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Background: The Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R) is an accessible cognitive tool that supports the early detection of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). Objective: To investigate the diagnostic efficacy of the ACE-R in MCI, AD, and bvFTD through the identification of novel coefficients for differentiation between these diseases. Methods: We assessed 387 individuals: 102 mild AD, 37 mild bvFTD, 87 with amnestic MCI patients, and 161 cognitively unimpaired controls. The Mokken scaling technique facilitated the extraction out of the 26 ACE-R items that exhibited a common latent trait, thereby generating the Mokken scales for the AD group and the MCI group. Subsequently, we performed logistic regression, integrating each Mokken scales with sociodemographic factors, to differentiate between AD and bvFTD, as well as between AD or MCI and control groups. Ultimately, the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analysis was employed to assess the efficacy of the coefficient's discrimination. Results: The AD-specific Mokken scale (AD-MokACE-R) versus bvFTD exhibited an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.922 (88% sensitivity and specificity). The AD-MokACE-R versus controls achieved an AUC of 0.968 (93% sensitivity, 94% specificity). The MCI-specific scale (MCI-MokACE-R) versus controls demonstrated an AUC of 0.859 (78% sensitivity, 79% specificity). Conclusions: The ACE-R's capacity is enhanced through statistical methods and demographic integration, allowing for accurate differentiation between AD and bvFTD, as well as between MCI and controls. This new method not only reinforces its clinical value in early diagnosis but also surpasses traditional approaches noted in prior studies.

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We report a case of cardiac beriberi in a 76-year-old man who was hospitalized with a congestive condition of subacute onset, diagnosed as high-output heart failure associated with severe tricuspid regurgitation and indication for caval valve implantation, which, after thiamine replacement, resulted in improvement of all conditions. (Level of Difficulty: Beginner.).

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BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) are important causes of dementia with challenging differential diagnoses in many cases. Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R) is a cognitive battery that may be useful to differentiate the two disorders. OBJECTIVE: The objectibe of this study is to investigate the value of the ACE-R combined with sociodemographic factors in the differential diagnosis between AD and bvFTD. METHODS: The ACE-R was administered to 102 patients with mild dementia due to probable AD, 37 with mild bvFTD, and 135 controls. Performances of patients and controls were analyzed by logistic regression and by ROC curves to refine the diagnostic accuracy of the ACE-R in AD and bvFTD. RESULTS: The ACE-R subscores Attention and Orientation, Fluency, and Memory, in combination with schooling differentiated AD from controls with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.936 (86% sensitivity and 87% specificity). The ACE-R subscores Attention and Orientation, Fluency, and Language, in combination with sex (male), age, and schooling, discriminated bvFTD from controls with an AUC of 0.908 (81% sensitivity and 95% specificity). In the differentiation between AD and bvFTD, the ACE-R subscores Attention and Orientation, Fluency, and Language, together with age, displayed an AUC of 0.865 (78% sensitivity and 85% specificity). CONCLUSION: The combination of ACE-R scores with sociodemographic data allowed good differentiation between AD and bvFTD in the study sample.

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BACKGROUND: Parkinsonism is strongly associated with ageing, and many studies have suggested that parkinsonian signs may affect up to half of older adults and is associated with a wide range of adverse health outcomes. We compared clinical and functional characteristics of oldest-old community-dwelling individuals with parkinsonism (parkinsonian group [PG]) to individuals without parkinsonism (non-parkinsonian group [NPG]. METHODS: The Pietà study is a population-based study conducted in Caeté, southeast Brazil, involving 607 individuals aged 75 + years submitted to an extensive clinical evaluation. A subset of 65 PG individuals (61.5% women, median age of 82 years) was compared to 542 NPG individuals (64.8% women, median age of 80 years). RESULTS: PG individuals had significantly more functional impairment, clinical comorbidities (including number of falls, loss of bladder control and dysphagia) and major depression. Multivariate analysis revealed that older age, higher UPDRSm scores, lower category fluency test (animals/minute) and delayed recall memory scores were associated with PG. This group was also more cognitively impaired, with lower performance than NPG individuals in the Mini-Mental State Examination, category fluency test (animals/minute), clock drawing and in delayed recall (p < 0.001 for all tests). UPDRSm scores were the most contributing factor to cognition that independently explained variability in functionality of the entire sample. CONCLUSION: Individuals aged 75 + years with parkinsonism were significantly more clinically and functionally impaired in this population-based sample. Cognitive dysfunction explained most of the loss of functionality in these patients. UPDRS-m scores contributed independently to explain variability in functionality in the whole sample.

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BACKGROUND: Cognitive and functional decline are common problems in older adults, especially in those 75+ years old. Currently, there is no specific plasma biomarker able to predict this decline in healthy old-age people. Machine learning (ML) is a subarea of artificial intelligence (AI), which can be used to predict outcomes Aim: This study aimed to evaluate routine laboratory variables able to predict cognitive and functional impairment, using ML algorithms, in a cohort aged 75+ years, in a one-year follow-up study. METHOD: One hundred and thirty-two older adults aged 75+ years were selected through a community-health public program or from long-term-care institutions. Their functional and cognitive performances were evaluated at baseline and one year later using a functional activities questionnaire, Mini-Mental State Examination, and the Brief Cognitive Screening Battery. Routine laboratory tests were performed at baseline. ML algorithms-random forest, support vector machine (SVM), and XGBoost-were applied in order to describe the best model able to predict cognitive and functional decline using routine tests as features. RESULTS: The random forest model showed better accuracy than other algorithms and included triglycerides, glucose, hematocrit, red cell distribution width (RDW), albumin, hemoglobin, globulin, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), creatinine, lymphocyte, erythrocyte, platelet/leucocyte (PLR), and neutrophil/leucocyte (NLR) ratios, and alanine transaminase (ALT), leukocyte, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), cortisol, gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), and eosinophil as features to predict cognitive decline (accuracy = 0.79). For functional decline, the most important features were platelet, PLR and NLR, hemoglobin, globulin, cortisol, RDW, glucose, basophil, B12 vitamin, creatinine, GGT, ALT, aspartate transferase (AST), eosinophil, hematocrit, erythrocyte, triglycerides, HDL-c, and monocyte (accuracy = 0.92). CONCLUSIONS: Routine laboratory variables could be applied to predict cognitive and functional decline in oldest-old populations using ML algorithms.

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Objectives: Bipolar disorder type 1 (BD1) and behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) share similar behavioral and cognitive symptoms, rendering the differential diagnosis between them a clinical challenge. We investigated the accuracy of social cognition (SC) measures to differentiate bvFTD from BD. Methods: We included three groups of participants: early-onset BD1 (in remission, n=20), bvFTD (n=18), and cognitively healthy controls (HC) (n=40), matched for age, schooling, and sex. All participants underwent cognitive assessment, including the Facial Emotion Recognition (FER) and Modified Faux-Pas (mFP) tests, which assess mentalizing. Results: Compared to HC, BD1 and bvFTD patients underperformed on both SC measures. BD1 and bvFTD did not differ regarding FER or mFP total scores, although patients with bvFTD had significantly higher difficulties than those in the BD1 group to detect social faux-pas (p < 0.001, d = 1.35). Conclusion: BD1 and bvFTD share deficits in the core SC functions. These findings should be considered in the development of tasks aiming to improve clinical differentiation between the two disorders.

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BACKGROUND: Healthy brain aging can be defined as aging without neurological or psychiatric disorders, sustaining functional independence. In addition to the absence of disease and preserved functionality, there are individuals who stand out for their superior performance to that considered normal for their age in cognitive tests. These individuals are called "high-performance older adults" (HPOA). OBJECTIVES: To investigate the presence of HPOA in an oldest-old population with low education, and if present, to investigate associations with sociodemographic, clinical, and lifestyle variables. METHODS: We evaluated 132 cognitively healthy individuals from the Pietà Study, a population-based investigation with 639 participants. We used the delayed recall from the Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test to verify the existence of HPOA and to classify participants based on their performance. Sociodemographic, clinical, and lifestyle variables associated with HPOA were investigated. RESULTS: We identified 18 individuals fulfilling HPOA criteria (age: 77.4 ± 2.6 years old; 14 women; education: 4.6 ± 3.4 years). The other participants, 114 total (age: 79.8 ± 4.5 years old; 69 women; education: 3.0 ± 2.7 years) were classified as "standard performance older adults" (SPOA). In multivariate analysis, younger age (odds ratio [OR] = 0.672; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.462-0.979; p = 0.037) and lower scores on the Geriatric Depression Scale (OR = 0.831; 95%CI: 0.688-0.989; p = 0.038) were associated with HPOA. CONCLUSIONS: The present study identifies for the first time HPOA with low educational level, thereby reinforcing the existence of biological substrates related to this condition. Furthermore, the data suggest an association between younger age and less depressive symptoms with HPOA.

ANTECEDENTES: Envelhecimento cerebral saudável pode ser definido como envelhecimento sem transtornos neurológicos ou psiquiátricos e com independência funcional. Além da ausência de doença e funcionalidade preservada, existem indivíduos que se destacam pelo desempenho superior ao normal em testes cognitivos. Estes indivíduos são chamados de "high performance older adults" (HPOA, na sigla em inglês). OBJETIVOS: Investigar a presença de HPOA em uma população de idosos com baixa escolaridade e, se presente, investigar associações com variáveis sociodemográficas, clínicas e de estilo de vida. MéTODOS: Avaliamos 132 indivíduos cognitivamente saudáveis do Estudo Pietà (n = 639). Foi utilizado o Teste de Aprendizagem Auditivo-Verbal de Rey para verificar a existência de HPOA e classificar os participantes em dois grupos com base em seu desempenho. Variáveis sociodemográficas, clínicas e de estilo de vida associadas a HPOA foram investigadas. RESULTADOS: Identificamos 18 indivíduos que preencheram critérios para HPOA (idade: 77,4 ± 2,6 anos; 14 mulheres; escolaridade: 4,6 ± 3,4 anos). Os demais, 114 no total (idade: 79,8 ± 4,5 anos; 69 mulheres; escolaridade: 3,0 ± 2,7 anos), foram classificados como "standard performance older adults" (SPOA, na sigla em inglês). Na análise multivariada, menor idade (odds ratio [OR] = 0,672; intervalo de confiança [IC] 95%: 0,462­0,979; p = 0,037) e menor pontuação na Escala de Depressão Geriátrica (OR = 0,831; IC95%: 0,688­0,989; p = 0,038) foram associados ao grupo HPOA. CONCLUSõES: O presente estudo identifica pela primeira vez HPOA entre indivíduos de baixa escolaridade, reforçando a existência de substratos biológicos relacionados a esta condição. Além disso, os dados sugerem uma associação entre idade mais jovem e menos sintomas depressivos com HPOA.

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OBJECTIVES: Bipolar disorder type 1 (BD1) and behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) share similar behavioral and cognitive symptoms, rendering the differential diagnosis between them a clinical challenge. We investigated the accuracy of social cognition (SC) measures to differentiate bvFTD from BD. METHODS: We included three groups of participants: early-onset BD1 (in remission, n=20), bvFTD (n=18), and cognitively healthy controls (HC) (n=40), matched for age, schooling, and sex. All participants underwent cognitive assessment, including the Facial Emotion Recognition (FER) and Modified Faux-Pas (mFP) tests, which assess mentalizing. RESULTS: Compared to HC, BD1 and bvFTD patients underperformed on both SC measures. BD1 and bvFTD did not differ regarding FER or mFP total scores, although patients with bvFTD had significantly higher difficulties than those in the BD1 group to detect social faux-pas (p < 0.001, d = 1.35). CONCLUSION: BD1 and bvFTD share deficits in the core SC functions. These findings should be considered in the development of tasks aiming to improve clinical differentiation between the two disorders.

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Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the interference of the continuous use of drug classes in the expression of biomarkers during the first week of hospitalization and in the prognosis of patients with COVID-19. Methods: The patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and confirmed with SARS-CoV-2 by RT-qPCR assay underwent the collection of fasting whole blood samples for further analysis. Other data also extracted for this study included age, sex, clinical symptoms, related comorbidities, smoking status, and classes of continuous use. Routine serum biochemical parameters, including alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein, N-terminal fragment of B-type natriuretic peptide, and cardiac troponin, were measured. Results: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 176 patients with COVID-19 hospitalizations were included. Among them, 155 patients were discharged (88.5%), and 21 patients died (12%). Among the drug classes evaluated, we verified that the continuous use of diuretic 4.800 (1.853-11.67) (p = 0.0007) and antihypercholesterolemic 3.188 (1.215-7.997) (p = 0.0171) drug classes presented a significant relative risk of death as an outcome when compared to the group of patients who were discharged. We evaluated biomarkers in patients who used continuous antihypercholesterolemic and diuretic drug classes in the first week of hospitalization. We observed significant positive correlations between the levels of CRP with cardiac troponin (r = 0.714), IL-6 (r = 0.600), and IL-10 (r = 0.900) in patients who used continuous anticholesterolemic and diuretic drug classes and were deceased. In these patients, we also evaluated the possible correlations between the biomarkers AST, NT-ProBNP, cardiac troponin, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10. We observed a significantly negative correlations in AST levels with NT-ProBNP (r = -0.500), cardiac troponin (r = -1.00), IL-6 (r = -1.00), and IL-10 (r = -1.00) and a positive correlation with IL-8 (r = 0.500). We also observed significant negative correlation in the levels of NT-ProBNP with IL-10 (r = -0.800) and a positive correlation with cardiac troponin (r = 0.800). IL-6 levels exhibited positive correlations with cardiac troponin (r = 0.800) and IL-10 (r = 0.700). Conclusion: In this study, we observed that hospitalized COVID-19 patients who continued using anticholesterolemic and diuretic medications showed a higher number of correlations between biomarkers, indicating a poorer clinical prognosis. These correlations suggest an imbalanced immune response to injuries caused by SARS-CoV-2.

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Abstract Background Healthy brain aging can be defined as aging without neurological or psychiatric disorders, sustaining functional independence. In addition to the absence of disease and preserved functionality, there are individuals who stand out for their superior performance to that considered normal for their age in cognitive tests. These individuals are called "high-performance older adults" (HPOA). Objectives To investigate the presence of HPOA in an oldest-old population with low education, and if present, to investigate associations with sociodemographic, clinical, and lifestyle variables. Methods We evaluated 132 cognitively healthy individuals from the Pietà Study, a population-based investigation with 639 participants. We used the delayed recall from the Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test to verify the existence of HPOA and to classify participants based on their performance. Sociodemographic, clinical, and lifestyle variables associated with HPOA were investigated. Results We identified 18 individuals fulfilling HPOA criteria (age: 77.4 ± 2.6 years old; 14 women; education: 4.6 ± 3.4 years). The other participants, 114 total (age: 79.8 ± 4.5 years old; 69 women; education: 3.0 ± 2.7 years) were classified as "standard performance older adults" (SPOA). In multivariate analysis, younger age (odds ratio [OR] =0.672; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.462-0.979; p = 0.037) and lower scores on the Geriatric Depression Scale (OR = 0.831; 95%CI: 0.688-0.989; p = 0.038) were associated with HPOA. Conclusions The present study identifies for the first time HPOA with low educational level, thereby reinforcing the existence of biological substrates related to this condition. Furthermore, the data suggest an association between younger age and less depressive symptoms with HPOA.

Resumo Antecedentes Envelhecimento cerebral saudável pode ser definido como envelhecimento sem transtornos neurológicos ou psiquiátricos e com independência funcional. Além da ausência de doença e funcionalidade preservada, existem indivíduos que se destacam pelo desempenho superior ao normal em testes cognitivos. Estes indivíduos são chamados de "high performance older adults" (HPOA, na sigla em inglês). Objetivos Investigar a presença de HPOA em uma população de idosos com baixa escolaridade e, se presente, investigar associações com variáveis sociodemográficas, clínicas e de estilo de vida. Métodos Avaliamos 132 indivíduos cognitivamente saudáveis do Estudo Pietà (n = 639). Foi utilizado o Teste de Aprendizagem Auditivo-Verbal de Rey para verificar a existência de HPOA e classificar os participantes em dois grupos com base em seu desempenho. Variáveis sociodemográficas, clínicas e de estilo de vida associadas a HPOA foram investigadas. Resultados Identificamos 18 indivíduos que preencheram critérios para HPOA (idade: 77,4 ± 2,6 anos; 14 mulheres; escolaridade: 4,6 ± 3,4 anos). Os demais, 114 no total (idade: 79,8 ± 4,5 anos; 69 mulheres; escolaridade: 3,0 ± 2,7 anos), foram classificados como "standard performance older adults" (SPOA, na sigla em inglês). Na análise multivariada, menor idade (odds ratio [OR] =0,672; intervalo de confiança [IC] 95%: 0,462-0,979; p = 0,037) e menor pontuação na Escala de Depressão Geriátrica (OR = 0,831; IC95%: 0,688-0,989; p = 0,038) foram associados ao grupo HPOA. Conclusões O presente estudo identifica pela primeira vez HPOA entre indivíduos de baixa escolaridade, reforçando a existência de substratos biológicos relacionados a esta condição. Além disso, os dados sugerem uma associação entre idade mais jovem e menos sintomas depressivos com HPOA.

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BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is frequently associated with COVID-19, and the need for kidney replacement therapy (KRT) is considered an indicator of disease severity. This study aimed to develop a prognostic score for predicting the need for KRT in hospitalised COVID-19 patients, and to assess the incidence of AKI and KRT requirement. METHODS: This study is part of a multicentre cohort, the Brazilian COVID-19 Registry. A total of 5212 adult COVID-19 patients were included between March/2020 and September/2020. Variable selection was performed using generalised additive models (GAM), and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was used for score derivation. Accuracy was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC). RESULTS: The median age of the model-derivation cohort was 59 (IQR 47-70) years, 54.5% were men, 34.3% required ICU admission, 20.9% evolved with AKI, 9.3% required KRT, and 15.1% died during hospitalisation. The temporal validation cohort had similar age, sex, ICU admission, AKI, required KRT distribution and in-hospital mortality. The geographic validation cohort had similar age and sex; however, this cohort had higher rates of ICU admission, AKI, need for KRT and in-hospital mortality. Four predictors of the need for KRT were identified using GAM: need for mechanical ventilation, male sex, higher creatinine at hospital presentation and diabetes. The MMCD score had excellent discrimination in derivation (AUROC 0.929, 95% CI 0.918-0.939) and validation (temporal AUROC 0.927, 95% CI 0.911-0.941; geographic AUROC 0.819, 95% CI 0.792-0.845) cohorts and good overall performance (Brier score: 0.057, 0.056 and 0.122, respectively). The score is implemented in a freely available online risk calculator ( https://www.mmcdscore.com/ ). CONCLUSIONS: The use of the MMCD score to predict the need for KRT may assist healthcare workers in identifying hospitalised COVID-19 patients who may require more intensive monitoring, and can be useful for resource allocation.

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The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented pressure over health care systems worldwide. Hospital-level data that may influence the prognosis in COVID-19 patients still needs to be better investigated. Therefore, this study analyzed regional socioeconomic, hospital, and intensive care units (ICU) characteristics associated with in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients admitted to Brazilian institutions. This multicenter retrospective cohort study is part of the Brazilian COVID-19 Registry. We enrolled patients ≥ 18 years old with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 admitted to the participating hospitals from March to September 2020. Patients' data were obtained through hospital records. Hospitals' data were collected through forms filled in loco and through open national databases. Generalized linear mixed models with logit link function were used for pooling mortality and to assess the association between hospital characteristics and mortality estimates. We built two models, one tested general hospital characteristics while the other tested ICU characteristics. All analyses were adjusted for the proportion of high-risk patients at admission. Thirty-one hospitals were included. The mean number of beds was 320.4 ± 186.6. These hospitals had eligible 6556 COVID-19 admissions during the study period. Estimated in-hospital mortality ranged from 9.0 to 48.0%. The first model included all 31 hospitals and showed that a private source of funding (ß = - 0.37; 95% CI - 0.71 to - 0.04; p = 0.029) and location in areas with a high gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (ß = - 0.40; 95% CI - 0.72 to - 0.08; p = 0.014) were independently associated with a lower mortality. The second model included 23 hospitals and showed that hospitals with an ICU work shift composed of more than 50% of intensivists (ß = - 0.59; 95% CI - 0.98 to - 0.20; p = 0.003) had lower mortality while hospitals with a higher proportion of less experienced medical professionals had higher mortality (ß = 0.40; 95% CI 0.11-0.68; p = 0.006). The impact of those association increased according to the proportion of high-risk patients at admission. In-hospital mortality varied significantly among Brazilian hospitals. Private-funded hospitals and those located in municipalities with a high GDP had a lower mortality. When analyzing ICU-specific characteristics, hospitals with more experienced ICU teams had a reduced mortality.

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BACKGROUND: Patients with severe COVID-19 seem to evolve with a compromised antiviral response and hyperinflammation. Neutrophils are critical players in COVID-19. IL-17A plays a major role in protection against extracellular pathogens and neutrophil attraction/activation. We hypothesized that secukinumab, an anti-IL17A monoclonal antibody, could prevent the deleterious hyperinflammation in COVID-19. METHODS: BISHOP was a randomized, open-label, single-centre, phase-II controlled trial. Fifty adult patients hospitalized with PCR-positive Covid-19, were randomized 1:1 to receive 300 mg of secukinumab subcutaneously at day-0 plus standard of care (group A) or standard of care alone (group B). A second dose of 300 mg of secukinumab could be administered on day-7, according to staff judgement. The primary endpoint was ventilator-free days at day-28 (VFD-28). Secondary efficacy and safety outcomes were also explored. RESULTS: An intention-to-treat analysis showed no difference in VFD-28: 23.7 (95%CI 19.6-27.8) in group A vs. 23.8 (19.9-27.6) in group B, p = .62; There was also no difference in hospitalization time, intensive care unit demand and the incidence of circulatory shock, acute kidney injury, fungal or bacterial co-infections. There was no difference in the incidence of severe adverse events. Pulmonary thromboembolism occurred only in males and was less frequent in secukinumab-treated patients (4.2% vs. 26.2% p = .04). There was one death in each group. Upper airway viral clearance was also similar in both groups. CONCLUSION: The efficacy of secukinumab in the treatment of Covid19 was not demonstrated. Secukinumab decreased pulmonary embolism in male patients. There was no difference between groups in adverse events and no unexpected events were observed.

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BACKGROUND: It is not clear whether previous thyroid diseases influence the course and outcomes of COVID-19. METHODS: The study is a part of a multicentric cohort of patients with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis from 37 hospitals. Matching for age, sex, number of comorbidities, and hospital was performed for the paired analysis. RESULTS: Of 7,762 patients with COVID-19, 526 had previously diagnosed hypothyroidism and 526 were matched controls. The median age was 70 years, and 68.3% were females. The prevalence of comorbidities was similar, except for coronary and chronic kidney diseases that were higher in the hypothyroidism group (p=0.015 and p=0.001). D-dimer levels were lower in patients with hypothyroid (p=0.037). In-hospital management was similar, but hospital length-of-stay (p=0.029) and mechanical ventilation requirement (p=0.006) were lower for patients with hypothyroidism. There was a trend of lower in-hospital mortality in patients with hypothyroidism (22.1% vs 27.0%; p=0.062). CONCLUSION: Patients with hypothyroidism had a lower requirement of mechanical ventilation and showed a trend of lower in-hospital mortality. Therefore, hypothyroidism does not seem to be associated with a worse prognosis.

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Introdução: Lesões significativas no tronco de coronária esquerda são encontradas em aproximadamente 5% dos pacientes submetidos à coronariografia, sendo a maioria dos casos multiarteriais e com envolvimento do tronco distal. A cirurgia de revascularização do miocárdio é considerada o tratamento preferencial para lesões de tronco de coronária esquerda não protegido. No entanto, com o avanço de técnicas e a introdução dos novos stents liberadores de fármacos, a intervenção coronariana percutânea tem sido considerada estratégia viável, apresentando resultados favoráveis. O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar os desfechos em pacientes com lesões de tronco de coronária esquerda não protegido submetidos à intervenção coronariana percutânea. Métodos: Foram analisados dados eletrônicos de pacientes submetidos à intervenção coronariana percutânea entre dezembro de 2017 e janeiro de 2020 em um único centro, com o objetivo de avaliar características clínicas, angiográficas e os desfechos clínicos. Resultados: Foram incluídos 103 pacientes portadores de lesões significativas de tronco não protegido, 66% eram do sexo masculino, 88,3% eram hipertensos, e 87,4% possuíam função ventricular normal. Lesões envolvendo a bifurcação foram identificadas em 73,8% dos pacientes, 36,9% apresentavam lesões concomitantes nos três grandes vasos epicárdicos e 42,7% com escore SYNTAX intermediário (23 a 32 pontos). O sucesso angiográfico foi obtido em 100% dos casos, com quatro (3,9%) eventos cardíacos e cerebrovasculares adversos, sendo 2,9% de mortalidade. Conclusão: Os resultados hospitalares sustentam a intervenção coronariana percutânea como um procedimento seguro, de excelente resultado angiográfico e eventos cardíacos e cerebrovasculares adversos comparáveis aos da cirurgia de revascularização do miocárdio, configurando opção bastante viável em relação ao tratamento cirúrgico.

Background: Significant lesions in the left main coronary artery are found in approximately 5% of patients undergoing coronary angiography, with most cases involving multiple vessels and affecting the distal bifurcation. A coronary artery bypass graft surgery is considered the preferred treatment for unprotected left main coronary artery lesions. However, with the advancement of techniques and the introduction of new drug-eluting stents, percutaneous coronary intervention has been considered a viable strategy, with favorable results. The objective of this study was to analyze the outcomes in patients with unprotected left main coronary artery lesions undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. Methods: Electronic data from patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention between December 2017 and January 2020 at a single center were analyzed to assess clinical and angiographic characteristics and clinical outcomes. Results: A total of 103 patients with significant unprotected left main coronary artery lesions were included; in that, 66% were male, 88.3% were hypertensive, and 87.4% had normal ventricular function. Lesions involving the bifurcation were identified in 73.8% of patients, 36.9% had concomitant lesions in the three major epicardial vessels, and 42.7% had an intermediate SYNTAX score (23 to 32 points). Angiographic success was achieved in 100% of cases, with four (3.9%) adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events, with 2.9% mortality. Conclusion: Hospital results support percutaneous coronary intervention as a safe procedure, with excellent angiographic results and low rates of adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events. We concluded that percutaneous coronary intervention is an option to coronary artery bypass graft surgery and is a very viable option for surgical treatment of unprotected left main coronary artery lesions.

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INTRODUCTION: Alzheimer's disease (AD) and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) are frequent causes of dementia and, therefore, instruments for differential diagnosis between these two conditions are of great relevance. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the diagnostic accuracy of Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R) for differentiating AD from bvFTD in a Brazilian sample. METHODS: The ACE-R was administered to 102 patients who had been diagnosed with mild dementia due to probable AD, 37 with mild bvFTD and 161 cognitively healthy controls, matched according to age and education. Additionally, all subjects were assessed using the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. The performance of patients and controls was compared by using univariate analysis, and ROC curves were calculated to investigate the accuracy of ACE-R for differentiating AD from bvFTD and for differentiating AD and bvFTD from controls. The verbal fluency plus language to orientation plus name and address delayed recall memory (VLOM) ratio was also calculated. RESULTS: The optimum cutoff scores for ACE-R were <80 for AD, <79 for bvFTD, and <80 for dementia (AD + bvFTD), with area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) (AUC) >0.85. For the differential diagnosis between AD and bvFTD, a VLOM ratio of 3.05 showed an AUC of 0.816 (Cohen's d = 1.151; p < .001), with 86.5% sensitivity, 71.4% specificity, 72.7% positive predictive value, and 85.7% negative predictive value. CONCLUSIONS: The Brazilian ACE-R achieved a good diagnostic accuracy for differentiating AD from bvFTD patients and for differentiating AD and bvFTD from the controls in the present sample.

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Chagas disease (CD) continues to be a major public health burden in Latina America. Information on the interplay between COVID-19 and CD is lacking. Our aim was to assess clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes of patients with CD and COVID-19, and to compare it to non-CD patients. Consecutive patients with confirmed COVID-19 were included from March to September 2020. Genetic matching for sex, age, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and hospital was performed in a 4:1 ratio. Of the 7018 patients who had confirmed COVID-19, 31 patients with CD and 124 matched controls were included (median age 72 (64-80) years-old, 44.5% were male). At baseline, heart failure (25.8% vs. 9.7%) and atrial fibrillation (29.0% vs. 5.6%) were more frequent in CD patients than in the controls (p < 0.05). C-reactive protein levels were lower in CD patients compared with the controls (55.5 [35.7, 85.0] vs. 94.3 [50.7, 167.5] mg/dL). In-hospital management, outcomes and complications were similar between the groups. In this large Brazilian COVID-19 Registry, CD patients had a higher prevalence of atrial fibrillation and chronic heart failure compared with non-CD controls, with no differences in-hospital outcomes. The lower C-reactive protein levels in CD patients require further investigation.

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Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder accompanied by behavioral and personality changes and/or language deterioration. Its behavioral variant (bvFTD) is the main clinical presentation. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the treatment alternatives for bvFTD available so far. METHODS: We conducted a narrative review of bvFTD treatment options. We used PubMed and Lilacs databases with the terms "frontotemporal dementia" or "behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia" combined with "treatment," "pharmacological treatment," or "disease-modifying drugs." RESULTS: The articles retrieved and selected in the research pointed out that there is no specific treatment approved for bvFTD so far. The current proposals are limited to handle the cardinal behavioral symptoms of the disorder. Disease-modifying drugs are under development and may be promising, especially in the monogenic presentations of FTD. CONCLUSIONS: There are numerous approaches to treat the core symptoms of bvFTD, most of them based on low-quality research. To date, there are no drugs with a disease-specific therapeutic recommendation for bvFTD. Treatments are often investigated guided by primary psychiatric disorders with similar symptoms and should be chosen by the predominant symptom profile.

A demência frontotemporal (DFT) é um transtorno neurodegenerativo progressivo acompanhado de deterioração do comportamento e da personalidade e/ou da linguagem. A variante comportamental (DFTvc) é a principal apresentação clínica. OBJETIVOS: Investigar as alternativas de tratamento disponíveis para a DFTvc até o momento. MÉTODOS: Realizou-se uma revisão narrativa das opções de tratamento da DFTvc. Os bancos de dados PubMed e Lilacs foram utilizados com os termos "demência frontotemporal" ou "variante comportamental da demência frontotemporal" combinados com "tratamento", "tratamento farmacológico" ou "drogas modificadoras de doença". RESULTADOS: Os artigos recuperados e selecionados na pesquisa indicaram que não há nenhum tratamento específico aprovado até o momento para DFTvc. As propostas atuais são limitadas ao tratamento dos sintomas comportamentais cardinais do transtorno. As drogas modificadoras de doença estão em desenvolvimento e podem ser promissoras, especialmente nas apresentações monogênicas da DFT. CONCLUSÕES: Há inúmeras abordagens para tratar os principais sintomas DFTvc, a maioria delas baseada em pesquisas de baixa qualidade. Até o momento, não existem medicamentos com uma recomendação terapêutica específica para a DFTvc. Os tratamentos são frequentemente investigados guiados por distúrbios psiquiátricos primários com sintomas semelhantes e devem ser escolhidos pelo perfil de sintomas predominante.