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Background: The aim of this systematic review is to gather all available studies reporting prevalence and incidence rates of iNPH and to assess their methodological quality and consistency. Methods: All available studies published up to June 2019 were retrieved searching the databases PubMed, ISI Web of Science, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. All included studies were qualitatively assessed by two independent reviewers using the MORE Checklist for Observational Studies of Incidence and Prevalence. Key results: Bibliographic searches and other sources yielded 659 records. A total of 28 studies were selected and applied the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Fourteen studies were further excluded, and 14 studies (10 on prevalence and 6 on incidence) were included in the qualitative analysis. Results from the prevalence studies reported crude overall rates ranging from 10/100 000 to 22/100 000 for probable iNPH and 29/100 000 for possible iNPH, and age‐specific rates ranging from 3.3/100 000 in people aged 50‐59 to 5.9% in people aged ≥ 80 years. Results from incidence studies reported overall crude rates ranging from 1.8/100 000 to 7.3/100 000 per year, and age‐specific rates ranging from 0.07/100 000/year in people aged < 60 years to 1.2/1000/year in people aged ≥ 70 years. Conclusions & Inferences: The high methodological and clinical heterogeneity of included studies does not allow drawing adequate conclusions on the epidemiology of iNPH. Further, high‐quality, population‐based studies should be carried out to allow for a better understanding of the epidemiology of this condition. Moreover, the implementation in current clinical practice of guidelines on the diagnosis and management of iNPH should also be endorsed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: No systematic reviews were published in the last years investigating epidemiological data, involving myasthenia gravis (MG) and related myasthenic syndromes. This systematic review aimed to estimate the prevalence, incidence, and mortality of all MG types and myasthenic syndromes worldwide., Methods: All literature published up to February 2024 was retrieved by searching the databases "Medline," "Embase," "ISI Web of Science" and "CINAHL" using the following search terms: (epidemiolog* OR frequency OR prevalence OR incidence OR mortality) AND (myasth* OR "anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody" OR "AChR" OR "MuSK" OR "anti-muscle specific kinase antibody" OR "LRP4" OR "seronegative MG")., Results: A total of 94 studies, performed between 1952 and 2022, were included. Prevalence of MG ranged from 20 to 475 cases per million, with a mean prevalence of 173.3 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 129.7-215.5) cases per million and a median prevalence of 129.6 cases per million. Incidence rates ranged from 2.3 to 61.3 cases per million person-years, with a mean incidence of 15.7 (95% CI: 11.5-19.9) and a median of 13.3 cases. Mortality rates showed a mean of 1.4 (95% CI: 0.8-2.1) cases per million person-years. Acetylcholine receptor (AChR)-MG was the clinical subtype more frequent in terms of prevalence and incidence., Discussion: The prevalence and incidence of MG have significantly increased over the last years worldwide, probably due to the improvement of epidemiological methodologies and current advances in diagnosis. However, we observed a significant variation in frequencies of MG between and within countries because of methodological biases and complex heterogeneity of the disease characterized by several phenotypes and different clinical responses., (© 2024 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Objectives: to estimate Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) incidence and prevalence in three Italian Regions (Lazio, Tuscany, and Umbria), using health administrative databases., Design: retrospective population-based study., Setting and Participants: ALS patients residing in Lazio, Umbria, and Tuscany were identified through an algorithm based on three different administrative databases: hospital discharge records, exemptions from health care co-payment, and emergency departments (study period 2014-2019). Crude, age- and gender-specific prevalence were calculated on 31.12.2019 and incidence rates of ALS were standardised by region, year, and gender between 2014-2019. Using a clinical dataset available in the Lazio Region, the proportion of individuals residing in the region correctly identified as ALS cases by the algorithm were calculated., Main Outcomes Measures: prevalence and incidence rates., Results: a total of 1,031 ALS patients (>=18 years) were identified: 408 cases in Tuscany, 546 in Lazio, and 77 in Umbria. ALS standardised prevalence (per 100,000) was similar among regions: 12.31 in Tuscany, 11.52 in Lazio, and 9.90 in Umbria. The 5-year crude rates were higher in men, and in people aged 65-79 years. Among 310 patients included in the clinical dataset, 263 (84.8%) were correctly identified by the algorithm based on health administrative databases., Conclusions: ALS prevalence and incidence in three Central Italy Regions are rather similar, but slightly higher than those previously reported. This finding is plausible, given that previous results relate to at least ten years ago and evidenced increasing trends. Overall, the results of this paper encourage the use of administrative data to produce occurrence estimates, useful to both epidemiological surveillance and research and healthcare policies.

Introduction: The identification of dementia cases through routinely collected health data represents an easily accessible and inexpensive method to estimate the prevalence of dementia. In Italy, a project aimed at the validation of an algorithm was conducted., Methods: The project included cases (patients with dementia or mild cognitive impairment [MCI]) recruited in centers for cognitive disorders and dementias and controls recruited in outpatient units of geriatrics and neurology. The algorithm based on pharmaceutical prescriptions, hospital discharge records, residential long-term care records, and information on exemption from health-care co-payment, was applied to the validation population., Results: The main analysis was conducted on 1110 cases and 1114 controls. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values in discerning cases of dementia were 74.5%, 96.0%, 94.9%, and 79.1%, respectively, whereas in detecting cases of MCI these values were 29.7%, 97.5%, 92.2%, and 58.1%, respectively. The variables associated with misclassification of cases were also identified., Discussion: This study provided a validated algorithm, based on administrative data, which can be used to identify cases with dementia and, with lower sensitivity, also early onset dementia but not cases with MCI., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Author disclosures are available in the supporting information., (© 2022 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.)

Genetic immunization using viral vectors provides an effective means to elicit antigen-specific cellular immune responses. Several viral vectors have proven efficacious in inducing immune responses after direct injection in vivo. Among them, recombinant, self-inactivating lentiviral vectors are very attractive delivery systems, as they are able to efficiently transduce into and express foreign genes in a wide variety of mammalian cells. A self-inactivating lentiviral vector was evaluated for the delivery of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) envelope sequences in mice in order to elicit specific immune responses. With this aim, BALB/c mice were immunized with a single injection of self-inactivating lentiviral vectors carrying either the full-length HIV-1(HXB2) Rev/Env (TY2-IIIBEnv) or the codon-optimized HIV-1(JR-FL) gp120 (TY2-JREnv) coding sequence. Both vectors were able to elicit specific cellular responses efficiently, as measured by gamma interferon ELISPOT and chromium-release assays, upon in vitro stimulation of splenocytes from BALB/c immunized mice. However, only the TY2-JREnv-immunized mice were able to elicit specific humoral responses, measured as anti-gp120 antibody production. These data provide the first evidence that a single, direct, in vivo administration of a lentiviral vector encoding a viral gene might represent a useful strategy for vaccine development.