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To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1552-6569.2007.00114.x Byline: Pavel Ressner (1), David Skoloudik (1), Petr Hlustik (1), Petr Kaňovsky (1) Keywords: Parkinson's disease; substantia nigra; ultrasound of the brain stem Abstract: ABSTRACT Substantia nigra (SN) was assessed by transcranial sonography (TCS) in 47 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and in 39 healthy volunteers. A semiquantitative echogenicity scale was created with arbitrary values ranging from 1 to 5, zones with grade [greater than or equal to]3 and larger than 0.19 cm.sup.2 were recorded as hyperechogenic SN. TCS examination of SN as a diagnostic test for PD in our study showed 87.2% sensitivity and 94.9% specificity. Author Affiliation: (1)From the Department of Neurology, Palacky University Medical School and University Hospital, Olomouc, Czech Republic (PR, DS, PH, PK); Department of Neurology, University Hospital in Ostrava-Poruba, Ostrava-Poruba, Czech Republic (DS) Article History: Received December 14, 2006, and in revised form December 14, 2006. Accepted for publication December 18, 2006. Article note: Address correspondence to Pavel Ressner, MD, Neurologicka klinika FN Olomouc, I.P. Pavlova 6, Olomouc, 77520, Czech Republic. E-mail: pavel.ressner@seznam.cz

The objective was to identify the attitudes of progressive neurological disease (PND) patients and their family members regarding end-of-life care, and their worries about dying. The sample included 327 participants. The Attitudes of Patients with PND to End-of-Life Care questionnaire was used to collect the data. Statistically significant differences in the assessment of attitudes towards end-of-life care between patients and family members were identified (p < 0.001). Family members more frequently favored patients being kept alive at any cost; patients more commonly wished to have their end of life under control. Respondents most frequently deferred to doctors when it came to decisions on treatment to keep patients alive. However, both patients and family members wanted patients to be able to decide on their treatment by leaving a written record of their previously stated wishes. The demands of patients and their families regarding end-of-life care should be documented in individual care plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the study was to validate the quality of Czech adaptation of Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (ACE). ACE is a neuropsychological screening test battery serving for dementia detection and differentiation between dementia in Alzheimer disease and the frontotemporal dementia. The research sample consisted of 60 patients with diagnosis of probably dementia of Alzheimer type according DSM IV and NINCDS-ADRDA criteria. All patients passed neurological, basic biochemical, and morphological examinations. Psychological tests and scales including ACE were also administrated. The most expressive cognitive deficits in ACE were found in memory and verbal fluency subtests. The statistic procedures assessed good sensitivity of Czech adaptation of ACE: cut-off score 88 showed 100% sensitivity and that of 83 showed 96.6% sensitivity for dementia detection. The item test reliability assessed by Cronbach's alpha was 0.8. It can be stated that the Czech adaptation of Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination represents not only a new useful test for cognitive deficits assessment but is also a sufficiently quality and sensitive test for dementia detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]