Background: and Purpose We aimed to determine the proportion of Korean patients with early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) who are eligible to receive lecanemab based on the United States Appropriate Use Recommendations (US AUR), and also identify the barriers to this treatment. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 6,132 patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment or mild amnestic dementia at 13 hospitals from June 2023 to May 2024. Among them, 2,058 patients underwent amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) and 1,199 (58.3%) of these patients were amyloid-positive on PET. We excluded 732 patients who did not undergo brain magnetic resonance imaging between June 2023 and May 2024. Finally, 467 patients were included in the present study. Results: When applying the criteria of the US AUR, approximately 50% of patients with early AD were eligible to receive lecanemab treatment. Among the 467 included patients, 36.8% did not meet the inclusion criterion of a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of ≥22. Conclusions Eligibility for lecanemab treatment was not restricted to Korean patients with early AD except for those with an MMSE score of ≥22. The MMSE criteria should therefore be reconsidered in areas with a higher proportion of older people, who tend to have lower levels of education.

Background: and Purpose We aimed to determine the proportion of Korean patients with early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) who are eligible to receive lecanemab based on the United States Appropriate Use Recommendations (US AUR), and also identify the barriers to this treatment. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 6,132 patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment or mild amnestic dementia at 13 hospitals from June 2023 to May 2024. Among them, 2,058 patients underwent amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) and 1,199 (58.3%) of these patients were amyloid-positive on PET. We excluded 732 patients who did not undergo brain magnetic resonance imaging between June 2023 and May 2024. Finally, 467 patients were included in the present study. Results: When applying the criteria of the US AUR, approximately 50% of patients with early AD were eligible to receive lecanemab treatment. Among the 467 included patients, 36.8% did not meet the inclusion criterion of a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of ≥22. Conclusions Eligibility for lecanemab treatment was not restricted to Korean patients with early AD except for those with an MMSE score of ≥22. The MMSE criteria should therefore be reconsidered in areas with a higher proportion of older people, who tend to have lower levels of education.

Background: and Purpose We aimed to determine the proportion of Korean patients with early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) who are eligible to receive lecanemab based on the United States Appropriate Use Recommendations (US AUR), and also identify the barriers to this treatment. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 6,132 patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment or mild amnestic dementia at 13 hospitals from June 2023 to May 2024. Among them, 2,058 patients underwent amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) and 1,199 (58.3%) of these patients were amyloid-positive on PET. We excluded 732 patients who did not undergo brain magnetic resonance imaging between June 2023 and May 2024. Finally, 467 patients were included in the present study. Results: When applying the criteria of the US AUR, approximately 50% of patients with early AD were eligible to receive lecanemab treatment. Among the 467 included patients, 36.8% did not meet the inclusion criterion of a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of ≥22. Conclusions Eligibility for lecanemab treatment was not restricted to Korean patients with early AD except for those with an MMSE score of ≥22. The MMSE criteria should therefore be reconsidered in areas with a higher proportion of older people, who tend to have lower levels of education.

Primary cilia function as critical sensory organelles that mediate multiple signaling pathways, including the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway, which is essential for organ patterning and morphogenesis. Disruptions in Hh signaling have been implicated in supernumerary tooth formation and molar fusion in mutant mice. Cilk1, a highly conserved serine/threonine-protein kinase localized within primary cilia, plays a critical role in ciliary transport. Loss of Cilk1 results in severe ciliopathy phenotypes, including polydactyly, edema, and cleft palate. However, the role of Cilk1 in tooth development remains unexplored. In this study, we investigated the role of Cilk1 in tooth development. Cilk1 was found to be expressed in both the epithelial and mesenchymal compartments of developing molars. Cilk1 deficiency resulted in altered ciliary dynamics, characterized by reduced frequency and increased length, accompanied by downregulation of Hh target genes, such as Ptch1 and Sostdc1, leading to the formation of diastemal supernumerary teeth. Furthermore, in Cilk1^-/-;PCS1-MRCS1^△/△ mice, which exhibit a compounded suppression of Hh signaling, we uncovered a novel phenomenon: diastemal supernumerary teeth can be larger than first molars. Based on these findings, we propose a progressive model linking Hh signaling levels to sequential changes in tooth patterning: initially inducing diastemal supernumerary teeth, then enlarging them, and ultimately leading to molar fusion. This study reveals a previously unrecognized role of Cilk1 in controlling tooth morphology via Hh signaling and highlights how Hh signaling levels shape tooth patterning in a gradient-dependent manner.
Animals ; Hedgehog Proteins/physiology* ; Mice ; Signal Transduction/physiology* ; Tooth, Supernumerary ; Molar ; Cilia/physiology* ; Odontogenesis/physiology* ; Patched-1 Receptor ; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases/physiology* ; Mice, Knockout ; Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing

Purpose: We assessed the proportion of patients with a focal intrahepatic stricture (FIHS) that was a precursor lesion or malignancy and visualized only as a duct dilatation. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study assessed patients who underwent surgery or biopsy for an FIHS on CT or MRI between January 2010 and March 2022. The number and proportion of non-precursor benign lesions, precursors, and malignancies were calculated.Clinical variables and imaging features were compared between non-premalignant benign and premalignant/malignant FIHSs. Results: Twenty-eight patients with confirmed histopathological diagnoses were identified, including 15 men (54.0%) and 13 women (46.0%). The median age of all patients at the first imaging diagnosis was 65 ± 9.54 (range, 43–78) years. Of the 28 patients with FIHSs, 9 (32%) were diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma and 7 (25%) were diagnosed with precursor lesions, which included six intraductal papillary neoplasms of the bile duct and one biliary intraepithelial neoplasm. Accordingly, 16 (57%) patients had malignant or precursor lesions, and 12 (43%) were diagnosed with non-precursor benign lesions. None of the clinical variables and imaging features used for analysis showed a statistically significant difference between the non-premalignant benign and premalignant/malignant FIHS groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion FIHSs visualized only as duct dilatation can harbor malignant or precursor lesions.

Purpose: We assessed the proportion of patients with a focal intrahepatic stricture (FIHS) that was a precursor lesion or malignancy and visualized only as a duct dilatation. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study assessed patients who underwent surgery or biopsy for an FIHS on CT or MRI between January 2010 and March 2022. The number and proportion of non-precursor benign lesions, precursors, and malignancies were calculated.Clinical variables and imaging features were compared between non-premalignant benign and premalignant/malignant FIHSs. Results: Twenty-eight patients with confirmed histopathological diagnoses were identified, including 15 men (54.0%) and 13 women (46.0%). The median age of all patients at the first imaging diagnosis was 65 ± 9.54 (range, 43–78) years. Of the 28 patients with FIHSs, 9 (32%) were diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma and 7 (25%) were diagnosed with precursor lesions, which included six intraductal papillary neoplasms of the bile duct and one biliary intraepithelial neoplasm. Accordingly, 16 (57%) patients had malignant or precursor lesions, and 12 (43%) were diagnosed with non-precursor benign lesions. None of the clinical variables and imaging features used for analysis showed a statistically significant difference between the non-premalignant benign and premalignant/malignant FIHS groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion FIHSs visualized only as duct dilatation can harbor malignant or precursor lesions.

Purpose: We assessed the proportion of patients with a focal intrahepatic stricture (FIHS) that was a precursor lesion or malignancy and visualized only as a duct dilatation. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study assessed patients who underwent surgery or biopsy for an FIHS on CT or MRI between January 2010 and March 2022. The number and proportion of non-precursor benign lesions, precursors, and malignancies were calculated.Clinical variables and imaging features were compared between non-premalignant benign and premalignant/malignant FIHSs. Results: Twenty-eight patients with confirmed histopathological diagnoses were identified, including 15 men (54.0%) and 13 women (46.0%). The median age of all patients at the first imaging diagnosis was 65 ± 9.54 (range, 43–78) years. Of the 28 patients with FIHSs, 9 (32%) were diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma and 7 (25%) were diagnosed with precursor lesions, which included six intraductal papillary neoplasms of the bile duct and one biliary intraepithelial neoplasm. Accordingly, 16 (57%) patients had malignant or precursor lesions, and 12 (43%) were diagnosed with non-precursor benign lesions. None of the clinical variables and imaging features used for analysis showed a statistically significant difference between the non-premalignant benign and premalignant/malignant FIHS groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion FIHSs visualized only as duct dilatation can harbor malignant or precursor lesions.

Background: Although many studies have been conducted on the association between the intercondylar notch size and the risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, few studies have examined its relationship with the condition after surgical treatment.Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the surgical outcomes of anatomical single-bundle ACL reconstruction according to intercondylar notch volumes. Methods: Medical records of patients who underwent anatomical single-bundle ACL reconstruction using a tibialis anterior allograft between 2015 and 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. For each sex, eligible patients were classified into two groups based on their percentile of intercondylar notch volumes, which were measured using postoperative three-dimensional computed tomography images (group S, ≤ 50th percentile of included patients; group L, > 50th percentile of included patients). Additional grouping was performed based on the group’s percentiles of normalized values of intercondylar notch volumes to body heights.Between-group comparative analyses were performed on the perioperative data and surgical outcomes in both objective and subjective aspects. Results: One hundred patients were included in the study. For male patients, there were no differences in the overall surgical outcomes between groups, whereas group L showed a significantly greater knee anteroposterior (AP) laxity than group S at the final follow-up (p = 0.042 for the side-to-side differences [SSD] at the maximum manual force). Similarly, there were no differences in the female patients in the overall surgical results between the groups, whereas group L showed a significantly greater knee AP laxity at the final follow-up (p = 0.020 for the SSD at 134 N; p = 0.011 for the SSD at the maximum manual force). Additional analyses based on the normalized values of the intercondylar notch volume showed consistent results for male patients, and additional grouping for female patients was identical to the existing grouping. Conclusions The surgical outcomes of anatomical single-bundle ACL reconstruction in patients with relatively small intercondylar notch volumes were comparable to those with large notch volumes, but rather showed favorable outcomes in postoperative knee AP laxity.

Background: and Purpose: To ensure data privacy, the development of defacing processes, which anonymize brain images by obscuring facial features, is crucial. However, the impact of these defacing methods on brain imaging analysis poses significant concern. This study aimed to evaluate the reliability of three different defacing methods in automated brain volumetry. Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging with three-dimensional T1 sequences was performed on ten patients diagnosed with subjective cognitive decline. Defacing was executed using mri_deface, BioImage Suite Web-based defacing, and Defacer. Brain volumes were measured employing the QBraVo program and FreeSurfer, assessing intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and the mean differences in brain volume measurements between the original and defaced images. Results: The mean age of the patients was 71.10±6.17 years, with 4 (40.0%) being male. The total intracranial volume, total brain volume, and ventricle volume exhibited high ICCs across the three defacing methods and 2 volumetry analyses. All regional brain volumes showed high ICCs with all three defacing methods. Despite variations among some brain regions, no significant mean differences in regional brain volume were observed between the original and defaced images across all regions. Conclusions The three defacing algorithms evaluated did not significantly affect the results of image analysis for the entire brain or specific cerebral regions. These findings suggest that these algorithms can serve as robust methods for defacing in neuroimaging analysis, thereby supporting data anonymization without compromising the integrity of brain volume measurements.