Meta-analysis of randomized controlled comparisons of psychopharmacological and psychological treatments for anxiety disorders.

BACKGROUND: A number of meta-analyses have led to contradictory results regarding the efficacy of the psychological and pharmacological treatment of anxiety disorders. The main reasons for these inconsistent results seem to be the inclusion of heterogeneous studies and influences of selection biases. We performed a meta-analysis, which only included studies using a direct comparison of pharmacological, psychological, or combined treatments. METHOD: Sixteen studies on panic disorder, six studies on social anxiety disorder, and two studies on generalized anxiety disorder have been analyzed. Effect sizes for differences between the different treatment modalities were calculated. Also, the effect sizes of the pre-post differences were calculated. RESULTS: Pharmacological treatment, cognitive-behavioural treatment, and the combination of both treatment modalities all led to substantial improvement between pre- and post-treatment. Combined pharmacological and psychological treatment was superior to the monotherapies for panic disorder. For social anxiety disorder, there is only preliminary support for combined treatment. Due to lack of sufficient data, no final conclusions can be drawn for generalized anxiety disorder. CONCLUSIONS: While drug treatment and CBT showed equal efficacy, only in panic disorder the combination of pharmacological and psychological treatment was superior to either treatment alone. For the other anxiety disorders, the evidence for greater efficacy of combination treatment is still not sufficient due to lack of studies.     

A novel CACNA1F mutation in a french family with the incomplete type of X-linked congenital stationary night blindness

PURPOSE: To describe a French family with the incomplete type of X-linked congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB2) associated with a novel mutation in the retina-specific calcium channel alpha(1) subunit gene (CACNA1F). DESIGN: Interventional case report. METHODS: Two family members with a history of nonprogressive night blindness and subnormal visual acuity were clinically examined and the genotype determined by molecular genetic analysis. RESULT: Both patients had clinical manifestations characteristic of CSNB2. Electrophysiologically, we found a predominant reduction of the ERG B-wave in the maximal response. Both rod and cone function were subnormal, with the latter tending to be more attenuated. We identified a C deletion at nucleotide position 4548, resulting in a frameshift with a predicted premature termination at codon 1524. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical and genetic study of a novel mutation in the CACNA1F gene adds further support to the contention that CSNB2 represents a genetically distinct retinal disorder of a calcium channel.     

Haemophilus influenzae bacterial meningitis: residual risk; case report]

Bacterial meningitis due to Haemophilus influenzae has become a rare, albeit not exceptional occurrence since generalized vaccination against that pathogen was instated, concerning as well incapsulated b and non-b Haemophilus influenzae strains, as non-incapsulated strains. CASE REPORT: A 19-month-old fully immunized infant was referred to our hospital for bacterial meningitis. CSF analysis elicited biotype III, non-incapsulated Haemophilus influenzae. CONCLUSION: Generalizing Haemophilus influenzae preventive inoculation has revolutionized the epidemiology of bacterial meningitis; however, a residual risk exists, which deserves to be taken into account.     

Fetal lung growth in experimental utero-abdominal pregnancy

We removed rat fetuses from the uterus without disturbing the placental implantation site, placing the fetuses in the peritoneal cavity either within intact membranes (with or without amniotic fluid) or outside of the fetal membranes. Untouched littermate fetuses served as controls. The surgery was performed on day 17 of gestation and the outcome was analyzed at term, 4 days later. The utero-abdominal pregnancies with intact membranes and amniotic fluid yielded fetuses in all respects indistinguishable from littermate controls. Extrauterine fetuses maintained within their membranes but without amniotic fluid as well as extrauterine and extramembranous fetuses displayed identical features: body weight was slightly reduced; after correction for body weight, only their lungs weighed significantly less and contained less deoxyribonucleic acid. In addition, fetuses in these two groups had multiple joint contractures and occasional webbing of the skin. These experimental findings in rats indicate an important role of amniotic fluid in fetal development, especially of the lung.     

Preventive effects of diltiazem on cyclosporin A-induced vascular smooth muscle dysfunction

Cyclosporin A may cause vascular smooth muscle dysfunction due to calcium overload as a consequence of chronically augmented calcium influx. In the present study, the responsiveness to vasoconstrictors was investigated in rats after chronic treatment for 6 weeks with placebo, cyclosporin A (30 mg/kg per day), diltiazem (60 mg/kg per day), or cyclosporin A plus diltiazem. Twenty-four hours after the last oral treatment the animals were sacrified and rings of the thoracic aorta were suspended in organ chambers under isometric conditions in the absence of cyclosporin A or diltiazem. Chronic treatment with cyclosporin A significantly augmented contractions to angiotensin II (10^-9–10^-5 M). This effect was prevented by cotreatment with diltiazem. Diltiazem did not affect the cyclosporin A-induced reduction in the response to potassium chloride (10–80 mM). The contractions to phenylephrine (10^-9–10^-6 M) and endothelin-1 (10^-9–10^-7 M) were not significantly different in the four groups. The preventive effect of diltiazem against the cyclosporin A-induced hypersensitivity to angiotensin II supports the hypothesis of increased calcium influx during cyclosporin A therapy. The results may provide an additional rationale for the use of calcium antagonists in the treatment of the vascular side effects of cyclosporin A.     

Combined endurance and muscle strength training in female and male patients with chronic heart failure

BACKGROUND: Exercise training has now become established practice in patients with chronic heart failure. Women are often under-represented in intervention studies compared to men. For this reason it was our aim to conduct a combined endurance and muscle strength training program to evaluate its effect on clinical performance data and health-related psychosocial factors in women and men. METHODS: One hundred and sixteen women, mean age 69 +/- 9 years, body mass index (BMI) 25.8 +/- 4.9, and 169 men, mean age 66 +/- 9 years, BMI 26.6 +/- 3.6 underwent combined endurance/resistance training. The training program lasted 29 +/- 7 days and comprised bicycle ergometer training, a 6-min walk test as a training unit and muscle strength training for the lower and upper extremities. RESULTS: Differences between women and men were found in clinical parameters. In particular, statistically significant differences were revealed between the women and men with regard to cardiopulmonary performance. Quality of life was significantly improved on discharge with regard to both physical and mental health, whereas anxiety and depression showed no significant alteration. CONCLUSION: A specialized in-hospital program for women and men combining endurance/resistance training and education is feasible. But our program revealed a very low level of cardiopulmonary performance in women. Women need to be encouraged and motivated to participate in such programs.     

Improved assessment of intravascular Doppler coronary flow velocity profile

Easy and safe in- vivo flow velocity studies in small coronary arteries have become feasible using a 0.014 ‘ or 0.018 ’ guidewire with an integrated Doppler probe in its tip (FloWire, Cardiometrics). Assessment of the flow velocity profile by the ratio of diastolic to systolic flow velocity (DSVR) is used as a diagnostic parameter. However, DSVR is a coarse quantifier of the flow velocity profile, and is subject to large physiologic variance and depends crucially on the quality of the Doppler signal. The aim of our study was to test parameters derived from statistical time series analysis for monitoring the quality of the instantaneous peak velocity (IPV) signal. Improvement of quantification of changes in quality and shape of flow velocity profiles by these parameters as compared to DSVR was a second goal. We investigated analog-digital converted IPV- signals and video registrations of corresponding greyscale spectra of intracoronary Doppler flow velocity signals. The signals were analyzed by using the autocorrelation function (ACF) in the time domain and a fast Fourier transform (FFT) in the frequency domain (standard time series statistics). The first minimum of autocorrelation function turned out to be very sensitive to signal quality, and Fisher's g of the periodogram was the parameter of choice for shape analysis. In 11 patients with coronary artery disease, pre and post PTCA, the sensitivity of DSVR and signal to noise ratio to changes in shape and quality of the flow velocity signals was compared to that of the new parameters. Nineteen Doppler flow velocity samples of good quality from measurements in nonstenotic vessels and 7 flow velocity tracings with visible artefacts were used to assess the value of these parameters in monitoring signal quality. By comparison with corresponding parameters in use (SNR and DSVR) a significantly improved performance of the new statistical parameters was observed with respect to sensitivity to changes in signal quality and flow profile. In view of these results and because of the short calculation time of these variables they should be used for on-line quality control and analysis of flow velocity profiles.