Objective: This study aims to investigate the clinical relevance of occipital hypoperfusion in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) with respect to clinical phenotype and the risk of dementia conversion. Methods: We enrolled 349 patients with newly diagnosed PD and 48 healthy controls who underwent dual-phase 18F-N-(3-fluoropropyl)-2β-carboxymethoxy-3β-(4-iodophenyl) nortropane (18F-FP-CIT) positron emission tomography (PET). Patients with PD were classified into three groups based on posterior cortical perfusion patterns on early-phase 18F-FP-CIT PET images: PD with preserved posterior cortical perfusion (n=186), PD with parieto-temporal hypoperfusion (n=84), and PD with parieto-temporo-occipital hypoperfusion (n=79). Baseline clinical features and dementia conversion risk were compared across PD groups. Results: Patients with preserved posterior cortical perfusion were younger than those in the other PD groups. Compared with the other groups, the parieto-temporo-occipital hypoperfusion group tended to have lower Cross-Cultural Smell Identification Test scores, a higher prevalence of rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, higher Unified PD Rating Scale motor scores, and more severe reductions in striatal dopamine transporter availability. The risk of dementia conversion was lower in patients with preserved posterior cortical perfusion than in those with posterior cortical hypoperfusion. However, the risk of dementia conversion did not differ between the parieto-temporal and parieto-temporo-occipital hypoperfusion groups. Conclusion Additional occipital hypoperfusion was not associated with an imminent risk of dementia conversion in patients with PD with posterior cortical hypoperfusion. Nonetheless, occipital involvement may serve as an indicator of the diffuse malignant subtype of PD.

Purpose: To describe the incidence and mortality of upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) from 2002–2020 using data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service, which contains data from the entire Korean population. Materials and Methods: Reimbursement records for 43,255 patients diagnosed with primary UTUC (according to the International Classification of Disease 10th revision code C65 and C66) between 2002–2020 were retrieved. The study period was split into four: period I (2002–2005), period II (2006–2010), period III (2011–2015), and period IV (2016–2020). Trends were quantified by calculating the annual percentage change (APC). Mortality data were obtained from the Statistics Korea. Results: From 2002–2020, the incidence of UTUC in Korea increased gradually from 9.34 to 11.40 per 100,000 person-years. Although there was a male predominance, the male to female ratio did not change significantly over time; however, age at the time of diagnosis, the comorbidity index, and the proportion of patients undergoing open/laparoscopic surgery increased significantly over time. There was a modest improvement in 5-year survival (both all cause- and cancer-specific) over the study period. Multivariate analysis identified age at diagnosis, sex, the comorbidity index, and open/laparoscopic surgery as being associated with survival. Conclusions Between 2002 and 2020, the incidence of UTUC in Korea showed a general upward trend; however, survival outcomes have improved. These representative datasets from the Korean population might provide crucial information that enables clinicians to better understand of the epidemiology of UTUC in Korea.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate and optimize microbial DNA extraction methods from urine, a non-invasive sample source, to enhance DNA quality, purity, and reliability for urinary microbiome research and biomarker discovery in bladder cancer. Materials and Methods: A total of 302 individuals (258 with genitourinary cancers and 44 with benign urologic diseases) participated in this study. Urine samples were collected via sterile catheterization, resulting in 445 vials for microbial analysis. DNA extraction was performed using three protocols: the standard protocol (SP), water dilution protocol (WDP), and chelation-assisted protocol (CAP). DNA quality (concentration, purity, and contamination levels) was assessed using NanoDrop spectrophotometry.Microbial analysis was conducted on 138 samples (108 cancerous and 30 benign) using 16S rRNA sequencing. Prior to sequencing on the Illumina MiSeq platform, Victor 3 fluorometry was used for validation. Results: WDP outperformed other methods, achieving significantly higher 260/280 and 260/230 ratios, indicating superior DNA purity and reduced contamination, while maintaining reliable DNA yields. CAP was excluded due to poor performance across all metrics. Microbial abundance was significantly higher in WDP-extracted samples (p<0.0001), whereas SP demonstrated higher alpha diversity indices (p<0.01), likely due to improved detection of low-abundance taxa. Beta diversity analysis showed no significant compositional differences between SP and WDP (p=1.0), supporting the reliability of WDP for microbiome research. Conclusions WDP is a highly effective and reliable method for microbial DNA extraction from urine, ensuring high-quality and reproducible results. Future research should address sample variability and crystal precipitation to further refine microbiome-based diagnostics and therapeutics.