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Neurodegenerative diseases can manifest as psychiatric symptoms in the prodromal phase, before the onset of core symptoms such as neurological, motor, and cognitive symptoms. Positron emission tomography (PET) has made it possible to detect the pathology of some neurodegenerative diseases in vivo. Many studies have indicated that depression is a preclinical symptom of neurodegenerative diseases. Approximately 10% of non-demented participants with depression developed Alzheimer’s disease (AD) during the follow-up period. The prevalence of depression/dysphoria was 42.9% in the preclinical stage of dementia with Lewy bodies. Depression was present in 33.3% of patients with preclinical behavioral-variant frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Approximately 10% of patients had a history of depression at the time of diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease. PET studies have revealed the pathology of neurodegenerative diseases in some cases of geriatric depression. Increased brain amyloid-beta deposition in late-onset depression is a possible reflection of prodromal AD. The severity of depression was significantly associated with greater inferior temporal tau and marginally associated with greater entorhinal cortex tau, and depression was associated with significantly greater mean cortical tau deposition. Thus, the presence of depression as a preclinical/prodromal symptom of neurodegenerative diseases has been demonstrated by epidemiological, pathological, and biomarker studies. A growing body of evidence from PET studies indicates that some cases of geriatric depression have pathologies of degenerative neurological disease. In the future, it is expected that PET will be utilized as an imaging biomarker for diagnosis of psychiatric disorders and development of new therapeutic agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare but life-threatening condition. HAE types I and II (HAE-1/2) result from C1-inhibitor (C1–INH) deficiency. However, recent genetic analysis has established a new type of HAE with normal C1–INH (HAEnC1-INH). The mutations of factor XII, plasminogen, angiopoietin 1, and kininogen 1 genes may be the cause of HAEnC1-INH. Nevertheless, other causative molecules (HAE-unknown) may be involved. The Japanese therapeutic environment for HAE has been improving owing to the self-subcutaneous injection of icatibant, which was approved for the treatment of acute attack and enables early therapy. Erythema marginatum (EM) is a visible prodromal symptom which occasionally occurs prior to an angioedema attack; hence, recognizing the risk of an acute attack is important for early treatment. However, the detailed characteristics of EM remain unclear. In this study, we first investigated the clinical manifestations of EM in Japanese patients with HAE. Methods: A 20-point survey was developed and distributed to 40 physicians to gather clinical data on EM from patients with HAE. Results: Data on 68 patients with HAE (58 patients with HAE-1/2 and 10 patients with HAE-unknown) were collected. Of the patients with HAE-1/2, 53.4% experienced EM, whereas 43.1% did not. The forearm was the most frequent area of EM (64.5%), followed by the abdomen (29.0%) and upper arm and precordium (19.3%). Of the HAE-1/2 patients with EM, 41.9% always had angioedema following EM, while 29.0% always had colocalization of EM with angioedema. Moreover, 3.2% showed a correlation between the awareness of EM and severity of an angioedema attack. In 60.9% of HAE-1/2 patients with EM, the interval between the awareness of EM and appearance of angioedema was

Background Prodromal symptoms are warning signs of an impending acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, they are often overlooked by both patients and primary clinicians, and little is known about them. Therefore, this study aims to assess the frequency and types of prodromal symptoms in patients with AMI. Methodology This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care cardiac center. Consecutive patients diagnosed with AMI within the last week were evaluated for prodromal symptoms. The prodromal symptoms included chest pain, chest heaviness, chest burning, palpitations, fatigue, sleep disturbance, shortness of breath (SOB), dizziness, anxiety, sudden heat or cold, back pain, and vomiting. Results In a sample of 242 patients, 79.6% were males, with a mean age of 54.7 ± 12.2 years, and 179 (74%) were diagnosed with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Among the participants, 142 (58.7%) showed no prodromal symptoms. Among those with prodromal symptoms, chest pain was the predominantly reported prodromal symptom with a frequency of 68%, followed by chest heaviness at 44%, palpitations at 42%, shortness of breath at 34%, and chest burning at 27%. Unusual fatigue in 23% and sleep disturbance in 22% of the patients were also reported. Conclusion The findings from this study revealed that prodromal symptoms were present in a significant proportion of acute myocardial infarction (MI) cases, with more than four in 10 patients reporting these early warning signs. The most commonly observed prodromal symptoms were chest pain, chest heaviness, palpitations, shortness of breath, and chest burning. The timely identification of these symptoms can help prevent infarction, thereby reducing the burden of heart failure and other related mortalities., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2023, Sohail et al.)

Background Hereditary angioedema with C1-inhibitor deficiency (C1-INH-HAE) is a rare, autosomal dominant disorder. The characteristic episodes of subcutaneous/submucosal edema formation may be preceded by erythema marginatum (EM) – the occurrence of a ‘map-like’ pattern on the skin. EM can occur as an isolated finding or accompanying a hereditary angiooedema (HAE) attack as well. Nevertheless, it is unknown whether a HAE attack can be prevented by the proper prophylactic treatment during EM. Objectives Our aim was to assess the prevalence of EM in the Hungarian C1-INH-HAE population and to introduce a safe and effective novel prophylactic treatment during EM in patients who’s HAE attacks are preceded by EM in a considerable proportion of the cases. Results Based on the data of the Hungarian HAE Registry, 49 among 173 C1-INH-HAE patients (28.3%) from 32 families had EM in their life. According to the clinical data and the patient’s HAE diaries, two patients (Patient #1, Patient #2) were selected who frequently had EM as a prodromal symptom. Both patients were instructed to administer plasma-derived C1-inhibitor concentrate (pdC1-INH) as soon as possible after the onset of EM, in order to prevent the development of HAE attack. Interestingly, HAE attacks never developed if pdC1-INH was administered within 6 h from the occurrence of EM in both patients. In contrast, without pdC1-INH treatment, in Patient 1 and Patient 2, 97.0% and 44.3% of the EM were followed by a HAE attack, respectively (p < 0.0001, Fisher’s exact test). Conclusions As a novel prophylaxis in C1-INH-HAE, intravenous administration of pdC1-INH concentrate during EM might be an effective, individual therapeutic strategy in those patients who’s HAE attacks are often preceded by EM. Besides it can improve the quality of life of these selected patients, pdC1-INH administration during EM provides the lowest effective dose for the prophylaxis of their HAE attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objective: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the most prevalent cause of mortality in the world today. Sometimes before an acute phase of AMI there are certain prodromal symptoms. Since there are some social and cultural differences in Iranian population, this study was deigned to investigate the prodromal symptoms in patients with AMI in city of Birjand. Methods: In this analytic-descriptive research, 165 patients with first AMI who were hospitalized in the CCU and cardiac ward of the Valiassr Hospital in Birjand from the 2006-2007 were studied. A valid questionnaire which was designed by expert cardiologists was used. The T-test and ANOVA were used for data analysis, and p

Neurodegenerative diseases can manifest as psychiatric symptoms in the prodromal phase, before the onset of core symptoms such as neurological, motor, and cognitive symptoms. Positron emission tomography (PET) has made it possible to detect the pathology of some neurodegenerative diseases in vivo. Many studies have indicated that depression is a preclinical symptom of neurodegenerative diseases. Approximately 10% of non-demented participants with depression developed Alzheimer's disease (AD) during the follow-up period. The prevalence of depression/dysphoria was 42.9% in the preclinical stage of dementia with Lewy bodies. Depression was present in 33.3% of patients with preclinical behavioral-variant frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Approximately 10% of patients had a history of depression at the time of diagnosis with Parkinson's disease. PET studies have revealed the pathology of neurodegenerative diseases in some cases of geriatric depression. Increased brain amyloid-beta deposition in late-onset depression is a possible reflection of prodromal AD. The severity of depression was significantly associated with greater inferior temporal tau and marginally associated with greater entorhinal cortex tau, and depression was associated with significantly greater mean cortical tau deposition. Thus, the presence of depression as a preclinical/prodromal symptom of neurodegenerative diseases has been demonstrated by epidemiological, pathological, and biomarker studies. A growing body of evidence from PET studies indicates that some cases of geriatric depression have pathologies of degenerative neurological disease. In the future, it is expected that PET will be utilized as an imaging biomarker for diagnosis of psychiatric disorders and development of new therapeutic agents.

Symptoms have been reported to precede bisphosphonate-associated atypical fractures (AFs) of the femoral shaft. We aimed to determine the frequency and clinical characteristics of such prodromal symptoms. We searched the Swedish national database of spontaneously reported adverse drug reactions for all cases of AF associated with bisphosphonates from January 2006 to March 2013. To confirm diagnostic accuracy and to characterize and determine the frequency of any prodromal symptoms we retrieved copies of medical journals and radiographs for patients who consented to participate in the study. The frequency of prodromal symptoms was compared with that of patients where information was based only on narratives from the adverse drug reaction case reports. A total of 45 reports of AF were identified. We were able to obtain medical records and x-rays for 21 cases and diagnostic accuracy was confirmed for all. Medical records revealed prodromal symptoms in 86 % ( n = 18), most commonly pain in the ipsilateral thigh (14 out of 18 patients) preceding the fracture for weeks or longer. Awareness of such symptoms may facilitate early diagnosis and possible prevention of the AF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim On the basis of applying 'ultra-high-risk' ( UHR) criteria, initially high rates of transition to psychosis were reported. However, a decline in transition to psychosis has been observed in recent years. The current descriptive paper aims to investigate if this drop in transition rate may be due to potential changes in patterns of referral to a large UHR clinic. Methods One hundred fifty young people who were referred to the Personal Assessment and Crisis Evaluation ( PACE) Clinic in Melbourne, Australia, between August 2000 and July 2004 were included. Their referral pathways were assessed using a semistructured interview. Results were compared with a similar study of a cohort referred to the same clinic between 1995 and 1996. Results The mean number of contacts prior to referral to the PACE Clinic was 1.93 (standard deviation ( SD) = 1.15), and the average time between symptom onset and referral to PACE was 46.5 weeks ( SD = 57.4). In comparison with the earlier cohort (mean = 2.36; SD = 1.32), our results indicate a lower number of contacts ( Cohen's d = 0.35, r = 0.17). Furthermore, participants in the current study were referred twice as fast to the PACE Clinic. Conclusions Increasing awareness of UHR symptoms among professionals and in the general population seems to have resulted in faster referral of young people to specialized mental health services. The global drop in transition rate might be due to a change in referral pathways to UHR services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]