1,721,016 research outputs found
(131)I treatment of toxic nodular goiter under combined thyrostatic-thyromimetic medication is at low risk of late hypothyroidism.
No full text131I treatment of toxic nodular goiter under combined thyrostatic-thyromimetic medication is at low risk of late hypothyroidism
Paghera B. 1, Panarotto M. B. 1, Maira G. 1, Magri G. C. 1, Bertagna F. 2, Bosio G. 2, Rossini P., De Agostini A. 3, Savelli G., Lucchini S. 2, Giubbini R. 1,2
1 Unit of Nuclear Medicine, Civilian Hospitals of Brescia, Brescia, Italy;
2 Unit of Nuclear Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy;
3 Department of Health Physics, Civilian Hospitals of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
AIM: Treatment of toxic nodular goiter with 131I is a first-line therapy for hyperthyroidism. To avoid a thyrotoxic storm, 131I is usually administered after pretreatment with antithyroid drugs, with thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) increase and functional recruitment of inhibited normal tissue. Therefore, both autonomous nodule(s) and normal tissue are irradiated. This may be a reason for late hypothyroidism occurring in 15-25% of patients. This study aimed at assessing different pretreatment modalities with combined methymazole and triiodothyronine, achieving euthyroidism with suppressed TSH.
METHODS: After diagnosis of autonomously functioning toxic nodule, patients were subjected to thyrostatic medication. Two months later, TSH was checked; if >0.5 mU/L triiodothyronine treatment was associated. After 2 more months, if the TSH level was suppressed, patients received 131I-therapy. A total of 149 patients were consecutively enrolled, 41 of whom with uninodular and 108 with multinodular goiter. They were evaluated at diagnosis, pretreatment, 3 and 6 months after therapy and at late follow-up (6.8±4.2 years; range: 1-22 years).
RESULTS: Administered activity was calculated according to 131I uptake and gland weight. Methymazole was discontinued 6 days before treatment and T3 was maintained until administration of 131I-therapy. Euthyroi-dism was achieved in 88% of patients. At late follow-up, subclinical hypothyroidism was observed in 10 patients (6.7%) and overt hypothyroidism in 5 patients (3.3%). No pathological consequences or side effects of 131I-therapy were found during the 6.8±4.2 year follow-up period.
CONCLUSION: Treatment of toxic nodular goiter with 131I-therapy, under combined thyrostatic-thyromimetic treatment is a simple, safe, well-tolerated, and effective procedure
Nature versus nurture in frontotemporal lobar degeneration: the interaction of genetic background and education on brain damage.
No full textBACKGROUND: Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with a strong genetic background. It has been reported that modifiable factors, i.e. education (E), might act as proxies for reserve capacity.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of genetic background (positive family history, FH) on reserve mechanisms, by measuring regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) correlates in FTLD patients.
METHODS: 145 FTLD patients were recruited and underwent clinical, neuropsychological, behavioral assessment, and SPECT study. The main effect of E and FH on rCBF was evaluated. To test the potential interaction between the E and rCBF in FTLD patients with or without positive FH, a difference of slope analysis in the two groups was calculated. All the analyses were controlled for disease severity (Clinical Dementia Rating Scale, FTD-CDR).
RESULTS: A main effect of education (E+ < E-) in frontal regions was reported, and high genetic loading (FH+ < FH-) was associated with a greater bilateral temporoparietal hypoperfusion. Evaluating the relationship between E and rCBF, a greater hypoperfusion of cingulate region in FH+ as compared to FH- was observed.
DISCUSSION: Reserve mechanisms are available also in presence of an unfavorable genetic status. However, these compensatory mechanisms are modulated by the interaction with genetic factors
The FTLD-modified Clinical Dementia Rating scale is a reliable toolfor defining disease severity in Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration: evidence froma brain SPECT study
No full textTwo sequential Tc-99m ECD SPECT studies in a case of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease confirmed at autopsy.
No full text
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
The neuroimaging signature of frontotemporal lobar degeneration associated with granulin mutations: an effective connectivity study.
No full textIt has been suggested that monogenic frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) due to Granulin (GRN) mutations might present a specific pattern of atrophy, as compared with FTLD GRN-negative disease. Recent literature has suggested that the study of functional neural networks, rather than regional structural damage, might better elucidate the pathogenic mechanisms, showing complex relationships among structural alterations observed with conventional neuroimaging. The aim of this study was to evaluate effective brain connectivity in FTLD patients carrying GRN mutations (GRN+), compared with FTLD patients without pathogenetic GRN mutations (GRN-) and healthy controls (HCs). Methods: Twenty-six FTLD patients (13 GRN+ and 13 GRN-matched for age, sex, and phenotype) and 13 age- and sex-matched HCs underwent brain perfusion SPECT. Brain regions involved in FTLD (dorsolateral, anterior cingulate, orbitofrontal, posterior temporal, temporal pole, and parietal) were used as regions of interest to identify functionally interconnected areas. An effective connectivity (path) analysis was defined with a PC algorithm (named after its inventors Peter Spirtes and Clark Glymour) search procedure and structural equation fitting. Statistically significant differences among the 3 groups were determined. Results: The best-fitting model was obtained by the data-driven approach, and brain connectivity pathways resembling state-of-the-art anatomic knowledge were obtained. When GRN+ and GRN-groups were considered, the former presented a selective bilateral parietotemporal disconnection, compared with GRN-patients. Furthermore, in FTLD GRN+ patients an increased compensative connectivity of the temporal regions (temporal pole and posterior temporal cortices) was observed. Conclusion: The present work suggests that impairment of effective functional connectivity of the parietotemporal regions is the hallmark of GRN-related FTLD. However, compensative mechanisms-which should be further investigated-may occur
99mTc-MAA lung scan can be an alternative in detection and follow-up of patent foramen ovale.
No full textVariations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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