@article{Prelog2012, author = {Prelog, Martina}, title = {Differential Approaches for Vaccination from Childhood to Old Age}, series = {Gerontology}, volume = {59}, journal = {Gerontology}, number = {3}, issn = {0304-324X}, doi = {10.1159/000343475}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-196602}, pages = {230-239}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Primary prevention strategies, such as vaccinations at the age extremes, in neonates and elderly individuals, demonstrate a challenge to health professionals and public health specialists. The aspects of the differentiation and maturation of the adaptive immune system, the functional implications of immunological immaturity or immunosenescence and its impact on vaccine immunogenicity and efficacy will be highlighted in this review. Several approaches have been undertaken to promote Th1 responses in neonates and to enhance immune functions in elderly, such as conjugation to carrier proteins, addition of adjuvants, concomitant vaccination with other vaccines, change in antigen concentrations or dose intervals or use of different administration routes. Also, early protection by maternal vaccination seems to be beneficial in neonates. However, it also appears necessary to think of other end points than antibody concentrations to assess vaccine efficacy in neonates or elderly, as also the cellular immune response may be impaired by the mechanisms of immaturity, underlying health conditions, immunosuppressive treatments or immunosenescence. Thus, lifespan vaccine programs should be implemented to all individuals on a population level not only to improve herd protection and to maintain protective antibody levels and immune memory, but also to cover all age groups, to protect unvaccinated elderly persons and to provide indirect protection for neonates and small infants.}, language = {en} } @article{NeubauerEvangelistaMorbachetal.2012, author = {Neubauer, Henning and Evangelista, Laura and Morbach, Henner and Girschick, Hermann and Prelog, Martina and K{\"o}stler, Herbert and Hahn, Dietbert and Beer, Meinrad}, title = {Diffusion-weighted MRI of bone marrow oedema, soft tissue oedema and synovitis in paediatric patients: feasibility and initial experience}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-75521}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Background: MRI has become the mainstay of diagnostic imaging in paediatric rheumatology for lesion detection, differential diagnosis and therapy surveillance. MR imaging of synovitis, in particular, is indispensable for early diagnosis and follow-up in arthritis patients. We used diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) as a new imaging modality in comparison to standard MRI sequences to study bone marrow oedema, soft-tissue oedema and synovitis in paediatric patients. Methods: A total of 52 patients (mean age 11 ± 5 years) with bone marrow oedema (n = 31), soft-tissue oedema (n = 20) and synovitis (n = 15) were examined with transversal diffusion-weighted single-shot echoplanar imaging in addition to standard MR sequences (T2W TIRM, T1W pre- and post-contrast). Diffusion-weighted images were used for lesion detection and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC, unit × 10-3 mm2/s) values were measured with ROI technique on ADC maps. Results: In 50 of 52 patients, DWI delineated the lesion of interest corresponding to pathological signal increase on standard sequences. Mean ADC was 1.60 ± 0.14 (range 1.38 - 1.99) in osseous lesions, 1.72 ± 0.31 (range 1.43 - 2.56) in soft tissue oedema and 2.82 ± 0.24 (range 2.47 - 3.18) for joint effusion (ANOVA p<0.001). No significant difference in mean ADC was seen for inflammatory vs. non-inflammatory lesions. Relative signal intensity of oedema was similar for DWI and T2W TIRM. DWI visualised synovial restricted diffusion with a mean ADC of 2.12 ± 0.45 in 12 of 15 patients with synovitis. Conclusions: Diffusion-weighted MRI reliably visualises osseous and soft tissue oedema, as compared to standard sequences. DWI of synovitis is feasible in large joints and presents a novel approach to contrast-free imaging of synovitis. Whole-body DWI for chronic non-bacterial osteomyelitis should be evaluated in future studies.}, subject = {Medizin}, language = {en} }