International consensus statement on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and disruptive behaviour disorders (DBDs): clinical implications and treatment practice suggestions.

Researchers and clinicians worldwide share concerns that many youngsters with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and/or disruptive behaviour disorders (DBDs) do not receive appropriate treatment despite availability of effective therapies. At the request of Johnson and Johnson (sponsor), 11 international experts in child and adolescent psychiatry were selected by Professor Stan Kutcher (chair) to address these concerns. This paper describes the experts' consensus conclusions, including treatment practice suggestions for physicians involved in the early treatment of youngsters with ADHD (or hyperkinetic disorder, in countries preferring this classification) and/or DBDs internationally: suggested first-line treatment for ADHD without comorbidity is psychostimulant medication aided by psychosocial intervention. For ADHD with comorbid conduct disorder (CD), psychosocial intervention combined with pharmacotherapy is suggested. For primary CD, suggested first-line treatment is psychosocial intervention, with pharmacotherapy considered as an 'add-on' when aggression/impulsivity is marked and persistent. Pharmacotherapy requires careful titration; full-day coverage is the suggested goal. Regular long-term follow-up is recommended.     

Developing fMRI protocol for clinical use Comparison of 6 Arabic paradigms for brain language mapping in native Arabic speakers

Objectives:To assess a baseline assessment using developed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) language paradigms for Arabic-speakers.Methods:24-healthy right-handed volunteers scanned on a 3.0 Tesla MRI machine. For fMRI, a BOLD-sensitive sequence used to measure signals over time across 6 language paradigms: rhyming (RH), semantic category generations (SCG), silent word generation (SWG), verb generation picture (VGp), verb generation word (VGw), and verb generation audio (VGa). fMRI data was analyzed using FMRIB Software Library (FSL).Results:We found that VGa, SWG, VGw and VGp robustly activated language-related regions in the dominant hemisphere. RH and SCG failed to adequately define these activation regions but this may be related to the study’s preliminary nature and limitations. After assessment of their validity, considerable activation of the inferior frontal gyrus during VGa, SWG, VGw and VGp suggests that these paradigms have the potential for localizing of Broca’s area in native Arabic speakers.Conclusion:Set of well adapted, and evidence-based, fMRI paradigms were established for Arabic-speakers to enable accurate and sufficient localization and lateralization of the language area. After validation, these paradigms may provide sequences for accurate localization of brain language areas, and could be used as a presurgical evaluation tool.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) allows precise, and non-invasive, localization and lateralization of brain functions. Clinically, these techniques have considerable success, and hold great potential in the management of a variety of neurological disorders. One of the most promising clinical applications of fMRI is presurgical linguistic mapping.1-5 The 3 classical language areas that are involved in language production and processing are Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas, and angular gyrus. Wernicke’s area can be described as a receptive region, for processing and integrating auditory sensory information, while Broca’s area can be described as a productive region, for making vocal signals, and meaningful words or sentences. The latter includes pars opercularis and triangularis. The angular gyrus area is particularly involved in reading and transitioning between written and spoken forms of language. Injury to language regions produces noticeable clinical deficits, and the location of these regions may become difficult to assess without advanced anatomical imaging such as fMRI. Internationally, fMRI replaces the more invasive Wada test (also known as the intracarotid sodium amobarbital procedure) in lateralizing language and memory at some centers.6,7Language is a highly complex system that markedly varies across individuals. Patients native language affects brain activation responses during fMRI scans.8-13 As such, language paradigms for presurgical fMRI mapping should be developed and validated using native language paradigms. Language dominance of the left cerebral hemisphere has been well researched and established, but native language and social factors were also reported to play a key role in cortical association of verbal processing.8,14-16Although language localization using fMRI has been routinely used in western countries, and more recently in an Arabic country,17 studies clearly demonstrated that different cultures may process language in different manners, using different brain mechanisms.8,14-16 Existing language paradigms, created for non-Arabic speaking patients, require major modifications before applying them in examining native Arabic speakers.17Language lateralization is another broadly used clinical application of fMRI. Concordance with Wada test has long been demonstrated and validated in the literature using paradigms with various tasks such as verbal fluency, comprehension, and semantic judgment .18-21 These have shown that concordance with Wada test can reach 90% in temporal lobe epilepsy, especially in left-dominant patients. A slightly lower concordance was achieved in right-dominant patients. Although fMRI language lateralization works well for patients with typical language dominance, clinicians need to be careful when interpreting results of patients with atypical language representation.22Semitic languages such as Arabic differ from other languages in many aspects, including orthography (including diacritics), phonology, and syntax. Therefore, significant research in developing and validating language paradigms for Arabic is required. To our knowledge, very few studies in this domain have been carried out.17,23 One developed several language and memory paradigms in neurological patients, while emphasizing consideration for educational and cultural adjustments,17 and the other examined neuronal correlates of diacritics (vs. lack of thereof) in 11 healthy men.23We aim to establish tasks adapted to the Arabic language, that also reliably activate Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas in a relatively short scanning time. This study is a baseline assessment using 6 developed fMRI language paradigms for Arabic-speaking presurgical candidates. The desired outcome of this work is to create a set of Arabic language localization protocols, along with standard operating procedures.     

Use of immunoadsorption columns in ABO-incompatible renal transplantation: A prospective study at a tertiary care center in India

BackgroundWe present our experience of ABO-incompatible renal transplant using immunoadsorption (IA) columns. We have compared efficacy of two commercially available columns.MethodsThis single-center prospective study was conducted at Army Hospital Research and Referral, Delhi. All consecutive ABO-incompatible renal transplants from January 2014 to February 2018 were analyzed. Of 30 patients who underwent transplantations, 28 underwent antibody depletion with immunoadsorption columns. Of them, 14 cases were in the “Glycosorb group,” while 14 in the “Adsopak group.”ResultsThe donors in the Adsopak group were older than those in the Glycosorb group (p < 0.05). Both groups had spousal donors in majority. The cutoff for the antibody titer was 1:8. The median titer in the Adsopak group was 128 (range, 1:4 to 1:2048), while that in the Glycosorb group was 24 (range, 1:8 to 1:128). All patients in the Glycosorb group had baseline titers ≤1:128, while 13 patients in the Adsopak group had baseline titers ≤1:512. Nil titer was achievable with Glycosorb® (50%,7/14) but not with Adsopak® (P < 0.01). Around 4 sessions were required for the Glycosorb group, while around 8 sessions were required for the Adsopak group before transplantation (p < 0.001). The Glycosorb group was advantageous in terms of graft failure because no rejection was noticed in these patients in their follow-up period. Three patients in the Adsopak group developed rejection (two had mixed rejection, and one had antibody-mediated rejection). Four patients died of sepsis (three in the Glycosorb and one in the Adsopak group). Lower baseline serum creatinine level was achieved in the Glycosorb group.ConclusionsResults of ABO-incompatible renal transplantation were satisfactory, and the use of immunoadsorption columns could effectively deplete antibody titers. Glycosorb columns were more efficient than Adsopak columns. Graft survival was better with Glycosorb. Posttransplant infections were a major cause of mortality.