0.39) than using the Marsh‐Oberhuber system (κ = 0.31). 57.1% of cases were considered correctly oriented. A number of >4 samples per patient was statistically associated to a better agreement; orientation did not impact on κ values. Agreement results in this study appear more satisfactory than in previous papers and this is justified by the involvement of centers with experience in CD diagnosis and by the well‐controlled setting. Despite this, the reproducibility was far from optimal with a poor agreement in grading the severity of VA. Our results stress the need of a minimum of four samples to be assessed by the pathologist.     

Innovative Praxisstrukturen“

Der Freie Zahnarzt - FVDZ macht sich für Genossenschaftsmodelle stark. Der Markt der medizinischen Dienstleistungen ist in Bewegung. Verstärkt werden Medizinische Versorgungszentren (MVZ)...     

„Bürgerversicherung fehlt die Evidenz“

Der Freie Zahnarzt - Hätte eine einheitliche Krankenversicherung – etwa nach dem Modell „Bürgerversicherung“ – Bestand vor dem Grundgesetz? Um diese...