Newsline — Thursday, July 9, 2015 13:00
Study Suggests Which Glioblastoma Patients May Benefit From Drug Treatment
Study Highlights Important Safety Issue with Widely Used MRI Contrast Agents
Thursday, July 9, 2015 9:00
In a study recently published in the journal Investigative Radiology, a major safety concern was highlighted regarding a class of MRI contrast agents used in millions of patients each year. The study adds to concerns that repeated use of specific “linear-type” gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) leads to deposits of the heavy metal element in the brain. During the study, researchers designed experiments in rats to assess the effects of repeated injections of GBCAs. Over the course of five weeks, one group of rats received a series of 20 injections with gadodiamide, one of a class of agents known as “linear” GBCAs. Another group of animals were injected with a different type of GBCA, the “macrocyclic” agent gadoterate meglumine. A third group of rats received an inactive saline solution. Over time, “significant and persistent” MRI abnormalities (called T1-weighted signal hyperintensities) developed in the brains of rats receiving the linear GBCA, gadodiamide. However, no MRI abnormalities appears in the brains of rats injected with the other agents. The increases in signal hyperintensity persisted even after the injections…
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Molecular Classification May Improve Method Physicians Use to Diagnose and Treat Gliomas
Wednesday, July 8, 2015 13:00
Analysis of the molecular structure of brain tumors into new categories with unique features and outcomes may drastically improve current treatment methods by targeting ideal techniques. A team of researchers from the Mayo Clinic and the University of California San Francisco published a study in the New England Journal of Medicine explaining their newly proposed classifications of brain tumors based on genetic makeup. The next phase is to produce readily available tests for tumor material for the more common types, with refinement for the lesser known segments to follow. “These molecular groups could represent distinct types of gliomas, with different origins and paths to progression,” said the lead researcher of the study. “Now that we know more about the germline alterations that predispose to these tumors and the ensemble of mutations that are associated with each type of glioma, we can start thinking about building models of the disease that can help us find new therapies to precisely target specific types of glioma.” To learn more about this study, click here.
Research Shows Verbal Working Memory Can Aid Childhood Deception
Wednesday, July 8, 2015 9:00
According to a study recently published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, researchers from the University of North Florida and the University of Sheffield, U.K., found that the working memory helps children tell better lies. The higher a child’s verbal memory, said the researchers, the better their ability to process the verbal information necessary to tell a believable lie. A total of 137 children ages 6 to 7 years old participated in this study and had their verbal working memory tested. They were asked a series of trivia questions written on a card and were aware that the answers were written on the back of the card in different colors. The children were then left alone in a room, instructed by the researchers to not look at the back of the card. A hidden camera observed the children and revealed those who looked at the back of the card. When the researchers asked them the answer to a question, those who peeked gave the correct answer. However, when asked entrapment questions regarding the color the…
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Research Finds Males and Females Process Chronic Pain Differently
Tuesday, July 7, 2015 13:00
New findings indicate that the pain mechanisms of male and female mammals differ enough to cause disparity in research, leading to proposals that test subjects be divided by gender to accurately gauge average effects. Researchers with the University of Alabama at Birmingham published their study in the journal Nature Neuroscience indicating that the common belief of hormones affecting pain tolerance is false, and that the biological pain mechanisms differ between the sexes entirely. “Given that women greatly outnumber men as sufferers of chronic pain, one might wonder why it is that this sex difference was not noted until now,” explained the lead author of the study. “The reason is that, as in most pain research, the overwhelming majority of the studies of microglia and pain were performed only on male rats and mice. The current findings from this paper are an excellent example of the wisdom of this policy. Introducing female animals into research will ensure that we can identify problems and conditions that may be mechanistically differently in each sex.” To learn more about…
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Overall Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury Rate Remains Stable
Tuesday, July 7, 2015 9:00
According to a study recently published in the journal JAMA, between 1993 and 2012, the incidence rate of acute traumatic spinal cord injury remained relatively stable in the U.S., although there was an increase among older adults due to falls. Despite the substantial effects of this type of injury on health-related quality of life and health-care spending, contemporary data on trends in incidence, causes and medical care are limited. The total study sample consisted of 63,109 patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injury. The actual number of cases in the U.S. Nationwide Inpatient Sample database increased from 2,659 in 1993 to 3,393 in 2012. The incidence rate for acute traumatic spinal cord injury remained relatively stable, estimated at 53 cases per 1 million persons in 1993 and 54 cases per 1 million persons in 2012. The percentage of spinal cord injury associated with falls increased significantly from 28 percent (in 1997-2000) to 66 percent (in 2010-2012) in those 65 years or older. “This is a major public health issue and it likely represents the more…
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First Publicly Funded Spinal Cord Stimulation Study Results Revealed
Monday, July 6, 2015 10:14
Results from the first publicly funded randomized controlled trial of spinal cord stimulation, presented at the 12th World Congress of the International Neuromodulation Society, found that a fully powered clinical trial is feasible in refractory chronic angina pectoris, a disabling chronic pain condition. Chronic angina pectoris patients experience severe pain upon even mild exertion as a consequence of their nerve endings having become hypersensitized due to restricted blood flow. The controlled feasibility and pilot study compared management of refractory chronic angina pectoris using spinal cord stimulation (SCS) versus usual care alone. “Although the study was not formally powered to investigate within- or between-group treatment differences … compared to baseline, there were trends across a number of the outcomes, including exercise capacity and health-related quality of life, of larger improvements in the SCS compared to usual care group at three and six months,” said one of the study’s senior authors. The study’s results also concluded that SCS is a safe, symptomatic treatment for this condition that can lower consumption of nitrate medication, and decrease the need…
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New Low-Grade Brain-tumor Classification Uses Molecular and Genetic Analysis
Thursday, July 2, 2015 13:00
A new system of tumor classification may lead to major improvements in diagnosis and treatment using molecular and genetic analysis to apply the latest innovations. Scientists from the Brain Tumor and Neuro-Oncology Center at University Hospitals Case Medical Center published their proposed system online in The New England Journal of Medicine. The collaboration, conducted via 43 different cancer centers, used the latest genetic testing methods and reduced the role of observation techniques, with refined classifications and recommendations for treatment options. “The findings demonstrate that these three groups of LGGs can be identified objectively by three different markers,” the lead author of the study said. “While various centers have been using some of these markers for years, this study helps validate these three markers as the accepted standards.” The Food and Drug Administration has already approved the methods involved in this system, allowing it to be implemented on a wider scale for testing. To learn more about this study, click here.
Brain Lesions in Children Challenging to Diagnose
Thursday, July 2, 2015 9:17
According to a study recently published in the journal Frontiers in Neurology, brain lesions in children can be particularly difficult to diagnose due to a variety of underlying etiologies which can be challenging to differentiate on neuroimaging machines. The study, conducted by a research team at Loyola University Medical Center, cited a case of a 12-year-old boy who came to his primary-care physician with staring episodes, which lasted about one minute each, during which time he was unresponsive and made wringing motions with his hands. An MRI initially showed a lesion in the mesial temporal lobe, and the boy underwent surgery to remove a large portion of the lesion. However, five years post-surgery he continued to have two to three seizures per month, despite taking two anti-seizure medications. After a second surgery, pathology showed the lesion was consistent with an arteriovenous malformation. Three years after his second surgery, the boy remained seizure free. The case highlights the challenge in distinguishing different lesions based on imaging, highlighting the importance of carefully analyzing available imaging in order…
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Potential Downside to Domestic Surgical Tourism
Wednesday, July 1, 2015 13:00
The practice of attending different hospitals and treatment centers for post-operation treatment, known as domestic surgical tourism, may prove to have higher rates of mortality, according to a new analysis of consistency in treatment and staffing. Researchers from the University of Utah published the results of their study in The Lancet journal, reporting that the industry trend of patients traveling long distances for surgeries while receiving their recovery treatment locally creates inconsistency in observation and methods. This contributed to the likelihood of complications, increasing the chance of death within 90 days by a full 26 percent. “Most people do not think about the implications of traveling far for an operation,” says the lead author of the study. “As with many health-care decisions, there are trade-offs to consider. Traveling may confer the best chance of a favorable outcome with surgery, but it may hinder access to optimal care in the event of a serious complication after discharge. The interesting questions that our results raise are why outcomes appear to be better when a patient returns to…
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