According to their olfactory performance, PD patients were subdivided into three groups of high score (PD-H, n = 38), middle score (PD-M, n = 48), and low score (PD-L, n

= 33). We investigated the pattern of gray matter (GM) density according to olfactory performance using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and analyzed the correlation between GM density and olfactory performance.

Results: No significant differences in demographic characteristics were observed among the groups. A neuropsychological test showed that cognitive deficits in verbal memory function were more severe in the PD-L group than in the PD-H group. However, a VBM analysis revealed that patients in the PD-H group possessed significantly decreased GM density Ricolinostat Epigenetics inhibitor selleck products in the bilateral temporal areas, orbitofrontal areas, mesiofrontal areas extending into the cingulate gyrus, and prefrontal areas, compared with patients in the PD-L group. No areas exhibiting a significant

difference in GM density were observed between the PD-H and PD-M groups. Olfactory performance in patients with PD was negatively correlated with both the brain GM volume and intracerebral volume; in particular, GM density in the caudate nucleus and putamen exhibited a negative correlation with olfactory performance.

Conclusions: Our data show that a high olfactory performance may compensate GM volume loss in order to minimize the exhibition of cognitive impairment and thus may act as a cognitive reserve in non-demented patients with PD. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect and the leading cause of mortality in the first year of life. In fetuses with a heart defect, chromosomal abnormalities are very frequent. Besides aneuploidy, 22q11.2 deletion is one of the check details most recognizable chromosomal abnormalities causing CHD. The frequency of this abnormality

varies in nonselected populations. This study aimed to investigate the incidence of the 22q11.2 deletion and other chromosomal alterations in a Brazilian sample of fetuses with structural cardiac anomalies detected by fetal echocardiography. In a prospective study, 68 fetuses with a heart defect were evaluated. Prenatal detection of cardiac abnormalities led to identification of aneuploidy or structural chromosomal anomaly in 35.3% of these cases. None of the fetuses with apparently normal karyotypes had a 22q11.2 deletion. The heart defects most frequently associated with chromosomal abnormalities were atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD), ventricular septal defect (VSD), and tetralogy of Fallot. Autosomal trisomies 18 and 21 were the most common chromosomal abnormalities. The study results support the strong association of chromosome alterations and cardiac malformation, especially in AVSD and VSD, for which a chromosome investigation is indicated. In fetuses with an isolated conotruncal cardiopathy, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to investigate a 22q11.2 deletion is not indicated.