TARJETA DE VISITA [Material gráfico]

EUROPACopia digital. Madrid : Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, 201

A Case Series of Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation Treatment for Depressive Symptoms in Individuals with Autistic Spectrum Disorder: Real World TMS Study in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social communication and the presence of restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. While the symptoms of ASD are present from early childhood, there has been an increase in the number of adults with ASD in recent years who visit healthcare professionals to seek the treatment of depression due to maladjustment resulting from the core symptoms and are eventually diagnosed with ASD. Currently, no treatment is available for the core symptoms of ASD, and pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy are often provided mainly for secondary disorders such as depression and anxiety. However, the effectiveness of these therapies is often limited in individuals with ASD compared to those with major depression. In this context, neuromodulation therapies such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) have gained increasing attention as potential treatments. In this case series, we retrospectively analyzed 18 cases with ASD from the TMS registry data who had failed to improve depressive symptoms with pharmacotherapy and were treated with intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) therapy to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). We also explored the relationship between treatment efficacy and clinical epidemiological profile. Our results indicated that, despite the limitations of an open-label preliminary case series, TMS therapy in the form of iTBS may have some beneficial therapeutic effects on depressive symptoms in individuals with ASD. The present findings warrant further validation through randomized, sham-controlled trials with larger sample sizes

Dental conditions in inpatients with schizophrenia: A large-scale multi-site survey

Abstract Background Clinical relevance of dental caries is often underestimated in patients with schizophrenia. The objective of this study was to examine dental caries and to identify clinical and demographic variables associated with poor dental condition in patients with schizophrenia. Methods Inpatients with schizophrenia received a visual oral examination of their dental caries, using the decayed-missing-filled teeth (DMFT) index. This study was conducted in multiple sites in Japan, between October and December, 2010. A univariate general linear model was used to examine the effects of the following variables on the DMFT score: age, sex, smoking status, daily intake of sweets, dry mouth, frequency of daily tooth brushing, tremor, the Clinical Global Impression-Schizophrenia Overall severity score, and the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale for Geriatrics score. Results 523 patients were included in this study (mean ± SD age = 55.6 ± 13.4 years; 297 men). A univariate general linear model showed significant effects of age group, smoking, frequency of daily tooth brushing, and tremor (all p’s (23, 483) = 3.55, p 2 = 0.42) . In other words, older age, smoking, tremor burden, and less frequent tooth brushing were associated with a greater DMFT score. Conclusions Given that poor dental condition has been related with an increased risk of physical co-morbidities, physicians should be aware of patients’ dental status, especially for aged smoking patients with schizophrenia. Furthermore, for schizophrenia patients who do not regularly brush their teeth or who exhibit tremor, it may be advisable for caregivers to encourage and help them to perform tooth brushing more frequently.</p

Investigation of Spatiotemporal Profiles of Single-Pulse TMS-Evoked Potentials with Active Stimulation Compared with a Novel Sham Condition

Identifying genuine cortical stimulation-elicited electroencephalography (EEG) is crucial for improving the validity and reliability of neurophysiology using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) combined with EEG. In this study, we evaluated the spatiotemporal profiles of single-pulse TMS-elicited EEG response administered to the left dorsal prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in 28 healthy participants, employing active and sham stimulation conditions. We hypothesized that the early component of TEP would be activated in active stimulation compared with sham stimulation. We specifically analyzed the (1) stimulus response, (2) frequency modulation, and (3) phase synchronization of TMS&ndash;EEG data at the sensor level and the source level. Compared with the sham condition, the active condition induced a significant increase in TMS-elicited EEG power in the 30&ndash;60 ms time interval in the stimulation area at the sensor level. Furthermore, in the source-based analysis, the active condition induced significant increases in TMS-elicited response in the 30&ndash;60 ms compared with the sham condition. Collectively, we found that the active condition could specifically activate the early component of TEP compared with the sham condition. Thus, the TMS&ndash;EEG method that was applied to the DLPFC could detect the genuine neurophysiological cortical responses by properly handling potential confounding factors such as indirect response noises