Parvovirus B19-induced acute bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome in twin girls

We describe 2 cases of 6-year-old twin girls presenting with acute carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) associated with human parvovirus B19 (HPV-B19) infection, as evidenced by serological data and detection of HPV-B19 DNA in blood with use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR). To our knowledge, this is the first time that HPV-B19 infection has been suggested as the causal agent of simultaneous acute bilateral CTS in twins, thus presenting the possibility that similar immunologic responses can be observed in twins during viral infections

Convergent and distributed effects of the 3q29 deletion on the human neural transcriptome

Abstract The 3q29 deletion (3q29Del) confers high risk for schizophrenia and other neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. However, no single gene in this interval is definitively associated with disease, prompting the hypothesis that neuropsychiatric sequelae emerge upon loss of multiple functionally-connected genes. 3q29 genes are unevenly annotated and the impact of 3q29Del on the human neural transcriptome is unknown. To systematically formulate unbiased hypotheses about molecular mechanisms linking 3q29Del to neuropsychiatric illness, we conducted a systems-level network analysis of the non-pathological adult human cortical transcriptome and generated evidence-based predictions that relate 3q29 genes to novel functions and disease associations. The 21 protein-coding genes located in the interval segregated into seven clusters of highly co-expressed genes, demonstrating both convergent and distributed effects of 3q29Del across the interrogated transcriptomic landscape. Pathway analysis of these clusters indicated involvement in nervous-system functions, including synaptic signaling and organization, as well as core cellular functions, including transcriptional regulation, posttranslational modifications, chromatin remodeling, and mitochondrial metabolism. Top network-neighbors of 3q29 genes showed significant overlap with known schizophrenia, autism, and intellectual disability-risk genes, suggesting that 3q29Del biology is relevant to idiopathic disease. Leveraging “guilt by association”, we propose nine 3q29 genes, including one hub gene, as prioritized drivers of neuropsychiatric risk. These results provide testable hypotheses for experimental analysis on causal drivers and mechanisms of the largest known genetic risk factor for schizophrenia and highlight the study of normal function in non-pathological postmortem tissue to further our understanding of psychiatric genetics, especially for rare syndromes like 3q29Del, where access to neural tissue from carriers is unavailable or limited

Sex- and Age-Specific Deviations in Cerebellar Structure and Their Link With Symptom Dimensions and Clinical Outcome in Individuals at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis.

BACKGROUND: The clinical high-risk (CHR) period offers a temporal window into neurobiological deviations preceding psychosis onset, but little attention has been given to regions outside the cerebrum in large-scale studies of CHR. Recently, the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study (NAPLS)-2 revealed altered functional connectivity of the cerebello-thalamo-cortical circuitry among individuals at CHR; however, cerebellar morphology remains underinvestigated in this at-risk population, despite growing evidence of its involvement in psychosis. STUDY DESIGN: In this multisite study, we analyzed T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scans obtained from N = 469 CHR individuals (61% male, ages = 12-36 years) and N = 212 healthy controls (52% male, ages = 12-34 years) from NAPLS-2, with a focus on cerebellar cortex and white matter volumes separately. Symptoms were rated by the Structured Interview for Psychosis-Risk Syndromes (SIPS). The outcome by two-year follow-up was categorized as in-remission, symptomatic, prodromal-progression, or psychotic. General linear models were used for case-control comparisons and tests for volumetric associations with baseline SIPS ratings and clinical outcomes. STUDY RESULTS: Cerebellar cortex and white matter volumes differed between the CHR and healthy control groups at baseline, with sex moderating the difference in cortical volumes, and both sex and age moderating the difference in white matter volumes. Baseline ratings for major psychosis-risk dimensions as well as a clinical outcome at follow-up had tissue-specific associations with cerebellar volumes. CONCLUSIONS: These findings point to clinically relevant deviations in cerebellar cortex and white matter structures among CHR individuals and highlight the importance of considering the complex interplay between sex and age when studying the neuromaturational substrates of psychosis risk

Hippocampal Connectivity with the Default Mode Network is Linked to Hippocampal Volume in the Clinical High Risk for Psychosis Syndrome and Healthy Individuals.

Reduced hippocampal volume (HV) is an established brain morphological feature of psychiatric conditions. HV is associated with brain connectivity in humans and non-human animals and altered connectivity is associated with risk for psychiatric illness. Associations between HV and connectivity remain poorly characterized in humans, and especially in phases of psychiatric illness that precede disease onset. This study examined associations between HV and hippocampal functional connectivity (FC) during rest in 141 healthy controls and 248 individuals at-risk for psychosis. Significant inverse associations between HV and hippocampal FC with the inferior parietal lobe (IPL) and thalamus were observed. Select associations between hippocampal FC and HV were moderated by diagnostic group. Significant moderation results shifted from implicating the IPL to the temporal pole after excluding participants on antipsychotic medication. Considered together, this work implicates hippocampal FC with the temporoparietal junction, within a specialized subsystem of the default mode network, as sensitive to HV

Screening for Nutritional Status in Radiation Oncology Outpatients: TROD 12-01 Study

OBJECTIV

Prognostic factors in medically inoperable early stage lung cancer patients treated with stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR): Turkish Radiation Oncology Society Multicentric Study

Objective We identified factors influencing outcomes in patients with medically inoperable early stage lung cancer (MIESLC) treated with stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR) at 14 centers in Turkey. Materials and Methods We retrospectively analyzed 431 patients with stage I-II MIESLC treated with SABR from 2009 through 2017. Age; sex; performance score; imaging technique; tumor histology and size; disease stage radiation dose, fraction and biologically effective dose with an alpha/beta ratio of 10 (BED10); tumor location and treatment center were evaluated for associations with overall survival (OS), local control (LC) and toxicity. Results Median follow-up time was 27 months (range 1-115); median SABR dose was 54 Gy (range 30-70) given in a median three fractions (range 1-10); median BED(10)was 151 Gy (range 48-180). Tumors were peripheral in 285 patients (66.1%), central in 69 (16%) and 100 Gy (P = .011), adenocarcinoma (P = .025) and complete response on first evaluation (P = .007) predicted favorable LC. BED10> 120 Gy (hazard ratio [HR] 1.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-3.2,P = .019) and tumor size ( 120 Gy was needed for better LC and OS for large, non-adenocarcinoma tumors

Prognostic factors in medically inoperable early stage lung cancer patients treated with stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR): Turkish Radiation Oncology Society Multicentric Study

Objective We identified factors influencing outcomes in patients with medically inoperable early stage lung cancer (MIESLC) treated with stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR) at 14 centers in Turkey. Materials and Methods We retrospectively analyzed 431 patients with stage I-II MIESLC treated with SABR from 2009 through 2017. Age; sex; performance score; imaging technique; tumor histology and size; disease stage radiation dose, fraction and biologically effective dose with an alpha/beta ratio of 10 (BED10); tumor location and treatment center were evaluated for associations with overall survival (OS), local control (LC) and toxicity. Results Median follow-up time was 27 months (range 1-115); median SABR dose was 54 Gy (range 30-70) given in a median three fractions (range 1-10); median BED(10)was 151 Gy (range 48-180). Tumors were peripheral in 285 patients (66.1%), central in 69 (16%) and 100 Gy (P = .011), adenocarcinoma (P = .025) and complete response on first evaluation (P = .007) predicted favorable LC. BED10> 120 Gy (hazard ratio [HR] 1.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-3.2,P = .019) and tumor size ( 120 Gy was needed for better LC and OS for large, non-adenocarcinoma tumors

Prognostic factors in medically inoperable early stage lung cancer patients treated with stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR): Turkish Radiation Oncology Society Multicentric Study

Objective We identified factors influencing outcomes in patients with medically inoperable early stage lung cancer (MIESLC) treated with stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR) at 14 centers in Turkey. Materials and Methods We retrospectively analyzed 431 patients with stage I-II MIESLC treated with SABR from 2009 through 2017. Age; sex; performance score; imaging technique; tumor histology and size; disease stage radiation dose, fraction and biologically effective dose with an alpha/beta ratio of 10 (BED10); tumor location and treatment center were evaluated for associations with overall survival (OS), local control (LC) and toxicity. Results Median follow-up time was 27 months (range 1-115); median SABR dose was 54 Gy (range 30-70) given in a median three fractions (range 1-10); median BED(10)was 151 Gy (range 48-180). Tumors were peripheral in 285 patients (66.1%), central in 69 (16%) and 100 Gy (P = .011), adenocarcinoma (P = .025) and complete response on first evaluation (P = .007) predicted favorable LC. BED10> 120 Gy (hazard ratio [HR] 1.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-3.2,P = .019) and tumor size ( 120 Gy was needed for better LC and OS for large, non-adenocarcinoma tumors

Evaluation of Nutritional Status and Anxiety Levels in Patients Applying to the Radiation Oncology Outpatient Clinic during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Turkish Society for Radiation Oncology Group Study (TROD 12:02)

Cancer patients often face malnutrition, which negatively affects their response to cancer treatment. This study aims to analyze the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on nutritional status and anxiety in cancer patients with different types and stages of cancer. This is a cross-sectional cohort study that includes 1,252 patients with varying cancer types from 17 radiation oncology centers. The nutritional risk scores (NRS-2002) and coronavirus anxiety scale (CAS) scores of all patients were measured. NRS-2002 >= 3 and CAS >= 5 were accepted as values at risk. Of all patients, 15.3% had NRS-2002 >= 3. Breast cancer was the most prevalent cancer type (24.5%) with the lowest risk of nutrition (4.9%, p = 5) were significantly related to voluntary avoidance and clinical postponement of hospital visits due to the pandemic (p < 0.001), while clinical postponement was particularly frequent among patients with NRS-2002 < 3 (p = 0.0021). Fear and anxiety in cancer patients with COVID-19 cause hesitations in visiting hospitals, leading to disrupted primary and nutritional treatments. Thus, nutritional monitoring and treatment monitoring of cancer patients are crucial during and after radiotherapy