@article{FriedrichHartigPruessetal.2022, author = {Friedrich, Maximilian and Hartig, Johannes and Pr{\"u}ss, Harald and Ip, Wang Chi and Volkmann, Jens}, title = {Rapidly progressive dementia: Extending the spectrum of GFAP-astrocytopathies?}, series = {Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology}, volume = {9}, journal = {Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology}, number = {3}, doi = {10.1002/acn3.51513}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-312957}, pages = {410-415}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein astrocytopathy (GFAP-A) is a steroid-responsive meningoencephalomyelitis, sometimes presenting with atypical clinical signs such as movement disorders or psychiatric and autonomic features. Beyond clinical presentation and imaging, diagnosis relies on detection of GFAP-antibodies (AB) in CSF. Using quantitative behavioral, serologic, and immunohistochemical analyses, we characterize two patients longitudinally over 18-24 months who presented with rapidly progressive neurocognitive deterioration in the context of GFAP-AB in CSF and unremarkable cranial MRI studies. Intensified immunotherapy was associated with clinical stabilization. The value of GFAP-AB screening in selected cases of rapidly progressive dementias is discussed.}, language = {en} } @article{BrumbergSchroeterBlazhenetsetal.2020, author = {Brumberg, Joachim and Schr{\"o}ter, Nils and Blazhenets, Ganna and Frings, Lars and Volkmann, Jens and Lapa, Constantin and Jost, Wolfgang H. and Isaias, Ioannis U. and Meyer, Philipp T.}, title = {Differential diagnosis of parkinsonism: a head-to-head comparison of FDG PET and MIBG scintigraphy}, series = {NPJ Parkinsons Disease}, volume = {6}, journal = {NPJ Parkinsons Disease}, doi = {10.1038/s41531-020-00141-y}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-230675}, year = {2020}, abstract = {[\(^{18}\)F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET and [\(^{123}\)I]metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy may contribute to the differential diagnosis of neurodegenerative parkinsonism. To identify the superior method, we retrospectively evaluated 54 patients with suspected neurodegenerative parkinsonism, who were referred for FDG PET and MIBG scintigraphy. Two investigators visually assessed FDG PET scans using an ordinal 6-step score for disease-specific patterns of Lewy body diseases (LBD) or atypical parkinsonism (APS) and assigned the latter to the subgroups multiple system atrophy (MSA), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), or corticobasal syndrome. Regions-of-interest analysis on anterior planar MIBG images served to calculate the heart-to-mediastinum ratio. Movement disorder specialists blinded to imaging results established clinical follow-up diagnosis by means of guideline-derived case vignettes. Clinical follow-up (1.7 +/- 2.3 years) revealed the following diagnoses: n = 19 LBD (n = 17 Parkinson's disease [PD], n = 1 PD dementia, and n = 1 dementia with Lewy bodies), n = 31 APS (n = 28 MSA, n = 3 PSP), n = 3 non-neurodegenerative parkinsonism; n = 1 patient could not be diagnosed and was excluded. Receiver operating characteristic analyses for discriminating LBD vs. non-LBD revealed a larger area under the curve for FDG PET than for MIBG scintigraphy at statistical trend level for consensus rating (0.82 vs. 0.69, p = 0.06; significant for investigator \#1: 0.83 vs. 0.69, p = 0.04). The analysis of PD vs. MSA showed a similar difference (0.82 vs. 0.69, p = 0.11; rater \#1: 0.83 vs. 0.69, p = 0.07). Albeit the notable differences in diagnostic performance did not attain statistical significance, the authors consider this finding clinically relevant and suggest that FDG PET, which also allows for subgrouping of APS, should be preferred.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schmid2012, author = {Schmid, Benedikt}, title = {Relation between cerebral arterio-venous transit time and neuropsychological performance in patients with vascular dementia}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-71234}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Dementia, or any form of degenerative cognitive decline, is one of the major problems in present, and even more will be in future medicine. With Alzheimer's disease (AD) being the most prevalent, Vascular Dementia is the second most entity of dementing processes in the elderly. As diagnostic criteria are still imprecise and in many cases do not embrace early stages of the disease, recent studies have proposed more detailed classifications of the newly created condition Vascular Cognitive Impairment (VCI). Of all conditions subsumed under this term, subcortical small-vessel alterations are the most common cause for cognitive decline. The diagnosis of dementia / cognitive impairment is presently often made in late stages of the disease, when therapeutical options are poor. Thus, early detection of changes of the subcortical small vessels is desirable, when there is still time to identify and aggressively treat risk factors and underlying conditions like diabetes, hyper- or hypotension, and hyperlipidemia. This study aimed to evaluate whether cTT correlates to cognitive dysfunction, i.e. if cTT is fit as an early diagnostic tool for VCI. The study cohort included 38 patients from the Neurological Clinic of the W{\"u}rzburg University hospital admitted due to diagnoses other than dementia or stroke. As a result of this study it turned out that cTT is certainly capable of fulfilling the task to easily and effectively detect and evaluate possible microvascular lesions of the brain with respect to the actual clinical relevance for the patient. When compared to the other proposed diagnostic tools, neuropsychological testing and MRI, the advantages of cTT are obvious: its measurement is a low-cost and quick procedure which would spare both patients and examiners a long neuropsychological exam or complement it. cTT is safe to assess as the only possible risks derive from the use of the contrast agent, which are rare and easily manageable. It has also proven to be more accurate in showing the extent of cognitive impairment than MRI. Finally, it is widely available. The only prerequisite is an ultrasound machine capable of transcranial color-coded duplex sonography. No cost-intensive procedures like MRI are needed. So, with neuropsychological testing remaining the gold standard, cTT here proved to be a reliable alternative which is more time- and cost-effective than MRI.}, subject = {Demenz}, language = {en} }