Emotional quotient in frontotemporal dementia vs. Alzheimer’s disease: the role of socioemotional agnosia

Introduction: Socioemotional dysfunction distinguishes behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) from other dementias. Patients with bvFTD not only have early social impairment and emotional blunting, but they also have agnosia of their socioemotional dysfunction.

Methods: To investigate the relationship between agnosia and dysfunction, we assessed self-knowledge of socioemotional dysfunction with an emotional quotient (EQ) scale administered to 12 patients with bvFTD and a comparison group of 12 age-matched patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and compared these self-ratings to caregiver ratings of social dysfunction and emotional blunting.

Results: The bvFTD patients self-rated as having higher EQs than the AD patients, particularly higher self-ratings of their Social Skills, an EQ subscale which correlated with increased emotional blunting. On within-groups analysis, the bvFTD patients’ high self-ratings of their EQ Appraisal of Emotions correlated with increased socioemotional dysfunction, whereas all of the AD patients’ self-ratings correlated appropriately with their degree of dysfunction.

Conclusions: Large socioemotional agnosia scores (EQ minus function) distinguishes bvFTD from AD. Additionally, in bvFTD, agnosia specifically for their ability to appreciate others’ emotions correlates with the degree of socioemotional dysfunction, suggesting a role for socioemotional agnosia in increasing socioemotional dysfunction.     

Survival of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer at Ubon Ratchathani Cancer Center, Thailand

This survival analysis was conducted at Ubon Ratchathani Cancer Center to determine the prognostic factors for survival of patients with stage IIIA, stage IIIB, and stage IV non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated at the center between 1997-2001. The study sample included 210 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. Diagnosis and staging were defined employing the TNM system. The majority of lung cancer patients were smokers (66.7%), lived in Ubon Ratchathani Province (40.0%), male (77.6%), and agriculturalists (74.8%). Seventy-seven percent of patients died within five years, 19.5% were lost to follow-up and 2.9% were still alive in 2003. The estimated median survival time was 6.3 months (95% CI 5.4-7.3); the median survival times for stages IIIA, IIIB, and IV were 16.3, 7.0, and 4.5 months, respectively. The overall 1-, 2- and 3-year survival rates of NSCLC were 28.9, 7.9, and 3.3, respectively. The differences in survival of patients in the various stages of the disease were statistically significant (p < 0.0001), adjusted for age and sex. Treatment with combination methods and at an early stage in the disease were associated with significant prolongation of survival. For stage IIIA, the estimated median survival times by treatment with chemotherapy was 7.0 months, radiotherapy was 16.0 months, surgery and others 16.3 months, and chemotherapy plus radiotherapy was 19.5 months. However, only chemotherapy versus surgery and others was significantly different (p = 0.0307). The median survival times for stage IIIB patients treated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery and others, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and supportive treatment were 7.0, 7.0, 9.0, 14.7, and 3.0 months, respectively. The differences between surgery and others versus supportive treatment, chemotherapy and radiotherapy versus supportive treatment were significantly different (p = 0.0392, p = 0.0433, respectively). For stage IV, the median survival times for patients treated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and supportive treatment were 5.0, 4.3, 6.5, and 1.0 months, respectively. The differences between chemotherapy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy versus supportive treatment, all were significantly different (p = 0.0020, p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001, respectively). The 2-year survival rates for stages IIIA, IIIB, and IV were 16.0, 4.1, and 2.2%, respectively. The results of the study show that stage IIIA has the longest survival time. They also show that appropriate treatment is a significant factor in improving the survival of lung cancer patients.     

Correlation of serum albumin and prognostic nutritional index with outcomes following pancreaticoduodenectomy

BACKGROUND Pancreaticoduodenectomy(PD) is a complex surgical procedure with a high morbidity rate. The serious complications are major risk factors for poor longterm surgical outcome. Studies have reported an association between early postoperative prognostic nutritional index(PNI) and prediction of severe complications after abdominal surgery. However, there have been no studies on the use of early postoperative PNI for predicting serious complications following PD.AIM To analyze the risk factors and early postoperative PNI for predicting severe complications following PD.METHODS We retrospectively analyzed 238 patients who underwent PD at our hospital between January 2007 and December 2017. The postoperative complications were classified according to the Dindo-Clavien classification. Grade Ⅲ-Ⅴ postoperative complications were classified as serious. The risk factors for serious complications were analyzed by univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis.RESULTS Overall complications were detected in 157 of 238 patients(65.9%) who underwent PD. The grade Ⅲ-Ⅴ complication rate was 26.47%(63/238 patients).The mortality rate was 3.7%(9/238 patients). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that preoperative serum albumin [odds ratio(OR): 0.883, 95%confidence interval(CI): 0.80-0.96; P < 0.01] and PNI on postoperative day 3 <40.5(OR: 2.77, 95%CI: 1.21-6.38, P < 0.05) were independent factors associated with grade Ⅲ-Ⅴ postoperative complications.CONCLUSION Perioperative albumin is an important factor associated with serious complications following PD. Low early postoperative PNI(< 40.5) is a predictor for serious complications.