| 1. |
- Blomstedt, Patric, et al.
(författare)
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Influence of age, gender and severity of tremor on outcome after thalamic and subthalamic DBS for essential tremor
- 2011
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Ingår i: Parkinsonism & Related Disorders. - : Elsevier BV. - 1353-8020 .- 1873-5126. ; 17:8, s. 617-620
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established treatment for essential tremor (ET). The nucleus ventralis intermedius thalami (Vim) is the target of choice, but promising results have been presented regarding DBS in the posterior subthalamic area (PSA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible influence of gender, age and severity of disease on the outcome of these procedures. Sixty eight patients (34 Vim, 34 PSA) with ET were included in this non-randomised study. Evaluation using the Essential Tremor Rating Scale (ETRS) was performed before, and one year after surgery concerning PSA DBS, and at a mean of 28 ± 24 months concerning Vim DBS. Items 5/6 and 11-14 (hand tremor and hand function) were selected for analysis of tremor outcome. The efficacy of DBS on essential tremor was not related to age or gender. Nor was it associated with the severity of tremor when the percentual reduction of tremor on stimulation was taken into account. However, patients with a more severe tremor at baseline had a higher degree of residual tremor on stimulation. Tremor in the treated hand and hand function were improved with 70% in the Vim group and 89% in the PSA group.
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| 2. |
- Bolin, Kristian, et al.
(författare)
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Retigabine as add-on treatment of refractory epilepsy a cost-utility study in a Swedish setting
- 2013
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Ingår i: Acta Neurologica Scandinavica. - Hoboken : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0001-6314 .- 1600-0404. ; 127:6, s. 419-426
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives To calculate comparative incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (cost per quality-adjusted life year, QALY) and net marginal benefits for retigabine as add-on treatment for patients with uncontrolled focal seizures as compared to add-on lacosamide treatment and no add-on treatment, respectively. Materials & Methods Calculations were performed using a validated decision-tree model. The study population consisted of adult patients with focal-onset epilepsy in published randomized placebo-controlled add-on trials of retigabine or lacosamide. Healthcare utilization and QALY for each treatment alternative were calculated. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was performed using the specification of this model as a basis for Monte Carlo simulations. 2009 prices were used for all costs. Results Results were reported for a 2-year follow-up period. Retigabine add-on treatment was both more effective and less costly than lacosamide add-on treatment, and the cost per additional QALY for the retigabine no add-on (standard) therapy comparison was estimated at 2009Euro 15,753. Using a willingness-to-pay threshold for a QALY of Euro 50,000, the net marginal values were estimated at 2009Euro 605,874 for retigabine vs lacosamide and 2009Euro 2,114,203 for retigabine vs no add-on, per 1,000 patients. The probabilistic analyses showed that the likelihood that retigabine treatment is cost-effective is at least 70%. Conclusions The estimated cost per additional QALY, for the retigabine vs no add-on treatment comparison, is well within the range of newly published estimates of willingness to pay for an additional QALY. Thus, add-on retigabine treatment for people with focal-onset epilepsy with no/limited response to standard antiepileptic treatment appears to be cost-effective.
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| 3. |
- Ekman, Urban, et al.
(författare)
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Functional brain activity and presynaptic dopamine uptake in patients with Parkinson's disease and mild cognitive impairment : a cross-sectional study
- 2012
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Ingår i: Lancet Neurology. - 1474-4422 .- 1474-4465. ; 11:8, s. 679-687
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Many patients with Parkinson's disease have mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Deficits in executive functions and working memory suggest dysfunctional frontostriatal brain circuitry. We aimed to assess brain responses during a working memory task in a cohort of newly diagnosed drug-naive patients with Parkinson's disease with and without MCI.Methods: Participants were recruited within a prospective cohort study of incident patients with idiopathic parkinsonism, including Parkinson's disease. Between Jan 1, 2004, and April 30, 2009, all physicians in the Umea catchment area were requested to refer all individuals with suspected parkinsonism to the Department of Neurology at lima University. Included patients fulfilled the UK Parkinson's Disease Society Brain Bank clinical diagnostic criteria for Parkinson's disease. Control individuals were matched on the basis of age and sex with the first 50 patients included in the study. Participants who scored 1.5 SDs or more below the population mean on at least two cognitive measures were diagnosed with MCI. The primary outcome measures were functional MRI blood-oxygen-level-dependent signal and SPECT presynaptic uptake. Functional MRI was done during a verbal two-back working memory task. Presynaptic dopamine SPECT was done to assess presynaptic striatal dopaminergic system integrity. Event-related transient analyses of functional MRI data were done for the whole brain and for frontostriatal regions of interest, and semi-quantitative SPECT analyses were done for striatal regions of interest.Findings: Compared with controls (n=24), patients with Parkinson's disease (n=77) had under-recruitment in an extensive brain network including bilateral striatal and frontal regions (p<0.001). Within the Parkinson's disease group, patients with Parkinson's disease and MCI (n=30) had additional under-recruitment in the right dorsal caudate nucleus (p=0.005) and the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (p<0.001) compared with patients with Parkinson's disease without MCI (n=26). In patients with Parkinson's disease and MCI, SPECT uptake in the right caudate was lower than in patients with Parkinson's disease without MCI (p=0.008) and correlated with striatal functional MRI blood-oxygen-level-dependent signal (r=0.32, p=0.031).Interpretation: These altered brain responses in patients with Parkinson's disease and MCI suggest that cognitive impairment is linked to frontostriatal dysfunction.
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| 4. |
- Ekman, Urban, 1968-
(författare)
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Functional brain imaging of cognitive status in Parkinson's disease
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Parkinson’s disease (PD) is next to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) the second most common neurodegenerative disease. PD has traditionally been characterised as a motor disorder, but more recent research has revealed that cognitive impairments are frequent. Cognitive impairments in executive functions, attention, and working memory with reliance on dopaminergic transmission, are often described as dominating the cognitive profile in early-phase PD. However, although knowledge about the neuropathology that underlies the cognitive impairments in PD has increased, its features are complex and knowledge remains insufficient. Therefore, the aim of the current thesis was to improve the understanding of how task-evoked brain responses relate to cognitive status in patients with PD, with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and to evaluate the predictive value of PD-MCI in respect of prodromal Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD). This was conducted within the “new Parkinsonism in Umeå” (NYPUM) project, which is a prospective cohort study. Patients with idiopathic PD were included in this thesis, and the patients were examined with a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and with a functional MRI (fMRI) working memory protocol. During scanning, patients conducted a verbal two-back task in which they needed to maintain and actively update relevant information, and the primary outcome measure was blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal. This thesis shows that patients with PD-MCI had significantly lower BOLD signal responses than patients without MCI in frontal (anterior cingulate cortex) and striatal (right caudate) regions (Study I). The altered BOLD response in the right caudate was associated with altered presynaptic dopamine binding. The fronto-striatal alterations persisted across time but without any additional change. However, decreased posterior cortical (right fusiform gyrus) BOLD signal responses were observed in patients with PD-MCI relative to patients without MCI across time (Study II). Finally, PD-MCI at baseline examination is highly predictive for prodromal PDD with a six-fold increased risk. Cognitive tests with a posterior cortical basis, to a greater extent, are predictive for prodromal PDD than tests with a fronto-striatal basis. The observed working memory related alterations in patients with PD-MCI suggest that early cognitive impairments in PD are linked to fronto-striatal dopaminergic dysfunction. The longitudinal development of cognitive impairment in PD reflects additional posterior cortical dysfunction. This might reflect a dual syndrome, with dopamine-depleted fronto-striatal alterations that characterise PD-MCI in general, whereas additional posterior cortical cognitive alterations with a non-dopaminergic basis to a greater extent characterise prodromal PDD. If, and how, the two potential syndromes interact, is still unclear. Thus, this thesis provides information on cognitive neuropathological changes in PD that might contribute to more relevant choices of pharmacotherapy and diagnostic accuracy in respect of PDD. However, additional large-scale longitudinal imaging studies are needed to further clarify the neuropatholgogical features of PD-MCI in respect of prodromal PDD.
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| 5. |
- Ekman, Urban, et al.
(författare)
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Longitudinal changes in task-evoked brain responses in Parkinson's disease patients with and without mild cognitive impairment
- 2014
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Neuroscience. - : Frontiers. - 1662-4548 .- 1662-453X. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cognitive deficits are common in Parkinson's disease. Previous cross-sectional research has demonstrated a link between cognitive impairments and fronto-striatal dopaminergic dysmodulation. However, longitudinal studies that link disease progression with altered task-evoked brain activity are lacking. Therefore, our objective was to longitudinally evaluate working-memory related brain activity changes in Parkinson's disease patients with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Patients were recruited within a longitudinal cohort study of incident patients with idiopathic parkinsonism. We longitudinally (at baseline examination and at 12-months follow-up) compared 28 patients with Parkinson's disease without MCI with 11 patients with Parkinson's disease and MCI. Functional MRI blood oxygen level dependent signal was measured during a verbal two-back working-memory task. Patients with MCI under-recruited bilateral medial prefrontal cortex at both time-points (main effect of group: p < 0.001, uncorrected). Critically, a significant group-by-time interaction effect (p < 0.001, uncorrected) was found in the right fusiform gyrus, indicating that working-memory related activity decreased for patients with Parkinson's disease and MCI between baseline and follow-up, while patients without MCI were stable across time-points. The functional connectivity between right fusiform gyrus and bilateral caudate nucleus was stronger for patients without MCI relative to patients with MCI. Our findings support the view that deficits in working-memory updating are related to persistent fronto-striatal under-recruitments in patients with early phase Parkinson's disease and MCI. The longitudinal evolution of MCI in Parkinson's disease translates into additional task-evoked posterior cortical changes.
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| 6. |
- Forsgren, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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On the experience of stigma by persons with epilepsy in Sweden and Iran : a comparative study
- 2013
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Ingår i: Seizure. - : Saunders Elsevier. - 1059-1311 .- 1532-2688. ; 22:9, s. 748-751
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: The aim of this paper is to compare the experience of stigma by persons with epilepsy in Sweden and Iran.METHOD: An adapted version of the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale was completed by 130 persons with epilepsy in Tehran and 93 patients at a neurology clinic in Sweden.RESULTS: The Swedish subjects reported a significantly lower level of experienced stigmatization than the Iranian patients, which we think is an effect of a more individualized medical treatment and a longer experience of health education in the Swedish society.CONCLUSION: Improved seizure control, legislative measures and health education are major contributory factors for stigma reduction in a society as regards epilepsy and probably also other medical conditions.
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| 7. |
- Höglund, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Från Högskolan i Borås till Humboldt, volym 1
- 2010
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Under våren 2010 genomfördes en serie om fyra seminarier med namnet ”Från Högskolan i Borås till Humboldt: Perspektiv på universitetsidén under 200 år”. Det primära syftet var att diskutera den svenska högskolans roller i en tid präglad av stora förväntningar och motsägelsefulla krav på akademin. Denna rapport utgör en dokumentation av seminarieseriens innehåll. Professor Sven-Eric Liedman skriver med samtidskritisk udd om universitetens historia; professor Mats Benner beskriver och analyserar fyra historiska idealtyper av universitet samt belyser det förändringstryck som högskolesektorn verkar under; professor Kerstin Sahlin riktar intresset mot hur universitet skiljer sig från andra organisationer och ger sin bild av hur detta faktum bör återspegla sig i besluts- och ledningsstrukturer. Seminarieserien och rapporten är ett led i Högskolan i Borås kontinuerligt pågående självreflektion och arbete med frågor som rör professionslärosätets identitet och profil. I rapportens senare del presenteras sex korta reflektioner om och/eller seminarieseriens teman utifrån Högskolan i Borås horisont. Reflektionerna är skrivna av professorer från alla högskolans sex institutioner.
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| 8. |
- Jakobson Mo, Susanna, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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I-123-FP-Cit and I-123-IBZM SPECT uptake in a prospective normal material analysed with two different semiquantitative image evaluation tools
- 2013
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Ingår i: Nuclear Medicine Communications. - : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. - 0143-3636 .- 1473-5628. ; 34:10, s. 978-989
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective The need for age-adjusted and/or sex-adjusted reference values in dopamine transporter (DAT) and dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) imaging with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in a longitudinal study of parkinsonian diseases was investigated. We used two different image evaluation tools with a cross-sectional and longitudinal statistical approach.Materials and methods Baseline DAT and/or D2R SPECT were performed in 51 healthy controls (HC), age-matched to patients in an ongoing prospective study on idiopathic parkinsonism. Twenty-four HC were re-examined after 3 years and 21 HC were examined again after 5 years. SPECT was performed with I-123-FP-Cit and I-123-IBZM on a two-headed hybrid gamma camera. Regions of interest and volumes of interest (VOIs) were used for image evaluation. A cross-sectional and longitudinal statistical analysis was carried out.Results Fewer sex-based differences and less age dependency were seen in DAT SPECT uptake ratios compared with D2R SPECT uptake ratios and when comparing uptake ratios obtained with regions of interest against those with VOIs. In the cross-sectional analysis, a significant age-dependent decline was seen in women in both DAT and D2R uptakes with the VOI method but not in men with either evaluation method. In the longitudinal dataset, both a slight decline and increase over time were seen in DAT uptake; however, a general pattern of decrease was seen in both men and women in D2R uptake.Conclusion The choice of the image evaluation method can influence the pattern of sex-based and age-related differences. The results speak for the use of age-stratified reference values for women, in particular when using a VOI method.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Lenfeldt, Niklas, et al.
(författare)
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Diffusion tensor imaging and correlations to Parkinson rating scales
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Neurology. - : Springer Berlin/Heidelberg. - 0340-5354 .- 1432-1459. ; 260:11, s. 2823-2830
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The contribution of various brain areas to the overall progression of Parkinson's disease remains to be determined. In this study, we apply MRI diffusion tensor imaging to investigate how alterations in diffusion relate to phenotype and symptoms measured by clinical rating scales. Sixty-four patients were investigated at baseline and three follow-ups (1, 3 and 5 years). Thirty-six patients remained in the last follow-up. Regions of interests included frontal white matter, basal ganglia, thalamus, and cerebellum. Scoring on the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) I, II, III, Hoehn and Yahr (HY) scale and the Schwab and England scale (SE) was determined. Mean, radial, and axial diffusion and fractional anisotropy were modeled with phenotype and clinical scales in a multivariate/univariate analysis correcting for other covariates. Significance was set at 0.05 Bonferroni corrected. All rating scales except UPDRS III significantly correlated to the diffusion measures, as did clinical phenotype. Specifically, putamen, globus pallidus, and thalamus demonstrated higher diffusion with worsening scores. Diffusion in thalamus was higher in the tremor dominant phenotype than in postural imbalance and gait disturbance. Decline in overall functionality (UPDRS II and SE scale), including mental status (UPDRS I) and stage of the disease (HY scale), in Parkinson's disease is related to altered diffusion in the lentiform nucleus and thalamus. Motor function is not mirrored in diffusion changes, possibly due to medication. Tremor dominant PD patients show diffusion alterations in the thalamus, but the significance of this for tremor generation remains to be determined.
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