Characteristics of individuals meeting criteria for new onset panic attacks following exposure to a typhoon

The association between trauma exposure and panic attacks has received increased attention over the past decade, with mounting evidence suggesting an overlapping etiologic pathway. This study examined the incidence of new onset panic attacks in 775 Vietnamese individuals in the 2–3 months following Typhoon Xangsane. Pre-typhoon (Wave 1) and post-typhoon (Wave 2) assessments were conducted, allowing for consideration of factors occurring prior to the typhoon in addition to typhoon-relevant responding. Of the 775 participants, 11.6% (n=90) met criteria for lifetime panic attack pre-typhoon and 2.8% (n=22) met post-typhoon panic attack criteria. Individuals with pre-typhoon panic were significantly older and reported less education compared to the no-panic group. Individuals in both panic groups were more likely to screen positive on a Wave1 psychiatric screening measure, endorse greater typhoon exposure and prior traumatic event exposure and were significantly more likely to meet DSM-IV criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression (MDD) post-typhoon compared with persons reporting no history of panic attacks. Pre and post-typhoon panic exhibited similar patterns across variables and both panic conditions were associated with the development of PTSD and MDD, suggesting that persons experiencing panic attacks may represent a vulnerable population in need of early intervention services.     

Surgical management of symptomatic Chiari II malformation in infants and children

Purpose

Variation exists in the surgical methods employed for decompression of Chiari II malformation (CIIM), yet an evaluation of these techniques has not been performed. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of bony decompression (cervical laminectomy alone versus suboccipital craniectomy with laminectomy) with or without dural augmentation for the treatment of symptomatic CIIM.

Methods

Clinical records of children 0–18 years of age who underwent surgical repair of myelomeningocele or CIIM decompression at St. Louis Children’s Hospital (SLCH) from 1990–2011 were reviewed. Signs/symptoms prompting decompression, surgical technique, operative parameters, and clinical outcomes were recorded for analysis.

Results

Thirty-three subjects were treated at SLCH for CIIM decompression. Twenty-six subjects underwent bony decompression only (21 cervical laminectomy alone, 5 suboccipital craniectomy?+?cervical laminectomy) while seven underwent bony decompression with upfront dural augmentation (three cervical laminectomy alone, four suboccipital craniectomy?+?cervical laminectomy). Median follow up was 5.0 years (range, 3 months–19 years). Symptomatic improvement was noted in 20/33 subjects (60.6 %). Sixty-two (61.5 %) percent of children who underwent bony decompression had symptomatic improvement, compared with 57.1 % of those with upfront dural augmentation (p?=?0.37). Estimated blood loss, operative time, and length of perioperative hospital stay appeared lower in the bony decompression group but were not statistically different in this limited cohort.

Conclusions

The results from this series suggest that bony CIIM decompression via tailored cervical laminectomies alone, without suboccipital craniectomy or upfront dural augmentation, is a reasonable initial management approach for decompression of symptomatic CIIM.     

Analysis of high-voltage electrical spinal cord injury using diffusion tensor imaging

The aim of this study was to investigate spinal cord injury (SCI) on the basis of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in patients with high-voltage electrical injury. We recruited eight high-voltage electrical injury patients and eight healthy subjects matched for age and sex. DTI and central motor conduction time were acquired in both the patient and control groups. We obtained DTI indices according to the spinal cord levels (from C2 to C7) and cross-section locations (anterior, lateral, and posterior). Fractional anisotrophy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) were compared between the two groups; additionally, they were compared in relation to spinal cord level and cross-section location. In the patient group relative to the control group, the FA value decreased and the MD and RD values increased in all of the regions of interest (ROI) with statistical significance (p < 0.05). In the patient group, particularly in the ROIs of the anterior spinal cord compared with the lateral and posterior spinal cords, the FA value decreased with statistical significance (p < 0.05). The DTI indices did not differ by level. DTI revealed the change of diffusion in the spinal cords of patients with high-voltage electrical injury, and corroborated the pathophysiology, myelinopathy and typical anterior spinal cord location of high-voltage electrical SCI already reported in the literature.     

A study of semantic treatment of three Chinese anomic patients

A treatment combining semantic feature analysis and semantic priming was carried out on three Cantonese-speaking brain-injured individuals with word-finding difficulties. Two of the participants with mild to moderate semantic impairment demonstrated significant progress on naming performance. Treatment effects also generalised to semantically related and unrelated untrained items. However, only one of these two participants was able to maintain the treatment gain for at least one month after the therapy was completed. The third patient with severe semantic deficits did not benefit from the intervention. The different outcomes of these participants to the same intervention were explained in terms of the nature of the treatment approach, the patients' underlying language deficits, and their level of cognitive abilities.     

A randomized open-label observational study to compare the efficacy and tolerability between topiramate and valproate in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy

Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is managed with valproate in most patients; however, valproate is an antiepileptic drug that has relatively severe adverse effects, especially in women. We performed a prospective, open-label, randomized observational study for comparison of efficacy and tolerability between topiramate and valproate in patients with JME. The inclusion criteria were patients with newly diagnosed JME or previously diagnosed JME with a history of a poor response or adverse effects to other antiepileptic drugs. The primary endpoint of this study was percentage of patients who were free of myoclonic seizures for 24 weeks in the two groups. The frequency and severity of adverse effects were also assessed. Sixteen patients were randomized to topiramate and 17 to valproate. In the topiramate arm, 11 of 16 patients (68.9%) completed 24-week maintenance therapy and seven of the 11 (64%) were seizure-free. In the valproate arm, 16 of 17 patients (94.1%) completed 24-week follow-up and nine of 16 (56%) were seizure-free. The difference (64% topiramate versus 56% valproate) did not reach statistical significance in this study group (p = 0.08, Fisher’s exact test). However, the severity of adverse effects was significantly different. Only 1 of 10 adverse effects from topiramate was ranked moderate-to-severe (10%), in comparison with severe rankings for 10 of 17 adverse effects from valproate (59%) (p = 0.018, Fisher’s exact test). In summary, the efficacy of topiramate and valproate was not different, but the severity of adverse effects was favourable for topiramate. Our findings suggest that valproate may be replaced with topiramate, especially for the patients with JME who do not tolerate valproate.     

A positive relationship between ambient temperature and bipolar disorder identified using a national cohort of psychiatric inpatients

Objective

This study characterizes the positive relationship between daily temperature and bipolar disorder in a cohort of Taiwanese psychiatric inpatients.

Methods

Meteorological data, provided by the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) of Taiwan, were interpolated to create representative estimates of mean diurnal temperatures for 352 townships. Psychiatric inpatient admissions enrolled in the national health-care insurance system were retrieved from the 1996–2007 Psychiatric Inpatient Medical Claim (PIMC) dataset. The generalized linear mixed models with Poisson distribution were used to evaluate the relative risks of mean diurnal temperature with respect to increased admissions for bipolar disorder, while adjusting for internal correlations and demographic covariates.

Results

Increased relative risks of bipolar disorder admissions were associated with the increasing trends of temperature over 24.0 °C (50th ‰), especially for adults and females. The highest daily diurnal temperatures above 30.7 °C (99th ‰) had the greatest risks of bipolar hospitalizations.

Conclusion

Understanding the increase of bipolar disorder admissions occurring in extreme heat is important in the preparation and prevention of massive recurrences of bipolar episodes.     

Benign lymphoepithelial tumor of the pituitary

Here, we report a case of lymphoepithelial tumor that developed in the sellar and suprasellar regions in a 56‐year‐old woman. The lesion was composed of abundant but benign squamous cell nests (Erdheim's nests) and heavy lymphoid tissue with well‐developed lymphoid follicles. Therefore, it mimicked tonsil or adenoid tissue, but was disorganized. We report this case to define the pathogenesis and proper diagnostic terminology of this unusual sellar and suprasellar lesion, and we assume that its origin is the infundibulum.