The contrast sensitivity function (CSF) has shown promise as a functional vision endpoint for monitoring the changes in functional vision that accompany eye disease or its treatment. However, detecting CSF changes with precision and efficiency at both the individual and group levels is very challenging. By exploiting the Bayesian foundation of the quick CSF method (Lesmes, Lu, Baek, & Albright,...

Objectives: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) involves axonal injury and accumulation of pathological protein aggregates including amyloid-b (Ab) and hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau). Biomarker analysis of tau and Ab concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may be an objective marker of cognitive status after TBI. The goal of the current study was to analyze tau and Ab 40–42 in a cohort of militar...

A standardized molecular test for the detection of Chlamydophila pneumoniae DNA in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) would assist the further assessment of the association of C. pneumoniae with multiple sclerosis (MS). We developed and validated a qualitative colorimetric microtiter plate-based PCR assay (PCR-EIA) and a real-time quantitative PCR assay (TaqMan) for detection of C. pneumoniae DNA in CSF...

OBJECTIVES To assess the incremental value of MRI and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis after a short memory test for predicting progression to Alzheimer's disease from a pragmatic clinical perspective. DESIGN Diagnostic accuracy study in a multicentre prospective cohort study. SETTING Alzheimer Disease Neuroimaging Initiative participants with complete data on neuropsychological assessmen...

Background : Meningitis is more common during the neonatal period than other periods of life and has a prevalence of one in 1000 live births. The similarity of its clinical manifestations with other infectious diseases makes it difficult to diagnose. The aim of the current study was to determine the relationship between age, sex, clinical signs and symptoms and laboratory test results of ne...

BACKGROUND Repeated nontreponemal serologic test for syphilis titers is recommended to evaluate treatment response. However, it is unknown whether serum rapid plasma reagin (RPR) titer can serve as a surrogate for determining the efficacy of treatment in general paresis (GP) remains unknown. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed data from 105 GP patients, who were divided into two groups (62 CS...

Neurosyphilis can occur at any stage of syphilis infection, even in patients who have received timely and proper treatment (1, 2). The choice of which syphilitic patients should undergo examination of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to diagnose neurosyphilis is difficult. The use of selective lumbar puncture criteria, based on serum titres of non-treponemal tests, have been considered (3–8). We h...

BACKGROUND Central nervous system infection is a daily concern in neurointensive care; however, diagnosis remains difficult because classical criteria based on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis are difficult to interpret in post-trauma or neurosurgery patients after recent bleeding. A rapid, specific, sensitive test to diagnose CSF infection would help streamline therapeutic decisions in clini...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the immune responses elicited by pJME with or without various forms of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) gene. METHODS The changes of the T lymphocyte subsets and the levels of Th cell intracellular cytokines IFN-gamma and IL-4 were evaluated by flow cytometric analysis. The cytotoxic T lymphocyte kill activity was assessed by lactate dehydroge...