Digital Commons Network^™

Aging And Efficacy Of Disease-Modifying Therapies In Multiple Sclerosis: A Meta-Analysis Of Clinical Trials, Yinan Zhang, Natalia Gonzalez Caldito, Afsaneh Shirani, Amber Salter, Gary Cutter, William Culpepper, Mitchell Wallin, Peter Kosa, Bibiana Bielekova, Fred Lublin, Olaf Stuve

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Background: Disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for multiple sclerosis (MS) are approved for the treatment of disease activity and are effective in reducing relapses and new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) lesions. However, disease activity generally subsides with time, and age-dependent changes in DMT efficacy are not well-established. We aimed to investigate whether age impacts the efficacy of DMTs in treating disease activity in patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS).

Methods: DMT efficacy related to age was assessed through a meta-analysis of clinical trials that evaluated the efficacy of DMTs in RRMS patients as measured by reductions in the annualized relapse rate (ARR), new …

Semi-Automated Segmentation Of The Lateral Periventricular Regions Using Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Albert M Isaacs, Rowland H Han, Christopher D Smyser, David D Limbrick, Joshua S Shimony

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The lateral ventricular perimeter (LVP) of the brain is a critical region because in addition to housing neural stem cells required for brain development, it facilitates cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) bulk flow and functions as a blood-CSF barrier to protect periventricular white matter (PVWM) and other adjacent regions from injurious toxins. LVP injury is common, particularly among preterm infants who sustain intraventricular hemorrhage or post hemorrhagic hydrocephalus and has been associated with poor neurological outcomes. Assessment of the LVP with diffusion MRI has been challenging, primarily due to issues with partial volume artifacts since the LVP region is in close proximity …

Personality Traits As Markers Of Psychosis Risk In Kenya: Assessment Of Temperament And Character, Daniel Mamah, C Robert Cloninger, Victoria N Mutiso, Isaiah Gitonga, Albert Tele, David M Ndetei

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Specific personality traits have been proposed as a schizophrenia-related endophenotype and confirmed in siblings at risk for psychosis. The relationship of temperament and character with psychosis has not been previously investigated in Africa. The study was conducted in Kenya, and involved participants at clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis (

How Do Subjective Health Literacy Measures Work In Young Adults? Specifying "Online" Or "Paper-Based" Forms Impacts Results, Mary C Politi, Courtney M Goodwin, Kimberly A Kaphingst, Xuechen Wang, Angela Fagerlin, Lindsay N Fuzzell, Sydney E Philpott-Streiff

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

Histopathologic Findings In Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor Predict Response To Radiotherapy And Overall Survival, Calixto-Hope G Lucas, Harish N Vasudevan, William C Chen, Stephen T Magill, Steve E Braunstein, Line Jacques, Sonika Dahiya, Fausto J Rodriguez, Andrew E Horvai, Arie Perry, Melike Pekmezci, David R Raleigh

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) is an aggressive and poorly understood malignant neoplasm. Even in the setting of multimodal therapy, the clinical course of MPNST is frequently marked by metastatic conversion and poor overall prognosis, with optimal treatment paradigms for this rare tumor unknown.

METHODS: We reviewed the medical records and histopathology of 54 consecutive patients who were treated at University of California San Francisco between 1990 and 2018.

RESULTS: Our cohort consisted of 24 male and 30 female patients (median age 38 years). Fédération Nationale des Centres de Lutte Contre Le Cancer (FNCLCC) sarcoma grading criteria segregated …

Who Benefits From A Prostate Rectal Spacer? Secondary Analysis Of A Phase Iii Trial, Thomas J. Quinn, Walter Bosch, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: Previously a phase III trial of a hydrogel rectal spacer during prostate radiation therapy found decreased toxicity and a clinically significant improvement in bowel quality of life (QOL) at 3 years by the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index. We performed a secondary analysis to identify men less likely to benefit.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: Clinical and dosimetric data for the 222 patients enrolled on the SpaceOAR phase III trial were analyzed. The volume of rectum treated to 70 Gy (V70) and the quantitative analysis of normal tissue effects in the clinic (QUANTEC) rectal dose goals were used as surrogates for clinical …

Physician Attitudes Towards-And Adoption Of-Mobile Health, Tracie Kong, Mary Morgan Scott, Yang Li, Cynthia Wichelman

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVE: Smartphone apps and mobile devices are an emerging method of healthcare data collection. This study sought to understand how physicians currently view mobile health (mHealth) technologies and use them in patient care.

METHODS: A total of 186 physicians affiliated with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, USA completed a survey in 2016 regarding their current implementation of mHealth technologies for patient care and support for further development.

RESULTS: More than half of respondents were willing to discuss health apps and mobile devices with patients. However, most were not currently recommending them to patients. Apps/devices that encouraged …

Prognostic Impact Of Cdkn2a/B Deletion, Tert Mutation, And Egfr Amplification On Histological And Molecular Idh-Wildtype Glioblastoma, Sirui Ma, Soumon Rudra, Jian L Campian, Sonika Dahiya, Gavin P Dunn, Tanner Johanns, Michael Goldstein, Albert H Kim, Jiayi Huang

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: We aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of molecular glioblastoma (mGBM) as compared to histological GBM (hGBM) and to determine the prognostic impact of

METHODS: IDH-wildtype GBM patients treated with radiation therapy (RT) between 2012 and 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. mGBM was defined as grade II-III IDH-wildtype astrocytoma without histological features of GBM but with one of the following molecular alterations:

RESULTS: Of the 367 eligible patients, the median follow-up was 11.7 months. mGBM and hGBM did not have significantly different OS (median: 16.6 vs 13.5 months, respectively,

CONCLUSION: Criteria for mGBM may require further refinement and validation.

Noninvasive Detection Of Graft Injury After Heart Transplant Using Donor-Derived Cell-Free Dna: A Prospective Multicenter Study, Kiran K Khush, Jignesh Patel, Sean Pinney, Andrew Kao, Rami Alharethi, Eugene Depasquale, Gregory Ewald, Peter Berman, Manreet Kanwar, David Hiller, James P Yee, Robert N Woodward, Shelley Hall, Jon Kobashigawa

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Standardized donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) testing has been introduced into clinical use to monitor kidney transplant recipients for rejection. This report describes the performance of this dd-cfDNA assay to detect allograft rejection in samples from heart transplant (HT) recipients undergoing surveillance monitoring across the United States. Venous blood was longitudinally sampled from 740 HT recipients from 26 centers and in a single-center cohort of 33 patients at high risk for antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). Plasma dd-cfDNA was quantified by using targeted amplification and sequencing of a single nucleotide polymorphism panel. The dd-cfDNA levels were correlated to paired events of biopsy-based diagnosis …

B Cell-Mediated Antigen Presentation Through Mhc Class Ii Is Dispensable For Atherosclerosis Progression, Jesse W Williams, Andrew Elvington, Skyler Kessler, Mary Wohltmann, Gregory F Wu, Gwendalyn J Randolph

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Depletion of B cells attenuates plaque development and modulates T cell responses in mouse models of atherosclerosis, suggesting that Ag presentation by B cells may promote disease progression. Thus, we set out to determine the role of B cell-mediated MHC class II (MHC II) Ag presentation during atherosclerotic plaque development. We developed murine conditional MHC II deletion and expression systems under control of the B cell-restricted CD19 promoter in an experimental model of atherosclerosis. Mice lacking MHC II expression only on B cells exhibited systemic shifts in germinal center and marginal zone B cell populations, leading to a reduced Ab …

Protocol For The Electroencephalography Guidance Of Anesthesia To Alleviate Geriatric Syndromes (Engages-Canada) Study: A Pragmatic, Randomized Clinical Trial, Alain Deschamps, Jordan Oberhaus, Angela Mickle, Arbi Ben Abdallah, Michael S Avidan, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.