An Appraisal of the Effectiveness of Physiotherapy Intervention in Elderly Continuing-care Patients: Single Case Series

Background. Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is the most common cause of flaccid paralysis, with about 100,000 people developing the disorder every year worldwide. Recently, the incidence of GBS has increased during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) epidemics. We reviewed the literature to give a comprehensive overview of the demographic characteristics, clinical features, diagnostic investigations, and outcome of SARS-CoV-2-related GBS patients. Methods. Embase, MEDLINE, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Central Trials Register were systematically searched on 24 September 2020 for studies reporting on GBS secondary to COVID-19. Results. We identified 63 articles; we included 32 studies in our review. A total of 41 GBS cases with a confirmed or probable COVID-19 infection were reported: 26 of them were single case reports and 6 case series. Published studies on SARS-CoV-2-related GBS typically report a classic sensorimotor type of GBS often with a demyelinating electrophysiological subtype. Miller Fisher syndrome was reported in a quarter of the cases. In 78.1% of the cases, the response to immunomodulating therapy is favourable. The disease course is frequently severe and about one-third of the patients with SARS-CoV-2-associated GBS requires mechanical ventilation and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission. Rarely the outcome is poor or even fatal (10.8% of the cases). Conclusion. Clinical presentation, course, response to treatment, and outcome are similar in SARS-CoV-2-associated GBS and GBS due to other triggers.

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Analysis of Clinical, Imaging, and Pathologic Features of 36 Patients with Primary Intraspinal Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors: A Case Series and Literature Review

Journal of Neurological Surgery Part A Central European Neurosurgery ◽

10.1055/s-0041-1723810 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Xuefeng Wei ◽

Xu Zhang ◽

Zimu Song ◽

Feng Wang

Keyword(s):

Literature Review ◽

Single Case ◽

Case Reports ◽

Case Series ◽

Subtotal Resection ◽

Study Cohort ◽

Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors ◽

Pathologic Features ◽

Neuroectodermal Tumors ◽

The Mean

Abstract Background and Study Aims Primary intraspinal primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs) account for ∼0.4% of all intraspinal tumors, but information about these tumors in the medical literature is limited to single case reports. We report four cases of primary intraspinal PNETs and present a systematic literature review of the reported cases. Materials and Methods We retrospectively reviewed and analyzed the clinical data of 4 patients with primary intraspinal PNETs who underwent neurosurgical treatment at our clinic between January 2013 and January 2020, and of 32 cases reported in the literature. Results The female-to-male ratio was 2.6:1. The mean patient age was 21.42 ± 15.76 years (range: 1–60 years), and patients <36 years of age accounted for 83.30% of the study cohort. Progressive limb weakness and numbness were the chief symptoms (accounting for ∼55.6%). The mean complaint duration was 0.89 ± 0.66 months for males and 2.72 ± 3.82 months for females (p = 0.028). Epidural (41.7%) was the most common site, and thoracic (47.3%) was the most frequent location. Most PNETs were peripheral, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) appearance was isointense or mildly hypointense on T1-weighted images and hyperintense on T2-weighted images. Homogeneous contrast enhancement was observed. The 1-year survival rate of patients who underwent chemoradiation after total or subtotal lesion resection was better compared with patients who did not undergo chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or total or subtotal resection. The modality of treatment was associated with survival time (p = 0.007). Conclusion Primary intraspinal PNETs mainly occur in young people with a female preponderance. In patients with a rapid loss of lower limb muscle strength and large intraspinal lesions on MRI, PNETs should be considered. Surgical resection and adjuvant radio chemotherapy are key prognostic factors.

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Effectiveness of the Validation Method in Work Satisfaction and Motivation of Nursing Home Care Professionals: A Literature Review

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18010201 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 201

Author(s):

Iván Sánchez-Martínez ◽

Raül Vilar ◽

Javier Irujo ◽

Duna Ulsamer ◽

Dolors Cano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Job Satisfaction ◽

Literature Review ◽

Older People ◽

Single Case ◽

Case Series ◽

Nursing Home Care ◽

Validation Method ◽

People With Dementia ◽

Cochrane Database ◽

Quasi Experimental

The purpose of this study was to carry out a literature review on the effectiveness of the validation method (VM) in job satisfaction and motivation of care professionals working with older people in nursing homes. The review was carried out in specialised databases: Scopus, PsychINFO, PubMed, Web of Science (WOS), Google Scholar, Scielo, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 9046 results were obtained, out of which a total of 14 studies met the inclusion criteria: five quantitative, four qualitative, one single case series, two quasi-experimental and two mixed methods studies. The results of the analysed studies report that the VM can be an effective tool that facilitates communication and interaction in care, reducing levels of stress and job dissatisfaction among care professionals. The VM facilitates communication between professionals and older people with dementia, and improves the management of complex situations that may arise in care, directly influencing a reduction in work stress and increasing job satisfaction.

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Playing With BEARS: Balancing Effort, Accuracy, and Response Speed in a Semantic Feature Verification Anomia Treatment Game

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2021_jslhr-20-00543 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-27

Author(s):

William S. Evans ◽

Robert Cavanaugh ◽

Yina Quique ◽

Emily Boss ◽

Jeffrey J. Starns ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Treatment Outcomes ◽

Retrieval Practice ◽

Single Case ◽

Case Series ◽

Response Speed ◽

Semantic Feature ◽

System Calibration ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Practice Efficiency ◽

Speed Accuracy

Purpose The purpose of this study was to develop and pilot a novel treatment framework called BEARS (Balancing Effort, Accuracy, and Response Speed). People with aphasia (PWA) have been shown to maladaptively balance speed and accuracy during language tasks. BEARS is designed to train PWA to balance speed–accuracy trade-offs and improve system calibration (i.e., to adaptively match system use with its current capability), which was hypothesized to improve treatment outcomes by maximizing retrieval practice and minimizing error learning. In this study, BEARS was applied in the context of a semantically oriented anomia treatment based on semantic feature verification (SFV). Method Nine PWA received 25 hr of treatment in a multiple-baseline single-case series design. BEARS + SFV combined computer-based SFV with clinician-provided BEARS metacognitive training. Naming probe accuracy, efficiency, and proportion of “pass” responses on inaccurate trials were analyzed using Bayesian generalized linear mixed-effects models. Generalization to discourse and correlations between practice efficiency and treatment outcomes were also assessed. Results Participants improved on naming probe accuracy and efficiency of treated and untreated items, although untreated item gains could not be distinguished from the effects of repeated exposure. There were no improvements on discourse performance, but participants demonstrated improved system calibration based on their performance on inaccurate treatment trials, with an increasing proportion of “pass” responses compared to paraphasia or timeout nonresponses. In addition, levels of practice efficiency during treatment were positively correlated with treatment outcomes, suggesting that improved practice efficiency promoted greater treatment generalization and improved naming efficiency. Conclusions BEARS is a promising, theoretically motivated treatment framework for addressing the interplay between effort, accuracy, and processing speed in aphasia. This study establishes the feasibility of BEARS + SFV and provides preliminary evidence for its efficacy. This study highlights the importance of considering processing efficiency in anomia treatment, in addition to performance accuracy. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14935812

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Skin Darkening in COVID-19 Patients: Case Series of Eight Patients in a Hemodialysis Unit.

Pakistan Journal of Kidney Diseases ◽

10.53778/pjkd40348 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (03) ◽

Author(s):

Habib Ullah Rind ◽

Nadia Iftikhar ◽

Fazal ur Rehman ◽

Abdul Kareem Zarkoon ◽

Syed Mohkam ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dialysis Patient ◽

Single Case ◽

Case Series ◽

The Body ◽

Pressure Sores ◽

Cutaneous Manifestations ◽

Mortality And Morbidity ◽

Skin Manifestations ◽

Hemodialysis Unit ◽

Type Pressure

The Pandemic of COVID-19 has grasped the whole world and changed dramatically, together with our social, occupational and personal life with high mortality and morbidity with other consequences since December 2019 started from Wuhan and then declared pandemic in March. It has been observed to involve every organ of the body including skin. Various skin manifestations, but most cases reported were like urticarial rash, xanthemas, chickenpox-like vesicle, vasculitidic type, pressure sores, contact dermatitis and a single case was reported in china with skin darkening. The COVID-19 and cutaneous manifestations are recognized by physicians and dermatologist treating COVID-19. We have observed around eight cases of COVID -19 who had skin darkening in our center Baluchistan Institute of Nephrology and Urology Quetta, among these included were six dialysis technicians one chronic maintenance dialysis patient and a physician. We present the representative cases and discuss the skin manifestations of COVID-19.

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TA Treatment of Depression. A Simplified Hermeneutic Single-Case Efficacy Design. The Case of “Giovanni”

International Journal of Transactional Analysis Research & Practice ◽

10.29044/v10i2p4 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 4-31 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mariavittoria Zanchetta ◽

Laura Farina ◽

Stefano Morena ◽

Enrico Benelli

Keyword(s):

Depressive Disorders ◽

Depressive Symptomatology ◽

Single Case ◽

Case Series ◽

Evaluation Methodology ◽

Transactional Analysis ◽

Major Depressive ◽

Case Evaluation ◽

Treatment Of Depression ◽

Depressive Personality

This study is inspired by previous case series replications of Hermeneutic Single-Case Efficacy Design which aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of a manualized transactional analysis treatment for depressive disorders and depressive personality. We address problems and difficulties emerged in previous case series, such as: spending time in training a group of people to conduct the hermeneutic analysis, organizing the involvement of external judges to give the final adjudication, and dealing with inconsistencies between quantitative and qualitative data. For these reasons, this study suggests a simplified method to conduct the hermeneutic analysis that require one person only, maintaining its validity. Therefore, we integrated hermeneutic design with the pragmatic case evaluation methodology in order to follow pre-defined criteria in analysing qualitative material. Furthermore, we present a way to use the Script System to detect changes in depressive symptomatology and depressive personality. We tested this approach to HSCED in the case of ‘Giovanni, a 17-years old white Italian boy who attended sixteen session of transactional analysis psychotherapy with a white Italian woman specializing in psychotherapy with 2 years of clinical experience. The patient satisfied DSM-5 criteria for moderate major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.This is the second investigation which has evaluated the effectiveness of Transactional Analysis psychotherapy for depressed adolescents.

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Increasing Anticipatory Pleasure in Major Depression through Enhancing Episodic Future Thinking: A Randomized Single-Case Series Trial

10.31234/osf.io/9uy42 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

David John Hallford ◽

Manoj Kumar Sharma ◽

David W. Austin

Keyword(s):

Major Depressive Disorder ◽

Major Depression ◽

Mental Imagery ◽

Single Case ◽

Case Series ◽

Episodic Future Thinking ◽

Future Thinking ◽

Major Depressive ◽

Positive Events ◽

Series Design

Depressed individuals have difficulty anticipating pleasure, which can impact motivation and functioning. One factor in this may be impairments in their episodic future thinking (EFT). This study examined whether enhancing EFT through increasing detail/vividness and mental imagery would increase anticipatory pleasure among individuals with Major Depressive Disorder. A randomized start-point, single case series design was used. Depressed outpatients (N = 7) completed surveys through the day over two weeks to nominate upcoming positive events and rate them on EFT detail/vividness, mental imagery, and anticipatory pleasure. At a randomized start-point, activities to enhance the detail/vividness and mental imagery for these upcoming events were introduced. Significant increases in detail and imagery were observed when EFT activities were introduced, which correlated with increases in how pleasurable it was thought the activities would be and how pleasurable it was thinking about them. Enhancing EFT may be a mechanism to increase anticipatory pleasure in depression. Implications for treatment are discussed.

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The Neuropathology of 1p36 Deletion Syndrome: An Autopsy Case Series

Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology ◽

10.1093/jnen/nlab072 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Kyle S Conway ◽

Fozia Ghafoor ◽

Amy C Gottschalk ◽

Joseph Laakman ◽

Renee L Eigsti ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neuronal Migration ◽

Single Case ◽

Case Reports ◽

Case Series ◽

Deletion Syndrome ◽

Cerebellar Hypoplasia ◽

Autopsy Case ◽

Single Case Report ◽

Renal Abnormalities

Abstract 1p36 deletion syndrome is the most common terminal deletion syndrome, manifesting clinically as abnormal facies and developmental delay with frequent cardiac, skeletal, urogenital, and renal abnormalities. Limited autopsy case reports describe the neuropathology of 1p36 deletion syndrome. The most extensive single case report described a spectrum of abnormalities, mostly related to abnormal neuronal migration. We report the largest published series of 1p36 autopsy cases, with an emphasis on neuropathologic findings. Our series consists of 3 patients: 2 infants (5-hours old and 23-days old) and 1 older child (11 years). Our patients showed abnormal cortical gyration together with a spectrum of neuronal migration abnormalities, including heterotopias and hippocampal abnormalities, as well as cerebellar hypoplasia. Our findings thus support the role of neuronal migration defects in the pathogenesis of cognitive defects in 1p36 deletion syndrome and broaden the reported neuropathologic spectrum of this common syndrome.

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Pulmonary benign metastasizing leiomyomas: a case series of 23 patients at a single facility

BMC Pulmonary Medicine ◽

10.1186/s12890-020-01330-4 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Rong Fan ◽

Fengzhi Feng ◽

Hua Yang ◽

Kaifeng Xu ◽

Shanqing Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rare Disease ◽

Single Case ◽

Case Series ◽

Progesterone Receptors ◽

Complete Response ◽

Gynecologic Surgery ◽

Curative Surgery ◽

College Hospital ◽

First Choice ◽

S 100

Abstract Background Pulmonary benign metastasizing leiomyoma (PBML) is a rare disease characterized by leiomyoma of benign histopathology existing in the lungs. Because of its rarity, limited literature with a single case or small number of cases has been regarding to the clinical course, pathology or management of PBML. Methods A retrospective study was performed of all PBML cases diagnosed and managed at Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) from 2001 to 2019. The clinical characteristics, pathology, treatment and outcomes of each case were studied. Results There were 25 PBML patients identified in the 19-year period in PUMCH, and 23 patients’ data was analyzed. The median age at diagnosis was 46 years. There were 7 patients (30.4%) diagnosed with postmenopausal status. Two patients (8.7%) had no uterine leiomyoma, and 3 patients (13.0%) had no gynecologic surgery history. Immunohistochemistry of most lesions demonstrated positive for desmin, SMA and Estrogen/Progesterone Receptors; and negative for S-100 were shown in 7 cases. After curative or diagnostic surgeries for the PBML, several treatments from observation to medical or surgical castration were performed. Nine premenopausal patients preserved their ovaries at first. At a median follow-up of 8 years, 3 patients finally had oophorectomy. Conclusions PBML is a rare disease and should be treated by individualization according to the patients’ age, symptoms and extent of lesion. Curative surgery for patients with limited lesions can achieve the complete response. For patients that are young and asymptomatic, close observation is recommended as the first choice. All patients should undergo long-term surveillance.

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