Potential Cross-Links of Inflammation With Schizophreniform and Affective Symptoms: A Review and Outlook on Autoimmune Encephalitis and COVID-19

Based on current implications of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic with regards to mental health, we show that biological links exist between inflammation and mental illness in addition to psychoreactive effects. We describe key principles of the biological interaction of the immune system and the mind, as well as the possible routes of viral entry into the brain. In addition, we provide a stepwise scheme for the diagnosis and therapy of autoimmune-encephalitis with schizophrenia-like symptomatology as a general guide for clinical practice and in the specialized scenario of infections, such as those caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The possibilities of using xenon therapy in patients with severe cancer pain

In accordance with the clinical recommendations of the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, the main analgesics for the treatment of chronic cancer pain are non-opioid and opioid analgesics, given stepwise in combination with co-analgesics and adjuvant drugs. As a rule, this stepwise scheme of painkilling is effective in most cases. However, 20-30% of patients cannot achieve an acceptable level of pain relief despite the use of these analgesics in combination. Is there another way to help such patients? Interventional methods of analgesia are an option, yet not all patients agree to invasive methods due to the possible side effects and unavailability of these methods. In these cases other mechanisms of analgesia are required, such as NMDA receptor antagonists, which reduce opioid tolerance and hyperalgesia. Still not all the drugs of this group can be applied in our practice. Analgesic properties of nitrous oxide can only be found in high anesthetic doses. Another option is metadon, but it is forbidden and cannot be used in our country. Still one more option is ketamine, which has severe side effects. In our clinical practice we decided to use xenon, which has NMDA inhibition effects. Its analgesic effect and safety have been confirmed in numerous studies. This publication aims to demonstrate a successful clinical case when we used xenon and oxygen inhalations course for the treatment of a severe cancer pain with a patient who had been taking morphine by mouth.

Outcomes of West syndrome: literature review and own data

The article is devoted to the treatment and prediction of outcomes of West syndrome. The analysis of literary and own data was carried out. Was estimated the effectiveness of treatment and predicted the outcomes of the disease by data of anamnesis, seizures and the possibilities of therapy. The article presents a stepwise scheme for the treatment of West syndrome and evaluates the results of the application of various drugs, including valproic acid, vigabatrin*, levetiracetam, phenobarbital, clonazepam and topiramate. Special attention is paid to the role of hormone therapy, demonstrated its high efficiency. The most significant prognostic criteria for the outcome of this disease are identified. These criteria are based on literature and our own data. Predictors of an adverse outcome of West syndrome include: symptomatic forms of disease (structural, genetic, infectious), impaired neuropsychological development before onset of epileptic spasms, age of spasms onset more than 8 months, the presence of other seizures types in addition to epileptic spasms, the need for polytherapy of antiepileptic drugs. The pathology of pregnancy, the period of adaptation, neonatal seizures, starting therapy and the response to it are not always important in predicting remission.

Non-linear arrival time tomography

The use of 1D or pseudo- 3D ray tracing techniques in linearized tomographic problems leads to solutions for which it is difficult to assess the true resolution and error distribution. For this reason, we employ a revised 3D bending algorithm (Moser et al., 1992) and show that it can be used efficiently for a non-linear inversion in a stepwise scheme. Initial paths are determined from graph theory in order to avoid local minima in bending. The importance of 3D ray tracing in inversion studies and the limitations of the standard 1D approach are demonstrated through synthetic examples. The speed of the ray tracing and the simple scaling scheme allow for an implementation in large-scale tomographic problems.