Effects of perineural invasion on biochemical recurrence and prostate cancer-specific survival in patients treated with definitive external beam radiotherapy

Objectives

Perineural invasion (PNI) has not yet gained universal acceptance as an independent predictor of adverse outcomes for prostate cancer treated with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). We analyzed the prognostic influence of PNI for a large institutional cohort of prostate cancer patients who underwent EBRT with and without androgen deprivation therapy (ADT).

fNIRS-based investigation of the Stroop task after TBI

To evaluate neural changes during a Stroop task among individuals with TBI using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Thirteen healthy controls and 14 patients with moderate to severe TBI were included in this study. Oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) was recorded every tenth of a second using a 52-channel fNIRS unit. Data were acquired using a block design during a Stroop task (i.e., Condition A = Dot Color Naming, Condition B = Incongruent Condition). Visual stimuli were presented on a computer monitor. Behaviorally, response accuracy was similar between groups for condition A, but the TBI group made more errors than the control group during condition B. During condition A, the patient group demonstrated significant increases in HbO within bilateral frontal regions compared to controls (p?<?0.01). When examining the Stroop interference effect (B-A), controls showed increased HbO in bilateral frontal lobes and left inferior parietal region suggesting increased neural response to increased cognitive demand, whereas no differences were detected among the TBI group (p?<?0.05). No between group differences in latency of HbO response was observed during either condition. While the TBI group performed as accurately as controls on the simpler dot color naming condition of the Stroop task, neural activity was greater within the frontal lobes during this relatively simple task among the TBI group suggesting neural inefficiency. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of neural activity related to the interference effect was not different among patients, suggesting the neural demand for the simpler task was comparable to that of the more cognitive demanding task among the TBI sample. The results suggest that fNIRS can identify frontal lobe inefficiency in TBI commonly observed with fMRI.     

Healing and recurrence of active duodenal ulcer with nizatidine

Nizatidine, a new H2-receptor antagonist for treatment of duodenal ulcer disease, was evaluated in a unique two-phase, placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind, multicenter clinical trial. Patients received either 150 mg nizatidine twice daily or placebo for 4 weeks (phase I). If ulcer healing did not occur during phase I, patients were randomly reallocated to receive either 150 mg nizatidine twice daily or placebo for an additional 4 weeks (phase II). Patients with a healed ulcer continued on the same therapy. All patients were endoscoped at week 8. Healing rates at week 2 were 93 of 265 (35%) nizatidine-treated patients and 55 of 260 (21%) placebo-treated patients (p less than 0.001); at week 4, healing rates were 198 of 259 (76%) nizatidine-treated patients and 95 of 243 (39%) placebo-treated patients (p less than 0.001). In phase II, ulcer healing occurred in 46 of 86 (53%) nizatidine-treated patients and in 23 of 90 (26%) placebo-treated patients (p = 0.002). In patients who had a healed ulcer at previous endoscopies, 18 of 178 (10%) nizatidine-treated patients and 10 of 81 (12%) placebo-treated patients had a recurrence of duodenal ulcer. Smokers who had histories of previous ulcers were more likely to have an early recurrence.     

Cholinergic Nucleus 4 Degeneration and Cognitive Impairment in Isolated Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder

Background

Cholinergic nucleus 4 (Ch4) degeneration is associated with cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies, but it is unknown if Ch4 degeneration is also present in isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD).

Objective

The aim was to determine if there is evidence of Ch4 degeneration in patients with iRBD and if it is associated with cognitive impairment.

Methods

We analyzed the clinical and neuropsychological data of 35 iRBD patients and 35 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Regional gray matter density (GMD) was calculated for Ch4 using probabilistic maps applied to brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Results

Ch4 GMD was significantly lower in the iRBD group compared to controls (0.417 vs. 0.441, P = 0.02). Ch4 GMD was also found to be a significant predictor of letter number sequencing (β-coefficient = 58.31, P = 0.026, 95% confidence interval [7.47, 109.15]), a measure of working memory.

Conclusions

iRBD is associated with Ch4 degeneration, and Ch4 degeneration in iRBD is associated with impairment in working memory. © 2023 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.