Search results for " tests"
showing 10 items of 3284 documents
Effects of Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms on Neuropsychological Test Performance: Complicating an Already Complicated Story
2011
Theoretical models of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) implicate neurocognitive dysfunction, particularly deficits in nonverbal memory and executive functioning, in the pathogenesis of the disorder. The opposite hypothesis (poor performance in neuropsychological test as an epiphenomenon of OCD symptoms) has rarely been contemplated although checking behavior, obsessional doubt, lack of motivation, and slowness as well as preoccupation with touching objects may result in secondary test impairment and mimic manifestations of neural dysfunction. A total of 60 patients with OCD and 30 healthy controls were tested with a multi-functional neuropsychological battery. At the end of the testing p…
Headache, anxiety and depressive disorders: the HADAS study.
2010
The objective of this paper was to assess prevalence and characteristics of anxiety and depression in migraine without aura and tension-type headache, either isolated or in combination. Although the association between headache and psychiatric disorders is undisputed, patients with migraine and/or tension-type headache have been frequently investigated in different settings and using different tests, which prevents meaningful comparisons. Psychiatric comorbidity was tested through structured interview and the MINI inventory in 158 adults with migraine without aura and in 216 persons with tension-type headache or migraine plus tension-type headache. 49 patients reported psychiatric disorders…
The clinical value of tumor burden at diagnosis in Hodgkin lymphoma
2004
BACKGROUND The authors investigated the clinical role of tumor burden (TB) in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma, relating this parameter to most of the current clinical and prognostic factors and to the best predictive multifactorial models. METHODS The volume of TB at diagnosis was measured directly from the initial staging computed tomography scans in 351 patients who were treated on standard protocols. The mean patient age was 34.0 years ± 16.4 years. Forty-six patients had clinical Stage I disease, 201 patients had Stage II disease, 64 patients had Stage III disease, and 40 patients had Stage IV disease. There were 146 symptomatic patients. Overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS…
Metabolomics provide new insights on lung cancer staging and discrimination from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
2014
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer are widespread lung diseases. Cigarette smoking is a high risk factor for both the diseases. COPD may increase the risk of developing lung cancer. Thus, it is crucial to be able to distinguish between these two pathological states, especially considering the early stages of lung cancer. Novel diagnostic and monitoring tools are required to properly determine lung cancer progression because this information directly impacts the type of the treatment prescribed. In this study, serum samples collected from 22 COPD and 77 lung cancer (TNM stages I, II, III, and IV) patients were analyzed. Then, a collection of NMR metabolic fingerprin…
PML expression in soft tissue sarcoma: Prognostic and predictive value in alkylating agents/antracycline-based first line therapy
2012
Soft tissue sarcomas are aggressive tumors representing <1% of all adult neoplasms. Aim of our study was to evaluate promyelocytic leukemia gene expression value as prognostic factor and as a factor predicting response to alkylating agents/antracycline-based first line therapy. One hundred eleven patients affected by locally advanced and metastatic soft tissue sarcoma were selected. PML expression was evaluated by immunohistochemical analysis in pathological samples and in the corresponding normal tissue from each case. PML immunohistochemical results were correlated with prognosis and with radiological response to alkylating agents/antracycline-based first line therapy. PML expression was …
Image quality and visual performance in the peripheral visual field following photorefractive keratectomy.
2002
ABSTRACT PURPOSE: A theoretical and experimental study was performed to assess the possible effects of photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) on retinal image quality and thresholds in the peripheral visual field. METHODS: Simple optical calculations suggest that although the quality of the retinal image at the fovea of the postoperative PRK eye may be comparable to that in an emmetropic eye, images in the peripheral field may be markedly worse, since peripheral ray bundles may pass partly through ablated and partly through unablated cornea, giving a simultaneous-vision bifocal effect. This would be expected to create an annular zone of confusion, so that light from two different directions in o…
Insight in schizophrenia–course and predictors during the acute treatment phase of patients suffering from a schizophrenia spectrum disorder
2012
AbstractBackgroundTo analyse insight of illness during the course of inpatient treatment, and to identify influencing factors and predictors of insight.MethodsInsight into illness was examined in 399 patients using the item G12 of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (“lack of insight and judgement”). Ratings of the PANSS, HAMD, UKU, GAF, SOFAS, SWN-K and Kemp's compliance scale were performed and examined regarding their potential association with insight. The item G12 was kept as an ordinal variable to compare insight between subgroups of patients.ResultsAlmost 70% of patients had deficits in their insight into illness at admission. A significant improvement of impairments of insight …
Impairments in proverb interpretation following focal frontal lobe lesions.
2012
The proverb interpretation task (PIT) is often used in clinical settings to evaluate frontal “executive” dysfunction. However, only a relatively small number of studies have investigated the relationship between frontal lobe lesions and performance on the PIT. We compared 52 patients with unselected focal frontal lobe lesions with 52 closely matched healthy controls on a proverb interpretation task. Participants also completed a battery of neuropsychological tests, including a fluid intelligence task (Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices). Lesions were firstly analysed according to a standard left/right sub-division. Secondly, a finer-grained analysis compared the performance of patients w…
Central opioidergic neurotransmission in complex regional pain syndrome
2010
Objective: Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic pain condition characterized by sensory, motor, and autonomic symptoms. It develops after limb trauma and may be associated with relevant psychiatric comorbidity. As there is evidence for central pathophysiology which might be related to an altered opioidergic neurotransmission, we investigated the cerebral opioid receptor status under resting conditions in this patient population.Methods: In this case-control study, 10 patients with CRPS and 10 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects underwent a PET scan using the subtype-nonselective opioidergic radioligand [18F]fluoroethyl-diprenorphine. As a surrogate for regional cerebral o…
Utility of CT in the diagnosis of pancreatic fistula after pancreaticoduodenectomy in patients with soft pancreas.
2009
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of routine performance of CT on postoperative day 7 in patients at high risk of pancreatic fistula after pancreaticoduodenectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two radiologists analyzed images from CT examinations of 50 patients with soft pancreas 7 days after pancreaticoduodenectomy. Pancreatic fistula was defined at CT as a fluid collection close to the pancreaticogastric or pancreaticojejunal anastomosis. Clinicobiologic criteria for the diagnosis of pancreatic fistula were drain output of any measurable volume of fluid on or after postoperative day 3 that had an amylase content more than three times the serum …