Cognitive rehabilitation in bipolar spectrum disorder: A systematic review.

Background and objectives: Neurocognitive deficits in bipolar disorder (BD) have a negative impact on the quality of life, even during the euthymic phase. And many studies conducted to improve cognitive deficits in bipolar disorder. This systematic review aims to summarize studies on cognitive rehabilitation (CR) conducted in bipolar patients and evaluate its impact on neurocognitive deficits. The primary objective is to explore how CR interventions can enhance cognitive functioning, treatment outcomes, and overall quality of life in this population. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted on PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, Embase, and PsycINFO databases from 1950 to 2023, following the 2015 PRISMA-P guidelines, using search terms related to BD and CR. Results: The initial search yielded 371 titles across the five databases. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria through screening, a total of 23 articles were included in the study. The selected articles evaluated verbal memory, attention, executive functions, and social cognition. Conclusion: The findings suggest that CR can be an effective treatment approach for bipolar patients, aimed at enhancing their cognitive abilities, treatment outcomes, and overall quality of life. The primary finding of this study indicates that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) protocols, skill training, and homework exercises, which offer a daily structure, social support, and opportunities for exchanging coping strategies, are more effective in enhancing cognitive functions. However, it is important to acknowledge the notable limitations of this review. Firstly, we did not assess the methodological rigor of the included studies. Additionally, there was a lack of detailed analysis regarding specific cognitive rehabilitation approaches that adhere to core CR principles, resulting in increased heterogeneity within the reviewed studies.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: New hope in the fight against COVID-19.

The emerging COVID-19 pandemic led to a dramatic increase in global mortality and morbidity rates. As in most infections, fatal complications of coronavirus affliction are triggered by an untrammeled host inflammatory response. Cytokine storms created by high levels of interleukin and other cytokines elucidate the pathology of severe COVID-19. In this respect, repurposing drugs that are already available and might exhibit anti-inflammatory effects have received significant attention. With the in vitro and clinical investigation of several studies on the effect of antidepressants on COVID-19 prognosis, previous data suggest that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) might be the new hope for the early treatment of severely afflicted patients. SSRIs' low cost and availability make them potentially eligible for COVID-19 repurposing. This review summarizes current achievements and literature about the connection between SSRIs administration and COVID-19 prognosis.

Pharmacotherapeutic potential of pomegranate in age-related neurological disorders.

Age-related neurological disorders [AND] include neurodegenerative diseases [NDDs] such as Alzheimer's disease [AD] and Parkinson's disease [PD], which are the most prevalent types of dementia in the elderly. It also includes other illnesses such as migraine and epilepsy. ANDs are multifactorial, but aging is their major risk factor. The most frequent and vital pathological features of AND are oxidative stress, inflammation, and accumulation of misfolded proteins. As AND brain damage is a significant public health burden and its incidence is increasing, much has been done to overcome it. Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is one of the polyphenol-rich fruits that is widely mentioned in medical folklore. Pomegranate is commonly used to treat common disorders such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, wound healing, bleeding, dysentery, acidosis, microbial infections, infectious and noninfectious respiratory diseases, and neurological disorders. In the current review article, we aimed to summarize the data on the pharmacotherapeutic potentials of pomegranate in ANDs.

Impact of Educational Interventions on Knowledge About Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy Among Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review.

Background: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), including chronic hypertension, preeclampsia and gestational hypertension, is the cause of about 50,000 deaths out of 400,000 perinatal deaths. HDP is an effective risk factor in stroke, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases like ischemic heart disease. There is a significant relation between HDP, lifestyle, and knowledge. Unfortunately, many studies showed that pregnant women have lack of knowledge about HDP. Therefore, the importance of educational interventions is, today, more acknowledged than before. Aim: The goal of this systematic review was to investigate the effect of interventional educations on the knowledge of pregnant women about HDP. Methods: A systematic review of the related articles was conducted. We included English randomized controlled trials published up to December 2021, including pregnant women as population, HDP as the outcome, and educational interventions as the intervention. Results: After the process of study selection, six articles containing 819 pregnant women were included in this study. Educational pamphlets, mobile-based application, a mixture of pamphlets, pictographic magnet and videos, and a combination of PowerPoint and data show projectors and conversation were the educational interventions in these studies. Conclusions: The positive effects of educational interventions on the knowledge of women with HTP were observed in all studies. The higher knowledge leads to HDP-related complications. Systematic Review Registration: https://archive.org/details/osf-registrations-gcs5r-v1, identifier: doi: 10.17605/OSF.IO/GCS5R.

Multicenter experience in translumbar type II endoleak treatment in the hybrid room with needle trajectory planning and fusion guidance.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of treating type II endoleaks (T2Ls) after aortic endovascular repair with image guidance translumbar puncture using intraoperative cone beam computed tomography with preprocedure computed tomography angiography fusion in hybrid operating rooms. METHODS: Twenty-six consecutive T2L patients in three different institutions were treated between March 2015 and September 2017 by direct translumbar puncture of the abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) sac after previous endovascular aortic repair. All patients were treated at a single setting in a cardiovascular hybrid operating room with a workstation featuring needle trajectory planning and guidance software. Aneurysm sac size change from the index treatment, freedom from recurrent endoleak after treatment, demographics, risk factors, and procedure factors were analyzed with univariate analysis. RESULTS: All patients (N = 26; 19 male, 7 female; age range, 59-95 years; mean body mass index, 27.44 ± 3.06 kg/m2) underwent treatment for AAA sac expansion or symptoms. Four patients had failed to respond to previous catheter-directed T2L treatment. The most common risk factors included hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, coronary artery disease, tobacco use, and diabetes. Time to initial endoleak diagnosis ranged from 2 to 1914 days (average, 404 days). Aneurysm size after initial repair was 60.3 ± 7.5 mm; sac size had increased 10.1 ± 6.5 mm at the time of treatment. Onyx (Medtronic, Irvine, Calif) or glue (n-butyl cyanoacrylate) and coil embolization was used in 20 cases, and 6 patients were treated with coiling alone. There was no difference between the patients treated with coils alone and those treated with coils or glue (P > .05) in terms of freedom from failure. Total procedure time was 75.9 ± 40.7 minutes; contrast material volume, 19.9 ± 29 mL; fluoroscopy time, 13.74 ± 12.2 minutes; and radiation dose, 121.16 ± 167.7 mGy. After embolization, the mean sac diameter decreased by 2.2 mm to 67.5 ± 9.8 mm. Average follow-up period was 214 days. In 19 patients, the sac reduced in size between 0.2 and 19.1 mm per 100 days; in 2 patients, there was continued AAA expansion (3.4-4.3 mm per 100 days); there was no change in the sac size in 5 patients after the procedure. There were no AAA ruptures during the study period. Once T2L was treated, the recurrence rate was low at 11.5%. CONCLUSIONS: This initial multicenter evaluation of the effectiveness of fusion image-guided translumbar obliteration of T2L demonstrated that the technique was effective at all three study centers and showed excellent efficacy to reduce AAA sac size. This may become a more effective and efficient method of treating T2L compared with transarterial or transcaval embolization because of its high success rate and technical ease.

Arterial thoracic outlet syndrome secondary to hypertrophy of the anterior scalene muscle.

Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) was first introduced in literature by Peet et al. in 1956. Since then is has been studied extensively and subcategorized into at least four closely related syndrome. Neurogenic TOS due to the compression of brachial plexus, arterial TOS in cases of compression of the subclavian artery, venous TOS in cases of compression of the subclavian vein, and non-specific type of TOS. Neurogenic TOS is by far the most common consisting of 95% of the cases, followed by venous and lastly arterial. Arterial TOS comprises ~1% of all TOS cases, they are caused largely by presence of cervical rib and/or anomalies of first rib. Here we describe arterial TOS caused by hypertrophy of the anterior scalene muscle in a 65-year-old male. Patient underwent successful open surgical repair with Dacron interposition graft. Postoperative course was unremarkable. Patient was discharged home on POD 2.