Morphological and haemodynamic abnormalities in the jugular veins of patients with multiple sclerosis

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 168-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Radak ◽  
J Kolar ◽  
S Tanaskovic ◽  
D Sagic ◽  
Z Antonic ◽  
...  

Objectives Multiple areas of stenosis and different levels of obstruction of internal jugular and azygous veins (a condition known as cronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency) recently emerged as an additional theory to the well-known autoimmune concept, explaining etiology of multiple sclerosis (MS). The aim of our study was to evaluate internal jugular vein (IJV) morphology and haemodynamic characteristics in patients with MS and compare it with well-matched healthy individuals and to evaluate the prevalence of venous flow abnormalities in both groups. Methods Sixty-four patients with clinically proven MS and 37 healthy individuals were included in our study. In all patients, IJV morphology and haemodynamic characteristics were evaluated by colour Doppler sonography as well as venous flow disorder. The patients were classified into four groups according to MS clinical form presentation. The prevalence of morphological and haemodynamic abnormalities in the IJV were assessed. Results The presence of stenosing lesion, mostly intraluminal defects like abnormal IJV valves, were observed in 28 patients (43%) in the MS group, and in 17 patients (45.9%) in the control group ( P = NS). By adding haemodynamic Doppler information in the IJV venous outflow was significantly different in 42% of MS patients showing flow abnormalities (27/64), as compared with 8.1% of the controls (3/37), P < 0.001. Conclusion In our group of patients, patients suffering from MS had significantly more IJV morphological changes and haemodynamic abnormalities when compared with healthy individuals not suffering from MS. These findings can be well demonstrated by non-invasive and cost-effective Doppler ultrasound.

Biosensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Daulton ◽  
Alfian Wicaksono ◽  
Janak Bechar ◽  
James A. Covington ◽  
Joseph Hardwicke

Surgical site infection represents a large burden of care in the National Health Service. Current methods for diagnosis include a subjective clinical assessment and wound swab culture that may take several days to return a result. Both techniques are potentially unreliable and result in delays in using targeted antibiotics. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are produced by micro-organisms such as those present in an infected wound. This study describes the use of a device to differentiate VOCs produced by an infected wound vs. colonised wound. Malodourous wound dressings were collected from patients, these were a mix of post-operative wounds and vascular leg ulcers. Wound microbiology swabs were taken and antibiotics commenced as clinically appropriate. A control group of soiled, but not malodorous wound dressings were collected from patients who had a split skin graft (SSG) donor site. The analyser used was a G.A.S. GC-IMS. The results from the samples had a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 88%, with a positive predictive value of 90%. An area under the curve (AUC) of 91% demonstrates an excellent ability to discriminate those with an infected wound from those without. VOC detection using GC-IMS has the potential to serve as a diagnostic tool for the differentiation of infected and non-infected wounds and facilitate the treatment of wound infections that is cost effective, non-invasive, acceptable to patients, portable, and reliable.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Engy Mohamed Mostafa ◽  
Marwa Mahmoud Abdellah ◽  
Ashraf Mostafa Elhawary ◽  
Amr Mounir

Purpose. To examine the morphological changes in the meibomian glands of patients with keratoconus as well as to study the relationship between these changes in the morphology and several tear film parameters. Methods. Examination of the meibomian gland (MG) of 300 keratoconus patients presenting to the center using infrared noncontact meibography system (Sirius, CSO, Italy) between January 2017—January 2019. 100 eyes of healthy individuals were also enrolled as a control group. Tear breakup time (TBUT) test and Schirmer test II were evaluated. Subjective symptoms were also assessed using Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI). Results. Mean age of keratoconus patients was 19 ± 12 years and 21 ± 14 years in control group. Average TBUT was 4.9 ± 2.1 sec. and average Schirmer test was 5.3 ± 2.2 mm which was significantly lower than control group (p=0.05). Meibomian gland dropout in the lower eyelid of the keratoconus group was as follows: grade 0 (no loss of meibomian glands): 100 eyes; grade 1 (gland dropout area <1/3 of the total meibomian glands): 85 eyes; grade 2 (gland dropout area 1/3 to 2/3): 68 eyes; and grade 3 (gland dropout >2/3): 47 eyes. Conclusion. Keratoconus shows significant meibomian gland dropout and distortion that can be recorded by noncontact meibography. Sirius meibography is a simple, cost-effective method of evaluating meibomian gland dropout as a part of the routine refractive examination.


2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ş. Temel ◽  
H.D. Kekliğkoğlu ◽  
G. Vural ◽  
O. Deniz ◽  
K. Ercan

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DTI) can yield important information on the in vivo pathological processes affecting water diffusion. The aim of this study was to quantitatively define water diffusion in normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) distant from the plaque, in the plaque, and around the plaque, and to investigate the correlation of these changes with clinical disability. Conventional MRI and DTI scans were conducted in 30 patients with MS and 15 healthy individuals. Fractional anisotropy maps and visible diffusion coefficients were created and integrated with T2-weighted images. Regions of interest (ROIs) were placed on the plaques on the same side, white matter around the plaques and NAWM on the opposite side. Only the white matter of healthy individuals in the control group, and FA and ADC values were obtained for comparison. The highest FA and lowest ADC were detected in the control group at the periventricular region, cerebellar peduncle and at all ROIs irrespective of location. There was a significant difference in comparison to the control group at all ROIs in patients with MS (p < 0.001 for all comparisons). No significant correlation between diffusion parameters and expanded disability state scale (EDSS) scores was found in patients with MS. DTI may provide more accurate information on the damage due to the illness, compared to T2A sequences, but this damage may not be correlated with the clinical disability measured by EDSS score.


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 1483-1493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric M Schrauben ◽  
Sarah Kohn ◽  
Jacob Macdonald ◽  
Kevin M Johnson ◽  
Mark Kliewer ◽  
...  

A possibly causal relationship between multiple sclerosis and chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency has recently been hypothesized. Studies investigating chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency have reported conflicting results and few have employed multiple diagnostic imaging modalities across a large patient and control population. In this study, three complementary imaging modalities were used to investigate the chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency hypothesis in patients with multiple sclerosis and two age- and sex-matched control groups: healthy volunteers and patients with other neurological diseases. Strictly blinded Doppler ultrasound according to the original chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency hypothesis; four-dimensional flow magnetic resonance imaging of venous flow in the head, neck, and chest; and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance venography for neck and chest venous luminography were acquired. An internal jugular vein stenosis evaluation was also performed across modalities. Percentage of subjects meeting ultrasound-based chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency criteria was small and similar between groups. In group-wise and pairwise testing, no four-dimensional flow magnetic resonance imaging variables were statistically significantly different, for any measurement location. In contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance venography of the internal jugular and azygos veins, no statistically significant differences were observed in stenosis scores between groups. These results represent compelling evidence against the chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency hypothesis in multiple sclerosis.


2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 1791-1796 ◽  
Author(s):  
MP Amato ◽  
V Saia ◽  
B Hakiki ◽  
M Giannini ◽  
L Pastò ◽  
...  

Objective: Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) was hypothesized to play a causative role in multiple sclerosis (MS). The assessment of pediatric-onset MS (POMS) may provide a unique window of opportunity to study hypothesized risk factors in close temporal association with the onset of the disease. Methods: Internal jugular veins, vertebral veins and intracranial veins were evaluated with extracranial and intracranial ultrasound in 15 POMS and 16 healthy controls. Assessor’s blinding was maintained during the study. We considered subjects positive to CCSVI when at least two criteria were fulfilled. Results: CCSVI frequency was comparable between POMS and controls ( p > 0.05). Clinical features were not significantly different between CCSVI-positive and CCSVI-negative patients. Conclusions: Our findings add to previous data pointing against a causative role of CCSVI in MS.


2022 ◽  
pp. 156-164
Author(s):  
En. D. Choi

Introduction. The article is devoted to the study of the mechanism of occurrence of postcovid syndrome, a new laboratory method for its diagnosis and issues of drug and non-drug rehabilitation of patients who have suffered COVID-19.The purpose of this work was to study the possibilities of using the method of monochrome analysis of nanoparticles for instrumental and laboratory diagnostics of postcovid syndrome and to substantiate the use of complex therapeutic approaches to the treatment of patients.Materials and methods. The biomaterial (saliva) of 250 patients who underwent COVID-19 in mild, moderate and severe forms, with a slight predominance of males, in the age range from 18 to 75 years, who were in the Center of Eastern and European Medicine (Moscow) on rehabilitation treatment in the period from June 2020 to September 2021, was studied by the method of monochrome analysis of nanoparticles. According to the results of the work carried out, it was found that the most typical saliva spectrum of patients diagnosed with “postcovid syndrome” was multimodal (three or more peaks) with the greatest contribution (45%) to light scattering on agglomerates of  nanoparticles with a  diameter of  more than 1000  nm, with detectable nanoparticles of the middle sub-range of the spectrum from 119 to 122 nm with a 15% contribution to light scattering and an increased contribution to light scattering up to 41% on small nanoparticles with a diameter of 22 nm.Results. Analysis of the results of the study showed a statistically significant (p < 0.01) appearance of a peak of 119 nm on the histogram of patients, which was not observed either in the group of practically healthy individuals (control group) or in the group of patients with general somatic pathology (comparison group). Conclusions. An algorithm for non-invasive diagnosis of postcovid syndrome by saliva was developed. Also, special attention was paid during the study to the development of an integrated approach to the rehabilitation of patients who have undergone a new coronavirus infection, including medicinal and non-medicinal methods of treatment. >< 0.01) appearance of a peak of 119 nm on the histogram of patients, which was not observed either in the group of practically healthy individuals (control group) or in the group of patients with general somatic pathology (comparison group).Conclusions. An algorithm for non-invasive diagnosis of postcovid syndrome by saliva was developed. Also, special attention was paid during the study to the development of an integrated approach to the rehabilitation of patients who have undergone a new coronavirus infection, including medicinal and non-medicinal methods of treatment.


1996 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
HB Rasmussen ◽  
A Heltberg ◽  
K Christensen ◽  
J Clausen

In the present study we searched for an association between the human endogenous retroviral element HRES-I and multiple sclerosis (MS). Fragments of this endogenous retrovirus were amplified for subsequent examination by single strand conformational analysis. We did not find HRES-I markers exclusively linked with MS and only the two already known polymorphisms, which define three alleles of HRES-I, were detected. However, we found a significant difference in the distribution of these alleles between a group of 87 MS patients and a control group of 158 healthy individuals (P=0.014). There were no differences in the distribution of the HRES-I allelic forms between MS patients with a relapsing-remitting course and patients with chronic progressive MS. Our results provide evidence of an association between HRES-I and MS. Possible explanations for this are discussed.


Author(s):  
Fatma Erdeo ◽  
İbrahim Yildiz ◽  
Ali Ulvi Uca ◽  
Mustafa Altaş

ABSTRACT Background: Impaired dexterity is a frequently reported disability among people with ataxic multiple sclerosis (MS). Objective: To quantify and standardize the evaluation of upper extremity coordination disorder among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), using the Tablet Ataxia Assessment Program (TAAP). Methods: The X and Y axis movements of 50 MS patients and 30 healthy individuals who were evaluated using the International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale (ICARS) were also assessed using TAAP. The functional times of the participants’ right and left hands were recorded using the nine-hole peg test (NHPT). The upper extremity coordination of individuals with MS was evaluated using the upper extremity kinetic functions section of ICARS. Results: The deviations for the X and Y axis movements of the MS group were greater than those of the control group (p<0.05). Significant correlations were shown between TAAP scores and NHPT and ICARS scores. The strongest correlation was found between NHPT and ICARS in the dominant hand (rnhpt=0.356, pnhpt=0.001; ricars=0.439, picars=0.000). In correlating the Y axis with ICARS, the deviations in the Y axis were found to be greater in the non-dominant hand than those in the X axis (ryright=0.402, pyright=0.004; ryleft=0.691, pyleft=0.000). Conclusion: Measurement using TAAP is more sensitive than other classical and current methods for evaluating ataxia. We think that TAAP is an objective tool that will allow neurorehabilitation professionals and clinicians to evaluate upper extremity coordination.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mina Beitollahi ◽  
Mansooreh Azizzadeh Forouzi ◽  
Batool Tirgari ◽  
Yunes Jahani

Abstract Background and objectives : The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of guided imagery on fatigue, stigma, and mood in patients with multiple sclerosis. Methods This clinical trial is a double-blind study that was conducted on 60 patients with multiple sclerosis referred to the largest center for special diseases in the southeast of Iran in 2020. The convenience sampling method was used to select the participants who were later divided into two groups of intervention (n=30) and control (n=30) using block randomization method. The intervention group listened to the guided imagery audio file at home for 25 minutes. The control group did not receive any intervention. Data were collected by demographic information questionnaires, Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Reece Stigma Scale for Multiple Sclerosis (RSS-MS), and the Profile of Mood States (POMS) before and one month after the intervention. Results According to the results, there was no significant difference between the two groups before the intervention in terms of the score of fatigue (P<0.0=67), stigma (P<0.64), and mood (P<0.17). However, after the intervention, a significant differences was observed in this regard (P<0.0001). In the intervention group, the mean score of fatigue decreased from 59.72±18.32 to 35.8±16.15, and the mean score of stigma decreased from 17.31±15.62 to 5.09±8.06, showing a significant reduction in the levels of fatigue (P<0.0001) and stigma (P<0.0001) compared to before intervention. Also, the mean score of mood decreased from 36.90±12.21 to 28.55±11.87, indicating an improvement in the mood of samples in the intervention group (P<0.0001). Conclusions The results indicated that guided imagery, as a cost-effective method, can decrease the fatigue and stigma, and enhance the mood of patients with MS. Therefore, nursing staff can use this method to improve MS patients’ mood and decrease their fatigue and stigma.


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