Search

Colonoscopy is one of the methods of choice for screening relatives of patients with colorectal cancer.To evaluate the rate of adherence to colonoscopy in first-degree relatives of patients with colorectal cancer and describe the lesions found.A prospective, cross-sectional, multicentre, nationwide study was conducted. The study population was composed of first-degree relatives of patients with colorectal cancer selected randomly from the EPICOLON study. Seventy-four index patients were included. These had 342 living first-degree relatives (parents, siblings and children), of whom 281 were interviewed.The adherence rate was 38% (107/281). Adherence was greater in families with a higher degree of familial aggregation for colorectal cancer (88.9% for Amsterdam vs 33.3% for Bethesda and sporadic cancer; p0.05), an index patient aged under 65 years (60% for patients65 years vs 32.9% for patientsor=65 years; p0.05) and an index patient who was female (46.2% for women vs 31% for men; p = 0.28). Adherence was also greater in relatives under 65 years (54% in patients65 years vs 18% in patientsor=65 years; p = 0.05), in female relatives (49% in female relatives vs 27.3% in male relatives; p0.05) and in siblings and children (40% in siblings and children vs 13% in parents; p0.05). Lesions were found in 26% (28/107) of the study population. Nine (8.4%) individuals had a total of 18 advanced lesions.These results indicate that adherence to colonoscopy in our population of first-degree relatives was low. The adherence was more frequently associated with a higher degree of familial aggregation, a relative age of under 65 years, a sibling or offspring relationship, and female sex. more...

Background The relationship between corpus callosum (CC) morphology and mainly motor outcomes has been studied in spastic cerebral palsy (CP) but not yet in dyskinetic CP, which has been recently related to a diffuse brain injury pattern. This study aims to analyse the relationship of total and regional CC volumes with intelligence and motor impairment severity in dyskinetic CP. Methods 15 subjects (age range, 12–34) with dyskinetic CP and signs of perinatal asphyxia underwent a MRI. CC total, anterior, central and posterior volumes were calculated (Figure 1). The intelligence and motor scales most commonly used in CP were administered. Results The CC total volume and most of its parts were related to intelligence and motor measures (Table 1). Conclusions Total CC volume may be indicative of intelligence and motor status in dyskinetic CP. Regionally, the posterior part is the most related to intelligence, in agreement with recent theories of intelligence. The anterior part of the CC is not found to be related to motor function. This result agrees with the fact that premotor and sensorimotor fibres are located more posteriorly than previously thought. more...

Background and aims Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy (CP) is mainly characterised by basal ganglia and thalamus injury as well as worse motor functioning compared to other CP types. Associations of higher levels in Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) and in Bimanual Fine Motor Function (BFMF) with basal ganglia and thalamus lesions have only been described qualitatively. This study aims to analyse the quantitative relationship of basal ganglia and thalamus volumes with motor status measured by means of the three Surveillance of Cerebral Palsy in Europe (SCPE) recommended scales: GMFCS, BFMF and Manual Ability Classification System (MACS). Methods Gross and fine motor status of 15 dyskinetic CP participants with signs of perinatal asphyxia (age range: 12–34) were assessed. 3T-MRI was obtained and Free Surfer software was used to estimate basal ganglia and thalamus volumes. Partial correlations controlling for age were performed. Results Caudate (r = -.70; p Conclusions Greater gross and fine motor impairment severity is associated with lower basal ganglia and thalamus volumes, which is consistent with qualitative results of previous studies. This is the first evidence of a quantitative relationship between two widely used scales of motor functioning and deep brain grey matter in dyskinetic CP. GMFCS and MACS, but maybe not BFMF scale, are sensitive to basal ganglia and thalamus injury in this CP type. more...

Anatomical tracing in animal models has shown that the thalamus projects to regions in the temporal lobe around primary auditory cortex, and many regions anterior to this. During development, post-mortem studies in humans have shown that myelination in the temporal lobes follows a posterior-to-anterior progression. Our aim was to investigate auditory development, and specifically the thalamo-temporal white matter connexions, in infants during the first postnatal year. We hypothesised that the connectivity will strengthen from birth through the first year, particularly in anterior temporal areas. We recruited 4 healthy controls (1 month, 3 months, 9 months and 11 months). We assessed white matter tracts using diffusion-weighted MRI with probabilistic tractography. A highly accelerated multiband EPI sequence (monopolar acquisition, acceleration factor=4, iPAT=0) with 128 non-collinear diffusion weighting directions was acquired (TR/TE=1980/71, voxel size 2 × 2 × 2 mm 3 , b=1500 s/mm 2 ). We found an increment in the strength of connectivity from 1 to 11 months between the thalamus and cortex (thalamo-temporal 60% and temporo-thalamic 37%). Moreover, the pathway’s fractional anisotropy increased by 26% and its mean diffusivity dropped by 90%. Furthermore, the pattern of development followed a posterior-to-anterior progression, with an extension of connections to more anterior temporal regions at 9–11 months. In conclusion, thalamic connections to the temporal lobe were found to strengthen in the first postnatal year, around primary auditory cortex, and especially in anterior temporal regions. The enhanced anterior temporal connectivity may reflect the development of the posterior-to-anterior cortical processing stream that in adults processes complex sounds such as language. more...