Activiteit

To investigate the relation between cognitive and motor development in preschool aged children with Dravet syndrome, in particular between the age of independent walking and cognitive development.

Results of cognitive and motor developmental assessments and the age of independent walking were retrieved retrospectively from the medical records of 33 children (17 males, 16 females; mean age at last evaluation 33.2mo, SD 8.2mo, range 9-48mo) diagnosed with Dravet syndrome. Cognitive and motor developmental age, derived from the Bayley Scales of Infant Development or through standardized neurodevelopmental assessment, were converted into cognitive and motor developmental quotients. Multiple test scores per child were included.

A strong positive relation was found between cognitive and motor developmental quotient (Pearson r=0.854; p<0.001) in 20 children (slope=0.75; 95% CI 0.54-0.95). A later age of independent walking was associated with a lower cognitive developmental quotient (28 children; p<0.001; slope=-1.01; 95% CI -1.53 to -0.49). A higher cognitive developmental quotient was seen in children with an age at testing younger than 24months. The cognitive developmental quotient of children with a delay in independent walking (>17.6mo) was significantly lower than those without a delay (p=0.006).

A strong relation exists between cognitive and motor development. Furthermore, the age of independent walking might be an important indicator of the development of children with Dravet syndrome.

Cognitive and motor development are strongly related in children with Dravet syndrome. Later age of independent walking is associated with worse cognitive development in children with Dravet syndrome.

Cognitive and motor development are strongly related in children with Dravet syndrome. Later age of independent walking is associated with worse cognitive development in children with Dravet syndrome.

In Denmark, non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) has been used since 2013. read more We aimed to evaluate the early clinical use of NIPT in Danish public and private healthcare settings before NIPT became an integrated part of the national guidelines on prenatal screening and diagnosis in 2017.

NIPT data were collected between March 2013 and June 2017 from national public registries and private providers. Results from follow-up samples (chorionic villi, amniotic fluid, postnatal blood or fetal tissue) were included from The Danish Cytogenetics Central Registry and indications and outcome from The Danish Fetal Medicine Database.

A total of 3936 NIPT results were included in the study from public hospitals (n=3463, 88.0%) and private clinics (n=473, 12.0%). The total number of prenatal tests was 19713 during the study period 20% were NIPT analyses (n=3936) and 80% invasive procedures (n=15777). Twenty-five percent of NIPTs in the private clinics were performed before gestational week 11

, whereas NIPT in public sIPT results from the public setting resulted in live births. NIPT may be an important risk-free alternative to invasive testing for a minority of women in the public setting who wish to use prenatal genetic testing for information only and not for reproductive decision-making.

The total number of NIPT analyses was low compared with the number of invasive procedures in the implementation period. In contrast to the generally high termination rate after a positive result following invasive testing in Denmark, a high proportion of true-positive NIPT results from the public setting resulted in live births. NIPT may be an important risk-free alternative to invasive testing for a minority of women in the public setting who wish to use prenatal genetic testing for information only and not for reproductive decision-making.Antimicrobial photodynamic treatment (aPDT) for infection with drug-resistant bacteria has received much attention. For P. aeruginosa, however, efficient formation of biofilms and the nature of Gram-negative bacteria often limit the efficacy of aPDT. In this study, we investigated the effects of ethanol and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) as additives on bacterial viability, biofilm biomass, and structures of bacteria and biofilms in methylene blue (MB)-mediated aPDT in vitro. Matured P. aeruginosa biofilms were incubated with 32-µm MB solutions with different concentrations of additives and then illuminated with 665-nm light from an LED array. The combined addition of 10% ethanol and 10 mm EDTA to MB resulted in significantly greater bactericidal effects than those of MB alone and of MB with 10% ethanol or 10 mm EDTA. Crystal violet assays showed significant reductions in biofilm biomass by aPDT with addition of both ethanol and EDTA compared to that in the case of aPDT with MB alone. Scanning electron microscopy showed broken bacterial cells and reduction in the cell density and amount of biofilm under those conditions. Ethanol addition alone did not improve aPDT efficacy. Reduced amount of biofilm by EDTA addition would have improved the transportation of MB and ethanol to bacteria.

ABO-incompatible (ABOi) kidney transplantation, a well-established procedure, has good long-term results provided pretransplant desensitization that includes immunosuppression and apheresis.

To compare, within the first pretransplant apheresis session given to 29 ABOi kidney-transplant candidates, the effect on isoagglutinin titers (both IgG and IgM isotypes) of three modalities centrifugation therapeutic plasmapheresis (cTP; n = 10), filtration TP (fTP; n = 9), and double-filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP; n = 10).

The three groups were comparable according to baseline demographics. Treated plasma volumes were similar across the three groups, that is, 4111 ± 403 mL (cTP), 3861 ± 282 mL (fTP), and 3699 ± 820 mL (DFPP) that is, 54 ± 7, 53 ± 7, and 53 ± 10 mL/kg respectively. One session of centrifugation or filtration TP reduced IgG anti-A/anti-B isoagglutinin titer by ~4, whereas one DFPP session reduced it by ~2. One session of cTP reduced IgM anti-A isoagglutinin titer by a little less than 4, whereas fTP and DFPP sessions reduced it by ~3.