Corrigendum to "The ePark study protocol: A decentralized trial of individual video-assisted cognitive behavioural therapy for depressive disorder in Parkinson's disease" [Contemp. Clinic. Trials Commun. 32 (2023) 101080]

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.conctc.2023.101080.].

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety in Parkinson's Disease Induces Functional Brain Changes

BACKGROUND

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) reduces anxiety symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to identify changes in functional connectivity in the brain after CBT for anxiety in patients with PD.

METHODS

Thirty-five patients with PD and clinically significant anxiety were randomized over two groups: CBT plus clinical monitoring (10 CBT sessions) or clinical monitoring only (CMO). Changes in severity of anxiety symptoms were assessed with the Parkinson Anxiety Scale (PAS). Resting-state functional brain MRI was performed at baseline and after the intervention. Functional networks were extracted by an Independent Component Analysis (ICA). Functional connectivity (FC) changes between structures involved in the PD-related anxiety circuits, such as the fear circuit (involving limbic, frontal, and cingulate structures) and the cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical limbic circuit, and both within and between functional networks were compared between groups and regressed with anxiety symptoms changes.

RESULTS

Compared to CMO, CBT reduced the FC between the right thalamus and the bilateral orbitofrontal cortices and increased the striato-frontal FC. CBT also increased the fronto-parietal FC within the central executive network (CEN) and between the CEN and the salience network. After CBT, improvement of PAS-score was associated with an increased striato-cingulate and parieto-temporal FC, and a decreased FC within the default-mode network and between the dorsal attentional network and the language network.

CONCLUSION

CBT in PD-patients improves anxiety symptoms and is associated with functional changes reversing the imbalance between PD-related anxiety circuits and reinforcing cognitive control on emotional processing.

Anxiety in Parkinson's Disease Is Associated with Changes in Brain Structural Connectivity

BACKGROUND

Anxiety in Parkinson's disease (PD) has been associated with grey matter changes and functional changes in anxiety-related neuronal circuits. So far, no study has analyzed white matter (WM) changes in patients with PD and anxiety.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to identify WM changes by comparing PD patients with and without anxiety, using diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI).

METHODS

108 non-demented PD patients with (n = 31) and without (n = 77) anxiety as defined by their score on the Parkinson Anxiety Scale participated. DTI was used to determine the fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) in specific tracts within anxiety-related neuronal circuits. Mean FA and MD were compared between groups and correlated with the severity of anxiety adjusted by sex, center, Hoehn & Yahr stage, levodopa equivalent daily dosage, and Hamilton depression rating scale.

RESULTS

Compared to patients without anxiety, PD patients with anxiety showed lower FA within the striato-orbitofrontal, striato-cingulate, cingulate-limbic, and caudate-thalamic tracts; higher FA within the striato-limbic and accumbens-thalamic tracts; higher MD within the striato-thalamic tract and lower MD within the striato-limbic tract.

CONCLUSIONS

Anxiety in PD is associated with microstructural alterations in anxiety-related neuronal circuits within the WM. This result reinforces the view that PD-related anxiety is linked to structural alteration within the anxiety-related brain circuits.

Brainstem Pathologies Correlate With Depression and Psychosis in Parkinson's Disease

BACKGROUND

The pathological hallmarks of Parkinson's disease include intraneuronal Lewy bodies, neuronal loss, and gliosis. We aim to correlate Parkinson's disease neuropsychiatric symptoms, (e.g., depression, psychosis, and anxiety) with the severity of neuropathology in the substantia nigra and locus coeruleus.

METHODS

The brains of 175 participants with a primary pathologic diagnosis of Parkinson's disease were analyzed semi-quantitatively to ascertain the burden of neuronal loss and gliosis and Lewy body pathology within the locus coeruleus and substantia nigra. Participants' history of anxiety, depression, and psychosis were determined using a chart-extracted medical history or record of formal psychiatric evaluation.

RESULTS

Of the sample, 56% (n = 98), 50% (n = 88), and 31.25% (n = 55) of subjects had a diagnosis of psychosis, depression, and anxiety, respectively. Psychosis (χ² = 7.1, p = 0.008, df = 1) and depression (χ² = 7.2, p = 0.007, df = 1) were associated with severe neuronal loss and gliosis in the substantia nigra but not in the locus coeruleus. No association was observed between anxiety and neuronal loss and gliosis in either region. No neuropsychiatric symptoms were associated with Lewy body score. After controlling for disease duration and dementia, psychosis (odds ratio [OR]: 3.1, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.5-6.4, χ² = 9.4, p = 0.012, df = 1) and depression (OR: 2.6, 95% CI: 1.3-5.0, χ² = 7.9, p = 0.005, df = 1) remained associated with severe neuronal loss and gliosis in the substantia nigra.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest that psychosis and depression in Parkinson's disease are associated with the underlying neurodegenerative process and demonstrate that cell loss and gliosis may be a better marker of neuropsychiatric symptoms than Lewy body pathology.

Neuroimaging of Anxiety in Parkinson's Disease: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

The aim of this systematic review was (1) to identify the brain regions involved in anxiety in Parkinson's disease (PD) based on neuroimaging studies and (2) to interpret the findings against the background of dysfunction of the fear circuit and limbic cortico-striato-thalamocortical circuit.

METHODS

Studies assessing anxiety symptoms in PD patients and studies using magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, or single-photon emission computed tomography were included.

RESULTS

The severity of anxiety was associated with changes in the fear circuit and the cortico-striato-thalamocortical limbic circuit. In the fear circuit, a reduced gray-matter volume of the amygdala and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC); an increased functional connectivity (FC) between the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and hippocampus and between the striatum and the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), temporal cortex, and insula; and a reduced FC between the lateral PFC and the OFC, hippocampus, and amygdala were reported. In the cortico-striato-thalamocortical limbic circuit, a reduced FC between the striatum and ACC; a reduced dopaminergic and noradrenergic activity in striatum, thalamus, and locus coeruleus; and a reduced serotoninergic activity in the thalamus were reported.

CONCLUSION

To conclude, anxiety is associated with structural and functional changes in both the hypothesized fear and the limbic cortico-striato-thalamocortical circuits. These circuits overlap and may well constitute parts of a more extensive pathway, of which different parts play different roles in anxiety. The neuropathology of PD may affect these circuits in different ways, explaining the high prevalence of anxiety in PD and also the associated cognitive, motor, and psychiatric symptoms. © 2020 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Parkinson's Disease Subtypes: Critical Appraisal and Recommendations

BACKGROUND

In Parkinson's disease (PD), there is heterogeneity in the clinical presentation and underlying biology. Research on PD subtypes aims to understand this heterogeneity with potential contribution for the knowledge of disease pathophysiology, natural history and therapeutic development. There have been many studies of PD subtypes but their impact remains unclear with limited application in research or clinical practice.

OBJECTIVE

To critically evaluate PD subtyping systems.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic review of PD subtypes, assessing the characteristics of the studies reporting a subtyping system for the first time. We completed a critical appraisal of their methodologic quality and clinical applicability using standardized checklists.

RESULTS

We included 38 studies. The majority were cross-sectional (n = 26, 68.4%), used a data-driven approach (n = 25, 65.8%), and non-clinical biomarkers were rarely used (n = 5, 13.1%). Motor characteristics were the domain most commonly reported to differentiate PD subtypes. Most of the studies did not achieve the top rating across items of a Methodologic Quality checklist. In a Clinical Applicability Checklist, the clinical importance of differences between subtypes, potential treatment implications and applicability to the general population were rated poorly, and subtype stability over time and prognostic value were largely unknown.

CONCLUSION

Subtyping studies undertaken to date have significant methodologic shortcomings and most have questionable clinical applicability and unknown biological relevance. The clinical and biological signature of PD may be unique to the individual, rendering PD resistant to meaningful cluster solutions. New approaches that acknowledge the individual-level heterogeneity and that are more aligned with personalized medicine are needed.

Effectiveness, Timing and Procedural Aspects of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy after Deep Brain Stimulation for Therapy-Resistant Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: A Systematic Review

Background and aim: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment for patients with severe therapy-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). After initiating DBS many patients still require medication and/or behavioral therapy to deal with persisting symptoms and habitual behaviors. The clinical practice of administering postoperative cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) varies widely, and there are no clinical guidelines for this add-on therapy. The aim of this review is to assess the efficacy, timing and procedural aspects of postoperative CBT in OCD patients treated with DBS. Method: Systematic review of literature. Results: The search yielded 5 original studies, one case series and three reviews. Only two clinical trials have explicitly focused on the effectiveness of CBT added to DBS in patients with therapy-resistant OCD. These two studies both showed effectiveness of CBT. However, they had a distinctly different design, very small sample sizes and different ways of administering the therapy. Therefore, no firm conclusions can be drawn or recommendations made for administering CBT after DBS for therapy-resistant OCD. Conclusion: The effectiveness, timing and procedural aspects of CBT added to DBS in therapy-resistant OCD have hardly been studied. Preliminary evidence indicates that CBT has an added effect in OCD patients being treated with DBS. Since the overall treatment effect is the combined result of DBS, medication and CBT, future trials should be designed in such a way that they allow quantification of the effects of these add-on therapies in OCD patients treated with DBS. Only in this way information can be gathered that contributes to the development of an algorithm and clinical guidelines for concomittant therapies to optimize treatment effects in OCD patients being treated with DBS.

[Successful treatment of depression in a Parkinson disease patient with bupropion]

A 70-year-old female patient with Parkinson's disease was admitted to hospital with a medication-resistant depression. Electroconvulsion therapy was considered indicated, but it was decided to try treatment with bupropion chloride first. This resulted in a quick and complete remission of depressive symptoms, without any negative effects on motor symptoms. Bupropion has a unique mechanism of action: inhibition of the presynaptic reuptake of dopamine in addition to noradrenergic activity. Furthermore, it lacks the negative adverse effects on the extrapiramidal symptoms, that may be a problem if other antidepressants are used in the treatment. Bupropion is useful as an antidepressant in specific patient groups, notably patients with Parkinson's disease.

The validity of the Beck Depression Inventory as a screening and diagnostic instrument for depression in patients with Parkinson's disease

PURPOSE

To evaluate the validity of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) as a screening and diagnostic scale for depression in Parkinson's disease (PD).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Fifty-three nondemented patients with PD were diagnosed according to a standardized protocol consisting of the depression module of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM axis I disorders (SCID) and the BDI. A "receiver operating characteristics" (ROC) curve was obtained and the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV, respectively) were calculated for different cut-off points of the BDI.

RESULTS

Maximum discrimination was obtained with a cut-off score of 13/14. High sensitivity and NPV were obtained with cut-off scores of 8/9 or lower; a high specificity and PPV were obtained with cut-off scores of 16/17 or higher. The area under the ROC curve was 85.67%.

CONCLUSION

A single cut-off score on the BDI to distinguish nondepressed from depressed patients with PD is not feasible. If one accepts the low specificity, then the BDI can be used as a valid screening instrument for depression in PD with a cut-off of 8/9. With a cut-off score of 16/17, it can be used as a diagnostic scale, at the cost of a low sensitivity. The use of diagnostic criteria for depression remains necessary.

The validity of the Hamilton and Montgomery-Asberg depression rating scales as screening and diagnostic tools for depression in Parkinson's disease

The concurrent validity of the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD-17) and the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) against the DSM-IV diagnosis 'depressive disorder' was assessed in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Sixty-three non-demented Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients who attended the outpatient department of an academic hospital were diagnosed according to a standardised research protocol. This protocol consisted of the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) to establish the presence or absence of 'depressive disorder' according to the DSM-IV criteria, as well as the HAMD-17 and the MADRS. Receiver Operating Characteristics curves (ROC curves) were obtained and the positive and negative predictive values (PPV, NPV) were calculated for different cut-off scores. Maximum discrimination between depressed and non-depressed patients was reached at a cut-off score of 13/14 for the HAMD-17, and at 14/15 for the MADRS. At lower cut-offs, like 11/12 for the HAMD-17 and 14/15 for the MADRS, the high sensitivity and NPV make these scales good screening instruments. At higher cut-offs, such as 16/17 for the HAMD-17 and 17/18 for the MADRS, the high specificity and PPV make these instruments good diagnostic instruments. The diagnostics performance of the HAMD-17 is slightly better than that of the MADRS. This study shows that it is justified to use the HAMD-17 and the MADRS to measure depressive symptoms in both non-depressed and depressed PD patients, to diagnose depressive disorder in PD, and to dichotomize patient samples into depressed and non-depressed groups.

Low-dose esmolol bolus reduces seizure duration during electroconvulsive therapy: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study

We have measured the effect of a bolus dose of esmolol 80 mg i.v. on heart rate, and systolic (SAP), diastolic (DAP) and mean (MAP) arterial pressures during electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). We also assessed seizure duration using both the cuff method and two-lead EEG. We studied 20 patients in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-patient blocked randomized study. No patient was receiving psychotherapeutic drugs or had cardiovascular disease. Esmolol significantly reduced heart rate, SAP and MAP before the stimulus, and also significantly reduced the increases in these variables during the convulsion, compared with placebo. However, seizure duration was also significantly reduced, possibly making ECT less effective. The reduction in seizure duration was 5.83 s when monitored clinically and 9.9 s when measured by the EEG. Because of the reduction in seizure duration, routine administration of esmolol is not advisable because it may interfere with the efficacy of ECT, but administration of esmolol during ECT could be useful to reduce tachycardia and hypertension in high-risk patients.

Neuropsychiatric and neuropsychological manifestations of central pontine myelinolysis

A patient with central pontine myelinolysis (CPM) underwent neurological and mental status examination, as well as neuropsychological testing, during the acute stage of the disease. After correction of the hyponatremia, a gross change in his neuropsychiatric status was observed. The patient underwent extensive neurological, psychiatric, and neuropsychological testing during the acute phase of the disease and at follow-up 4 months later. All major neurological and neuropsychiatric symptoms present at onset were fully reversible. Neuropsychological examination revealed deficits in the domains of attention and concentration, short-term memory and memory consolidation, visual motor and fine motor speeds, and learning ability. Although improved, neuropsychological testing still revealed remarkable deficits at follow-up. We conclude that neuropsychological deficits can accompany CPM, and that these deficits do not necessarily diminish simultaneously with the radiological or clinical neurological findings but may persist for a longer period of time, or even become permanent. In his recovery the patient started to manifest new neurological symptoms consisting of a mild resting tremor of both hands and slow choreoathetotic movements of the trunk and the head, which we considered to be late neurological sequelae of CPM. The significance of CPM in the differential diagnosis of acute behavioral changes after correction of hyponatremia is stressed, even if correction is achieved slowly and carefully.

Disturbances of affective prosody in patients with schizophrenia; a cross sectional study

The objective was to determine whether disturbances of affective prosody constitute part of the symptomatology of schizophrenia. Affective prosody is defined here as a neuropsychological function that encompasses all non-verbal aspects of language that are necessary for recognising and conveying emotions in communication. Twenty six schizophrenic outpatients and twenty four normal controls underwent a standardised prosody test, assessing four different aspects of affective prosody: spontaneous prosody, prosodic recognition, prosodic repetition, and facial affect recognition. Patients scored significantly worse than controls on three of the four subtests: spontaneous prosody, prosodic recognition, and prosodic repetition. There were no significant differences on a subtest for facial affect recognition. Differences in educational level between patients and controls could not account for these differences.

Facilitation of ECT by intravenous administration of theophylline

Seven patients with major depression who developed seizure inhibition during a course of ECT, were given intravenous theophylline to increase seizure duration. Infusion of 100-200 mg of theophylline, administered slowly over several minutes approximately 30 min before seizure induction, was found to effectively and safely prolong seizure durations. In a total of 55 treatment sessions, no cardiovascular or other complications were seen. On one occasion, seizure duration was prolonged to 220 s.

[Temporary results only in electroconvulsive therapy in therapy-resistant depression; retrospective study]

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the use and efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in refractory major depression according to DSM-III-R criteria, and to look for factors predicting response in the acute phase and the occurrence of relapse or recurrence after recovery.

DESIGN

Retrospective.

SETTING

University Hospital Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

METHODS

Of all patients who received ECT between January 1988 and July 1993 data were collected by study of clinical records and of information by treating physicians after discharge. Every patient was visited once, or received an outpatient department appointment, to obtain informed consent, take a follow-up history and evaluate social functioning by scoring Global Assessment of Functioning and Sickness Impact Profile rating scales.

RESULTS

35 patients received ECT. In clinical practice, the guidelines of the Netherlands Psychiatric Association were not violated; most patients had received adequate pharmacological pretreatment before the decision to start ECT was made. Two patients died in hospital (not from ECT). In the acute phase 25 of the 33 patients still alive upon discharge showed good recovery. Seven of these suffered relapse within six months. The number of patients with a return of depressive symptoms rose to 12 by the end of the first year of follow-up. Sociodemographic variables and treatment characteristics did not appear to influence the result of treatment in the acute phase, nor the occurrence of relapse or recurrence. With less intensive pre- and post-ECT drug treatment the chances of relapse were increased.

CONCLUSIONS

ECT is an effective treatment in the acute phase of a depression. Results after a longer period of follow-up are less satisfactory.

Persistent cognitive defects after corrected hypothyroidism

The authors present a case history in which cognitive defects caused by hypothyroidism persist after the patient has been rendered euthyroid. Concentration, recall and short-term memory appear to be most severely affected. The scarce literature on the subject is reviewed.