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- Luikku, Antti J., et al.
(author)
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Multimodal analysis to predict shunt surgery outcome of 284 patients with suspected idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus
- 2016
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In: Acta Neurochirurgica. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0001-6268 .- 0942-0940. ; 158:12, s. 2311-2319
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Optimal selection of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) patients for shunt surgery is challenging. Disease State Index (DSI) is a statistical method that merges multimodal data to assist clinical decision-making. It has previously been shown to be useful in predicting progression in mild cognitive impairment and differentiating Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia. In this study, we use the DSI method to predict shunt surgery response for patients with iNPH. In this retrospective cohort study, a total of 284 patients (230 shunt responders and 54 non-responders) from the Kuopio NPH registry were analyzed with the DSI. Analysis included data from patients' memory disorder assessments, age, clinical symptoms, comorbidities, medications, frontal cortical biopsy, CT/MRI imaging (visual scoring of disproportion between Sylvian and suprasylvian subarachnoid spaces, atrophy of medial temporal lobe, superior medial subarachnoid spaces), APOE genotyping, CSF AD biomarkers, and intracranial pressure. Our analysis showed that shunt responders cannot be differentiated from non-responders reliably even with the large dataset available (AUC = 0.58). Prediction of the treatment response in iNPH is challenging even with our extensive dataset and refined analysis. Further research of biomarkers and indicators predicting shunt responsiveness is still needed.
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| 2. |
- Jaaskelainen, Anne J., et al.
(author)
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Development and Evaluation of a Real-Time RT-qPCR for Detection of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Representing Different Genotypes
- 2014
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In: Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases. - : Mary Ann Liebert. - 1530-3667 .- 1557-7759. ; 14:12, s. 870-872
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a zoonotic disease caused by a nairovirus belonging to family Bunyaviridae. The CCHF virus (CCHFV) can be transmitted to humans by Hyalomma ticks as well as by direct contact with infected body fluids or tissues from viremic livestock or humans. Our aim was to set up a fast RT-qPCR for detection of the different CCHFV genotypes in clinical samples, including an inactivation step to make the sample handling possible in lower biosafety levels (BSL) than BSL-4. This method was evaluated against commercial reference assays and international External Quality Assessment (EQA) samples. The analytical limit of detection for the developed CCHFV-S RT-qPCR was 11 CCHFV genomes per reaction. After exclusion of four dubious samples, we studied 38 CCHFV-positive samples (using reference tests) of which 38 were found positive by CCHFV-S RT-qPCR, suggesting a sensitivity of 100%. CCHFV-S RT q-PCR detected all eight different CCHFV strains representing five different CCHFV genotypes. In conclusion, the CCHFV-S RT-qPCR described in this study was evaluated using various sources of CCHFV samples and shown to be an accurate tool to detect human CCHFV infection caused by different genotypes of the virus.
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| 3. |
- Jalkanen, Pinja, et al.
(author)
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A Combination of N and S Antigens With IgA and IgG Measurement Strengthens the Accuracy of SARS-CoV-2 Serodiagnostics
- 2021
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In: Journal of Infectious Diseases. - : Oxford University Press. - 0022-1899 .- 1537-6613. ; 224:2, s. 218-228
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background. Primary diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is based on detection of virus RNA in nasopharyngeal swab samples. In addition, analysis of humoral immunity against SARS-CoV-2 has an important role in viral diagnostics and seroprevalence estimates. Methods. We developed and optimized an enzyme immunoassays (EIA) using SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein (N), Si and receptor binding domain (RBD) of the viral spike protein, and N proteins from SARS, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and 4 low-pathogenic human CoVs. Neutralizing antibody activity was compared with SARS-CoV-2 IgG, IgA, and IgM EIA results. Results. The sensitivity of EIA for detecting immune response in COVID-19 patients (n = 101) was 77% in the acute phase and 100% in the convalescent phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection when N and RBD were used as antigens in IgG and IgA specific EIAs. SARS-CoV-2 infection significantly increased humoral immune responses against the 229E and NL63 N proteins. Si and RBD-based EIA results had a strong correlation with microneutralization test results. Conclusions. The data indicate a combination of SARS-CoV-2 Si or RBD and N proteins and analysis of IgG and IgA immunoglobulin classes in sera provide an excellent basis for specific and sensitive serological diagnostics of COVID-19.
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