Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) leads to reduced health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Objective: To investigate the prevalence and course of anxiety and depression and their association with HRQoL, disease severity and survival in PH. Methods: 131 PH patients (91 pulmonary arterial, 30 chronic thromboembolic, 10 due to lung disease; 84 female, 47 male) had repeated assessments with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), HRQoL, six-minute walk distance and WHO functional class during a mean course of 16 ± 12 months. Results: Among the 49 incident and 82 prevalent PH patients, the HADS score was positive in 53%/21% (depression), 51%/24% (anxiety) and 63%/26% (total score) (all p < 0.05). The HADS score was improved at the second assessment in incident patients. The HADS score correlated with HRQoL at all consecutive assessments and with functional class until the third assessment, but not with baseline hemodynamics, age or gender. Conclusion: Mood disorders remain underdiagnosed in PH. The higher prevalence of anxiety/depression in incident versus prevalent patients and the improvement over time may indicate an amelioration of mood disorders after PH diagnosis and treatment.

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and brush cytology are standard methods for the diagnosis of pancreatobiliary malignancies. Although the majority of cytological diagnoses are straightforward, there remains a difficult category of inconclusive cytology. This study explored the utility of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to improve the diagnostic stratification between reactive and malignant cells in cases of inconclusive cytology. METHODS:The multiprobe FISH assay UroVysion was used for copy number assessment of chromosomes 3, 7, 17, and the 9p21 locus on Papanicolaou-stained specimens with a diagnosis of inconclusive cytology (n 5 50), adenocarcinoma (n 5 31) and no evidence of malignancy (n 5 9). The target cells were photographed and their coordinates saved on an automated stage prior to hybridization. A positive test was defined as increased copy number (> 2) of at least 2 chromosomes (3, 7, or 17) in at least 4 atypical cells, or loss of 9p21 in at least 12 cells. RESULTS: FISH confirmed all 31 cytological diagnoses of pancreatobiliary adenocarcinomas, and was negative in the 9 patients with negative cytology. Among the 50 cases with inconclusive cytology, FISH detected 19 of 31 cases with a final diagnosis of adenocarcinoma, and was negative in all 19 cases with no final evidence of malignancy (sensitivity of 61.3%, specificity of 100%, positive predictive value of 100%, negative predictive value of 61.3%). Loss of 9p21 was found in 43 (86%) of all 50 FISH-positive cases. CONCLUSIONS: Multiprobe FISH combined with automated relocation of atypical cells is a powerful technique to clarify inconclusive cytology of the pancreatobiliary tract, allowing for a better distinction between reactive atypia and malignancy. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2014;122:627-34.

Background: Patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) may suffer from cognitive deficits that potentially relate to reduced oxygen delivery and cerebral tissue oxygenation (CTO). Objective: To evaluate the hypothesis that cognitive function improves with therapy, along with improved CTO. Methods: Twenty incident patients with arterial or chronic thromboembolic PH had CTO monitoring by near-infrared spectroscopy during diagnostic right heart catheterization. Cognitive tests [Trail Making Tests (TMTs), Victoria Stroop tests and the Five-Point Test (5PT)], the 6-min walk distance (6MWD) test, New York Heart Association (NYHA) class and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) were assessed and repeated after 3 months of disease-targeted medication. Results: At baseline, 45% of PH patients had cognitive deficits. At 3 months, the patients had improved on the TMT A and the Stroop 2 test [37 s (27; 55) versus 30 s (24; 42), p < 0.05, and 18 s (16; 22) versus 16 s (15; 20), p < 0.01], whereas CTO remained unchanged. Arterial oxygen saturation, NYHA class, 6MWD and HRQoL had also improved. Baseline CTO was the strongest predictor of cognitive function, even in multivariate analysis including age, 6MWD and HRQoL. Improvements in cognitive function were not associated with changes in CTO. Conclusions: In patients with PH, 3 months of disease-targeted medication resulted in better cognitive function. Although CTO was the strongest predictor of cognitive function at baseline, it did not change during target therapy. The results of this pilot study should be confirmed in an adequately powered controlled trial.

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