Association of Anemia With Epilepsy and Antiepileptic Drugs

Enriched phenotypes in rare variant carriers suggest pathogenic mechanisms in rare disease patients

BACKGROUND

The mechanistic pathways that give rise to the extreme symptoms exhibited by rare disease patients are complex, heterogeneous, and difficult to discern. Understanding these mechanisms is critical for developing treatments that address the underlying causes of diseases rather than merely the presenting symptoms. Moreover, the same dysfunctional series of interrelated symptoms implicated in rare recessive diseases may also lead to milder and potentially preventable symptoms in carriers in the general population. Seizures are a common and extreme phenotype that can result from diverse and often elusive pathways in patients with ultrarare or undiagnosed disorders.

METHODS

In this pilot study, we present an approach to understand the underlying pathways leading to seizures in patients from the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) by analyzing aggregated genotype and phenotype data from the UK Biobank (UKB). Specifically, we look for enriched phenotypes across UKB participants who harbor rare variants in the same gene known or suspected to be causally implicated in a UDN patient's recessively manifesting disorder. Analyzing these milder but related associated phenotypes in UKB participants can provide insight into the disease-causing mechanisms at play in rare disease UDN patients.

RESULTS

We present six vignettes of undiagnosed patients experiencing seizures as part of their recessive genetic condition. For each patient, we analyze a gene of interest: MPO, P2RX7, SQSTM1, COL27A1, PIGQ, or CACNA2D2, and find relevant symptoms associated with UKB participants. We discuss the potential mechanisms by which the digestive, skeletal, circulatory, and immune system abnormalities found in the UKB patients may contribute to the severe presentations exhibited by UDN patients. We find that in our set of rare disease patients, seizures may result from diverse, multi-step pathways that involve multiple body systems.

CONCLUSIONS

Analyses of large-scale population cohorts such as the UKB can be a critical tool to further our understanding of rare diseases in general. Continued research in this area could lead to more precise diagnostics and personalized treatment strategies for patients with rare and undiagnosed conditions.

Association of hemoglobin drift and outcomes in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage

The relationship between in-hospital hemoglobin (Hb) drift and outcomes in patients undergoing surgical clipping for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is not well studied. This study aims to investigate the association between Hb drift and mortality in this patient population. We conducted a cohort study encompassing adult patients diagnosed with aSAH who were admitted to a university hospital. These patients were stratified into distinct groups based on their Hb drift levels. We employed logistic and Cox proportional hazard models to assess the relationship between Hb drift and outcomes. Additionally, propensity score matching (PSM) was utilized to ensure comparability between patient groups. The discriminative performance of different models was evaluated using C-statistics, integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), and net reclassification improvement (NRI). Overall, our cohort comprised 671 patients, of whom 165 (24.6%) demonstrated an in-hospital Hb drift exceeding 25%. The analyses revealed elevated Hb drift was independently associated with higher likelihood of follow-up mortality (aOR: 3.29, 95% CI: 1.65 to 6.56; P = 0.001) and in-hospital mortality (aOR: 3.44, 95% CI: 1.55 to 7.63; P = 0.002). PSM analysis yielded similar results. Additionally, patients with Hb drift exhibited a notable decrease in survival rate compared to those without Hb drift (aHR: 3.99, 95% CI 2.30 to 6.70; P < 0.001). Furthermore, the inclusion of Hb drift significantly improved the C-statistic (P = 0.037), IDI (2.78%; P = 0.004) and NRI metrics (41.86%; P < 0.001) for mortality prediction. In summary, our results highlight that an in-hospital Hb drift exceeding 25% serves as an independent predictor of mortality in patients who have undergone surgical clipping for aSAH.

Phenotypic overlap between rare disease patients and variant carriers in a large population cohort informs biological mechanisms

The biological mechanisms giving rise to the extreme symptoms exhibited by rare disease patients are complex, heterogenous, and difficult to discern. Understanding these mechanisms is critical for developing treatments that address the underlying causes of diseases rather than merely the presenting symptoms. Moreover, the same dysfunctional biological mechanisms implicated in rare recessive diseases may also lead to milder and potentially preventable symptoms in carriers in the general population. Seizures are a common, extreme phenotype that can result from diverse and often elusive biological pathways in patients with ultrarare or undiagnosed disorders. In this pilot study, we present an approach to understand the biological pathways leading to seizures in patients from the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) by analyzing aggregated genotype and phenotype data from the UK Biobank (UKB). Specifically, we look for enriched phenotypes across UKB participants who harbor rare variants in the same gene known or suspected to be causally implicated in a UDN patient's recessively manifesting disorder. Analyzing these milder but related associated phenotypes in UKB participants can provide insight into the disease-causing molecular mechanisms at play in the rare disease UDN patient. We present six vignettes of undiagnosed patients experiencing seizures as part of their recessive genetic condition, and we discuss the potential mechanisms underlying the spectrum of symptoms associated with UKB participants to the severe presentations exhibited by UDN patients. We find that in our set of rare disease patients, seizures may result from diverse, multi-step pathways that involve multiple body systems. Analyses of large-scale population cohorts such as the UKB can be a critical tool to further our understanding of rare diseases in general.

Delayed Diagnosis of Duodenal Metastasis From Primary Lung Adenocarcinoma: A Case Report

The incidence of lung cancer metastasizing to the duodenum is rare, and its clinical presentation is still not fully understood due to its low frequency. It can be asymptomatic or present symptomatically in various ways. Here, we present the case of a 63-year-old female with an unusual case of duodenal metastasis from pulmonary adenocarcinoma, presenting with a new-onset seizure complicated by a fracture from a post-ictal fall. The diagnosis of anemia secondary to duodenal metastasis from lung cancer was delayed due to this sequence of events. The patient was ultimately found to have a circumferential mass in the third portion of the duodenum on esophagogastroduodenoscopy, which was found to be consistent with metastatic pulmonary adenocarcinoma on pathological examination.

Effectiveness of Home Care Interventions in Patients with Moderate to Severe Craniocerebral Injury Combined with Epilepsy

Objective

To investigate the effect of a home care model on coping style and quality of life of patients with postcranial surgery complicated by epilepsy.

Methods

One hundred and forty-four patients with postcranial surgery complicated by epilepsy admitted to our hospital from July 2017 to April 2018 were selected as study subjects and randomly divided into 63 cases each in the observation group and the control group. The control group was given nursing interventions including health education, psychological intervention, medication guidance, complication prevention, and follow-up management, while the observation group was jointly given collaborative family nursing interventions. At a follow-up of 6 months, indicators such as coping style, treatment compliance, and quality of life were compared between the two groups.

Results

Patients in the observation group had significantly higher problem solving, help seeking, and rationalization scores and significantly lower self-blame scores than the control group (P < 0.01); significantly higher treatment compliance than the control group (P < 0.01); and significantly higher social functioning, emotional well-being, and energy/fatigue scores than the control group (P < 0.01).

Conclusion

The home care model helps to promote the development of positive coping styles, improve treatment compliance, and improve the quality of life of patients after cranial surgery.