Search NEL Online

Journal Article 2009; 30(5): 610-614 PubMed PMID: 20035257 Citation  Keywords:  Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Macula Lutea:anatomy & histology, Male, Phacoemulsification:instrumentation, Tomography, Optical Coherence:instrumentation,.   

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate changes in the macular thickness and volume using optical coherence tomography in patients after phacoemulsification and intracapsular implantation of a foldable intraocular lens.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 82 patients (37 males and 45 females) after phacoemulsification and intracapsular implantaion of the same type of a foldable intraocular lens, without any other eye disease. Phacoemulsification was performed with an INFINITI machine. In all patients, macular thickness and volume were measured with an optical coherence tomograph (Stratus OCT) using the Fast Macular Thickness Map. The OCT evaluation was performed on days 1, 7, 30 and 90 postoperatively. In 58 patients (71%), it was additionally performed at 12 months after surgery and in 52 patients (63%) the macular parameters in the healthy and operated eyes were compared.

RESULTS: A statistically significant increase in the minimal retinal thickness was observed on days 30 (p<0.0005) and 90 (p<0.005) postoperatively compared to post-operative day 1. A statistically significant increase in the foveal volume was seen on days 30 (p<0.00005) and 90 (p<0.0005). A statistically significant increase in the volume of the entire macula was found on days 7, 30 and 90 (p<0.00005).

CONCLUSION: Uncomplicated cataract phacoemulsification is followed by increases in the central retinal thickness, foveal volume and volume of the entire macula on days 30 and 90 and at 12 months postoperatively. Further observation of patients is required to confirm whether the macular parameters will return to their values on day 1 postoperatively and if so, when this will occur....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Case Reports 2009; 30(5): 553-557 PubMed PMID: 20035256 Citation  Keywords:  Calcinosis:diagnosis, Cerebral Cortex:pathology, Child, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging:standards, Male, Middle Aged, Reproducibility of Results, Tomography, X-Ray Computed,.   

BACKGROUND: Since magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a method of choice for establishing the correct diagnosis in a great majority of neurologic disorders, especially in detection the causes of seizures and both acute and slowly progressive neurologic disturbances, computerized tomography is becoming more frequently excluded from obligate spectrum of diagnostic protocol.

METHODS: MRI was performed on 1.5 T MR scanner in two patients, in one suffering from pseudohypoparathyroidism, and in another with Fahr disease, while CT was initially excluded from the diagnostic protocol. In third patient, 11-year-old boy with hypercalcemia, both CT and MRI were indicated because of seizure attack.

RESULTS: Completely normal appearing brain parenchyma was seen on T2W images in a patient with clinical diagnosis of pseudohypoparathyroidism while extensive intracerebral calcifications were noted after additionally performed computerized tomography of the brain. In another patient with Fahr disease and neurologic symptoms, extensive calcifications were evident on CT, while MR examination had revealed bilateral symmetric lesions of prolonged T2W signal in the basal ganglia, supratentorial white matter and cerebellum, most compatible toxic/metabolic demyelination. In the third patient, a boy with hypercalcemia, marked left parietal cortical calcification was noted on CT, while MRI, including T2 gradient-echo sequence was inconclusive.

CONCLUSIONS: MRI, without CT, can be not only confusing, but even misleading diagnostic modality for detection of not only subtle, but also extensive cerebral calcifications. The benefit of gradient-echo T2 sequence, that is usually included in MR protocol when intracranial calcifications are suspected, is also rather limited....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Journal Article 2009; 30(5): 615-623 PubMed PMID: 20035255 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Cognitive Therapy:methods, Drug Resistance, Female, Humans, Male, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:psychology, Surveys and Questionnaires, Treatment Outcome, Young Adult,.   

OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to establish the efficacy of CBT on the sample of non-selected medication-resistant patients with OCD and to search for predictors of therapeutic response in such a group.

METHODS: The treatment was carried out under usual conditions at the department for anxiety disorders. Systematic CBT steps were tailored to the needs of each patient. Pharmacology treatment remained grossly unchanged during the trial period. We used the following outcome measures in the study: Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, subjective version (S-Y-BOCS), the Clinical Global Impression - Severity of Illness scale (CGI-S), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire (SDQ-20) and Dissociative Experience Scale (DES). The primary outcome measure was a decrease by 35% in Y-BOCS rating. Remission was defined as a 12 point score or lower in Y-BOCS and 1 or 2 points in CGI-S.

RESULTS: 47 patients completed the study (19 male and 28 female). One female patient refused to participate. All patients completed at least 5 weeks of intensive CBT programme and showed significant improvement on Y-BOCS, CGI-S, and BDI scales. At the end of the treatment 40.4% of the patients achieved clinical remission according to the CGI-S scale. The main characteristics present at the beginning of the trial increasing probability of achieving improvement or remission during the treatment were a Y-BOCS score lower than 22, good insight, higher resistance to symptoms, low level of dissociation, and aggressive obsessions.

CONCLUSION: As negative predictors we identified higher scores in Y-BOCS, poorer insight, low resistance to symptoms, high level of dissociation, obsessions focused on control/symmetry and obsessive slowness/ambivalence as associated with poor improvement....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Journal Article 2009; 30(5): 624-628 PubMed PMID: 20035254 Citation  Keywords:  Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety:physiopathology, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:physiopathology, Severity of Illness Index, Young Adult,.   

OBJECTIVE: According to recent findings, clinical symptoms in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) seem be related with dissociation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship of psychological dissociation and clinical characteristics in OCD.

METHODS: The study sample comprised of 49 patients with OCD (55.1% females) and 45 healthy controls (66.7% females). All participants were assessed with the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory-II, and the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Dissociation was quantified by the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES).

RESULTS: Psychological dissociation assessed with the DES was associated with the severity of anxiety symptoms (beta=0.49, t=3.89, df=47, p<0.001), but not with the level of OCD symptoms. Patients had higher level of dissociation than healthy controls.

CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the level of psychological dissociation is associated with the severity of anxiety symptoms rather than with OCD symptoms. Further investigation of association between dissociative and anxiety states is needed....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Journal Article 2009; 30(5): 643-646 PubMed PMID: 20035253 Citation  Keywords:  Adolescent, Choice Behavior:physiology, Decision Making:physiology, Emotions:physiology, Female, Games, Experimental, Humans, Neuropsychological Tests, Saliva:enzymology, Salivary alpha-Amylases:metabolism, Young Adult,.   

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the role of emotions in rejection of unfair offers in an ultimatum game, which is of interest in neuroeconomics of fairness.

METHODS: Thirty-seven participants played a one-shot ultimatum game as responders and decided whether to accept or reject the unfair offers by the proposers. Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) was assessed before and after the ultimatum game.

RESULTS: Forty-four percent of the participants rejected the unfair offers. While sAA levels of the participants who rejected the unfair offers increased between pre- and post-experiment, sAA levels of the participants who accepted the unfair offers remain unchanged.

CONCLUSIONS: Emotional stress response was observed when participants rejected the unfair offers. Our results indicated that rejection of the unfair offers is a reflection of emotional arousal associated with adrenergic activations....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Case Reports 2009; 30(5): 562-563 PubMed PMID: 20035252 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic:therapeutic use, Female, Humans, Narcolepsy:drug therapy, Thiazepines:therapeutic use, Treatment Outcome,.   

: Modafinil and Methylphenidate are proven to be effective in treating Narcolepsy, but also antidepressants that enhance synaptic levels of noradrenaline and serotonin have been reported as having some therapeutic efficacy. The patient reported in this article received Tianeptine 37.5 mg for two consecutive months. One week after start of treatment improvement of both sleepiness and cataplexy could be noticed. He showed an improvement of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale Score from 22 up to 16....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Journal Article 2009; 30(5): 564-573 PubMed PMID: 20035251 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Cluster Analysis, Depressive Disorder:diagnosis, Depressive Disorder, Major:diagnosis, Fatigue:diagnosis, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Pain:diagnosis,.   

BACKGROUND: Major depression is characterized by multifarious symptoms and symptoms clusters, such as the melancholic and anxiety symptom clusters. There is a strong comorbidity and a biological similarity between major depression and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to examine "psychosomatic" symptoms reminiscent of ME/CFS in major depression.

METHODS: Toward this end, we examined the 12-item Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Rating (FF) Scale and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) in 103 major depressed patients by means of multivariate pattern recognition methods. results: Our findings support the existence of two factors, i.e. a fatigue and somatic (F&S) factor, i.e aches and pain, muscular tension, fatigue, concentration difficulties, failing memory, irritability, irritable bowel, headache, and a subjective experience of infection; and a depression factor, i.e. sadness, irritability, sleep disorders, autonomic symptoms, and a subjective experience of infection. Cluster analysis performed on the 12 FF items found two different clusters, which were separated by highly significant differences in the F&S items, the most significant being a subjective experience of infection, aches and pain, muscular tension, fatigue, concentration difficulties and failing memory. Multivariate analyses showed that the differences between both clusters were quantitatively, and not qualitatively, and reflected the severity of the F&S dimension. There was a strong association between the F&S symptoms and melancholia and chronic depression. Treatment resistant depression was characterized by higher scores on the depression factor score. There was a strong correlation between the HDRS score and the FF items, fatigue, a subjective experience of infection, and sadness. Our findings show that F&S symptoms are a major feature of depression and largely predict severity of illness, and chronic and melancholic depression.

CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that the diagnostic criteria of depression and melancholia and rating scales to measure severity of illness should be modified to include the F&S symptom profile....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Comparative Study 2009; 30(Suppl 1): 248-252 PubMed PMID: 20027179 Citation  Keywords:  Animals, Disinfectants:administration & dosage, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Formaldehyde:administration & dosage, Poecilia, Potassium Permanganate:administration & dosage, Sodium Chloride:administration & dosage, Species Specificity, Time Factors, T.   

OBJECTIVES: Formaldehyde, sodium chloride and potassium permanganate belong to the commonly used substances for fish treatment. The aim is to define and compare their acute toxicity and therapeutic index between two fish species - Danio rerio and Poecilia reticulata.

DESIGN: To determine acute toxicity of these compounds, the semistatic method was implemented in compliance with the OECD No. 203 (Fish acute toxicity test). In each test series, 4 acute toxicity tests were performed. The results were subjected to the probit analysis to determine the 96hLC50 values. Therapeutic index (TI) was calculated with respect to short-term LC50 and effective therapeutic concentrations commonly used for fish treatment.

RESULTS: The mean 96hLC50 values for sodium chloride were 21.69 +/- 0.92 g l-1 (TI = 1.4) for P. reticulata and 10.39 +/- 0.12 g l-1 (TI = 1.0) for D. rerio. The acute toxicity of formaldehyde for D. rerio expressed as 96LC50 was 0.12 +/- 0.003 ml l-1 (TI = 5.24) and for P. reticulata 0.1 +/- 0.003 ml l-1 (TI = 4.9). The acute toxicity of potassium permanganate for D. rerio expressed as 96LC50 was 1.25 +/- 0.15 mg l-1(TI = 1.5) and for P. reticulata 1.43 +/- 0.05 mg l-1 (TI = 2).

CONCLUSION: P. reticulata showed significantly higher (p < 0.05) tolerance to sodium chloride than D. rerio, whereas D. rerio showed significantly higher (p < 0.05) tolerance to formaldehyde than P. reticulata. The acute toxicity of potassium permanganate was comparable for both fish species. Calculated therapeutic indexes of all tested substances were low; therefore it is important to conduct preliminary tolerance tests before application of treatment baths....

Read abstract  Full text PDF