[Embrace, a model for integrated elderly care]. / SamenOud, een model voor geïntegreerde ouderenzorg: studieprotocol van een gerandomiseerde studie naar de effectiviteit betreffende patiëntuitkomsten, kwaliteit van zorg, zorggebruik en kosten.

UNLABELLED: Ongoing growth in health care expenditures and changing patterns in the demand for health care challenge societies worldwide. The Chronic Care Model (CCM), combined with classification for care needs based on Kaiser Permanente (KP) Triangle, may offer a suitable framework for change. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effectiveness of Embrace, a population-based model for integrated elderly care, regarding patient outcomes, service use, costs, and quality of care. METHODS: The CCM and the KP Triangle were translated to the Dutch setting and adapted to the full elderly population living in the community. A randomized controlled trial with balanced allocation was designed to test the effectiveness of Embrace. Eligible elderly persons are 75 years and older and enrolled with one of the participating general practitioner practices. Based on scores on the INTERMED-Elderly Self-Assessment and Groningen Frailty Indicator, participants will be stratified into one of three strata: (A) robust; (B) frail; and (C) complex care needs. Next, participants will be randomized per stratum to Embrace or care as usual. Embrace encompasses an Elderly Care Team per general practitioner practice, an Electronic Elderly Record System, decision support instruments, and a self-management support and prevention program - combined with care and support intensity levels increasing from stratum A to stratum C. Primary outcome variables are patient outcomes, service use, costs, and quality of care. Data will be collected at baseline, twelve months after starting date, and during the intervention period. DISCUSSION: This study could provide evidence for the effectiveness of Embrace.

The cerebrospinal fluid amyloid beta42/40 ratio in the differentiation of Alzheimer's disease from non-Alzheimer's dementia.

BACKGROUND: Amyloid beta(40) (Abeta(40)) is the most abundant Abeta peptide in the brain. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) level of Abeta(40) might therefore be considered to most closely reflect the total Abeta load in the brain. Both in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in normal aging the Abeta load in the brain has a large inter-individual variability. Relating Abeta(42) to Abeta(40) levels might consequently provide a more valid measure for reflecting the change in Abeta metabolism in dementia patients than the CSF Abeta(42) concentrations alone. This measure may also improve differential diagnosis between AD and other dementia syndromes, such as vascular dementia (VaD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). OBJECTIVE: To investigate the diagnostic value of the CSF Abeta(42)/Abeta(40) ratio in differentiating AD from controls, VaD, DLB and FTD. METHODS: We analysed the CSF Abeta(42)/Abeta(40) ratio, phosphorylated tau(181) and total tau in 69 patients with AD, 26 patients with VaD, 16 patients with DLB, 27 patients with FTD, and 47 controls. RESULTS: Mean Abeta(40) levels were 2850 pg/ml in VaD and 2830 pg/ml in DLB patients, both significantly lower than in AD patients (3698 pg/ml; p<0.01). Abeta(40) levels in AD patients were not significantly different from those in controls (4035 pg/ml; p=0.384). The Abeta(42)/Abeta(40) ratio was significantly lower in AD patients than in all other groups (p <0.001, ANCOVA). Differentiating AD from VaD, DLB and non-AD dementia improved when the Abeta(42)/Abeta(40) ratio was used instead of Abeta(42) concentrations alone (p<0.01) The Abeta(42)/Abeta(40) ratio performed equally well as the combination of Abeta(42), phosphorylated tau(181) and total tau in differentiating AD from FTD and non-AD dementia. The diagnostic performance of the latter combination was not improved when the Abeta(42)/Abeta(40) ratio was used instead of Abeta(42) alone. CONCLUSION: The CSF Abeta42/Abeta40 ratio improves differentiation of AD patients from VaD, DLB and non-AD dementia patients, when compared to Abeta42 alone, and is a more easily interpretable alternative to the combination of Abeta42, p-tau and t-tau when differentiating AD from either FTD or non-AD dementia.

SPG10 is a rare cause of spastic paraplegia in European families.

BACKGROUND: SPG10 is an autosomal dominant form of hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), which is caused by mutations in the neural kinesin heavy chain KIF5A gene, the neuronal motor of fast anterograde axonal transport. Only four mutations have been identified to date. OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of SPG10 in European families with HSP and to specify the SPG10 phenotype. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 80 index patients from families with autosomal dominant HSP were investigated for SPG10 mutations by direct sequencing of the KIF5A motor domain. Additionally, the whole gene was sequenced in 20 of these families. RESULTS: Three novel KIF5A mutations were detected in German families, including one missense mutation (c.759G>T, p.K253N), one in frame deletion (c.768_770delCAA, p.N256del) and one splice site mutation (c.217G>A). Onset of gait disturbance varied from infancy to 30 years of age. All patients presented clinically with pure HSP, but a subclinical sensory-motor neuropathy was detected by neurophysiology studies. CONCLUSIONS: SPG10 accounts for approximately 3% of European autosomal dominant HSP families. All mutations affect the motor domain of kinesin and thus most likely impair axonal transport. Clinically, SPG10 is characterised by spastic paraplegia with mostly subclinical peripheral neuropathy.