Structural MRI and Amyloid PET Imaging for Prediction of Conversion to Alzheimer's Disease in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the prognostic values of biomarkers of neurodegeneration as measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and amyloid burden as measured by amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) in predicting conversion to Alzheimer's disease (AD) in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). METHODS: PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched for structural MRI or amyloid PET imaging studies published between January 2000 and July 2014 that reported conversion to AD in patients with MCI. Means and standard deviations or individual numbers of biomarkers with positive or negative status at baseline and corresponding numbers of patients who had progressed to AD at follow-up were retrieved from each study. The effect size of each biomarker was expressed as Hedges's g. RESULTS: Twenty-four MRI studies and 8 amyloid PET imaging studies were retrieved. 674 of the 1741 participants (39%) developed AD. The effect size for predicting conversion to AD was 0.770 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.607–0.934] for across MRI and 1.316 (95% CI 0.920–1.412) for amyloid PET imaging (p<0.001). The effect size was 1.256 (95% CI 0.902–1.609) for entorhinal cortex volume from MRI. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that volumetric MRI measurement may be useful for the early detection of AD.

Violence Frequency by Sexual Assault Characteristics / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: Sexual assaults are increasing in the world. They are frequently associated with violence of verbal or physical force and threat. The aim of this study is to investigate frequency of violence according to characteristics of sexual assault. METHODS: Eighty two female sexual assault victims were referred to the psychiatric clinic from Gwangju One-Stop Service Center between Sep. 4, 2006 and Dec. 31, 2012. We compared the frequency of violence, including verbal or physical force and threat according to characteristics of sexual assault : sexual assault type ; relationship with perpetrator ; time lag to visit one-stop center ; assault location. RESULTS: According to the results, 58.5% (n=48) of subjects had experienced violence before the sexual assaults. Compared to rape (50.9%), indecent (76.0%) showed more frequent violence ; and stranger assailant (81.8%) showed greater frequency of violence than acquaintance (50.0%). Victims who visited the One-stop center within 24 hours (76.7%) had greater exposure to violence than those who visited after 24 hours (48.1%). Regarding assault location, violence frequency was higher in other locations (65.7%) than in accommodations (26.7%). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that frequency of violence before sexual assaults could be influenced by their characteristics.