It remains unclear whether selective amygdalohippocampectomy, an operative technique developed for use in epilepsy surgery to spare unaffected brain tissue and thus minimize the cognitive consequences of temporal lobe surgery, actually leads to a better memory outcome. The present study was performed to investigate the effects of selective surgery on memory outcome in patients with intractable mesial temporal lobe epilepsy due to hippocampal sclerosis treated by transsylvian selective amygdalohippocampectomy (TSA). The results of the present study indicated that left TSA for hippocampal sclerosis tends to improve verbal memory function with preservation of other memory function. Right TSA for hippocampal sclerosis can lead to signifi cant improvement in verbal and nonverbal memory function, with the memory improvement observed one month after right TSA persisting until one year after surgery.

Objective: The objective of this study was to validate the Japanese version of the STOP-Bang test for risk assessment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS).Methods: We retrospectively evaluated inpatients who underwent nocturnal pulse oximetry for OSAS screening at the internal medical wards.Results: One hundred and forty-four subjects were included the study, and 57 subjects who had a 3% oxygen desaturation index ≥10/hr underwent polysomnography. Seventeen and 29 subjects were diagnosed with moderate and severe OSAS, respectively. According to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, the STOP-Bang test had a higher diagnostic value using a cutoff of 30 kg/m2 for BMI than using a cutoff of 35 kg/m2. A STOP-Bang score of 3 or greater had a sensitivity of 95.7% and specificity of 42.9% for detecting moderate-to-severe OSAS.Conclusion: The STOP-Bang test is a simple and useful tool for the risk assessment of OSAS.

OBJECTIVE: To test the effects of heart rate, body mass index (BMI) and noise level on interscan and interobserver variability of coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring on a prospective electrocardiogram (ECG)-triggered 64-slice CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS:One hundred and ten patients (76 patients with CAC) were scanned twice on prospective ECG-triggered scans. The scan parameters included 120 kV, 82 mAs, a 2.5 mm thickness, and an acquisition center at 45% of the RR interval. The interscan and interobserver variability on the CAC scores (Agatston, volume, and mass) was calculated. The factors affecting the variability were determined by plotting it against heart rate, BMI, and noise level (defined as the standard deviation: SD). RESULTS: The estimated effective dose was 1.5 +/- 0.2 mSv. The mean heart rate was 63 +/- 12 bpm (range, 44-101 bpm). The patient BMIs were 24.5 +/- 4.5 kg/m2 (range, 15.5-42.3 kg/m2). The mean and median interscan variabilities were 11% and 6%, respectively by volume, and 11% and 6%, respectively, by mass. Moreover, the mean and median of the algorithms were lower than the Agatston algorithm (16% and 9%, respectively). The mean and median interobserver variability was 10% and 4%, respectively (average of algorithms). The mean noise levels were 15 +/- 4 Hounsfield unit (HU) (range, 8-25 HU). The interscan and interobserver variability was not correlated with heart rate, BMI, or noise level. CONCLUSION: The interscan and interobserver variability of CAC on a prospective ECG-triggered 64-slice CT with high image quality and 45% of RR acquisition is not significantly affected by heart rate, BMI, or noise level. The volume or mass algorithms show reduced interscan variability compared to the Agatston scoring (p < 0.05).
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; *Body Mass Index ; Calcium/*analysis ; Coronary Angiography/*methods ; Coronary Vessels/*chemistry ; *Electrocardiography ; Female ; *Heart Rate ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Observer Variation ; Prospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/*methods