Background Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (AC) is tightly associated with desmosomal mutations in the majority of patients. Arrhythmogenesis in AC patients is likely related to remodeling of cardiac gap junctions and increased levels of fibrosis. Recently, using experimental models, we also identified sodium channel dysfunction secondary to desmosomal dysfunction. The aim of the present study was to assess the immunoreactive signal levels of the sodium channel protein NaV1.5, as well as Connexin43 and Plakoglobin, in myocardial specimens obtained from AC patients. Methods Left and right ventricular free wall (LVFW/RVFW) post-mortem material was obtained from 5 AC patients and 5 age and sex-matched controls. RV septal biopsies (RVSB) were taken from another 15 AC patients. All patients fulfilled the 2010 revised Task Force Criteria for AC diagnosis. Immunohistochemical analyses were performed using antibodies against Connexin43 (Cx43), Plakoglobin, NaV1.5, Plakophilin-2 and N-Cadherin. Results N-Cadherin and Desmoplakin immunoreactive signals and distribution were normal in AC patients compared to control. Plakophilin-2 signals were unaffected unless a PKP2 mutation predicting haploinsufficiency was present. Distribution was unchanged compared to control. Immunoreactive signal levels of PKG, Cx43 and NaV1.5 were disturbed in 74%, 70% and 65% of the patients, respectively. Conclusions Reduced immunoreactive signal of PKG, Cx43 and NaV1.5 at the intercalated disks can be observed in a large majority of the patients. Decreased levels of Nav1.5 might contribute to arrhythmia vulnerability and, in the future, potentially could serve as a new clinically relevant tool for risk assessment strategies.

Pressure-induced RVF is associated with electrophysiologic remodeling of the atrophic LV.

Purpose To assess the standardized implementation and reporting of surveillance [F]fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) scan of the neck in locoregionally advanced head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (LAHNSCC) after concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). Patients and Methods We performed a prospective multicenter study of FDG-PET/CT scanning 12 weeks after CCRT in newly diagnosed patients with LAHNSCC (stage IVa/b) that used standardized reconstruction and Hopkins reporting criteria. The reference standard was histology or > 12 months of clinical follow-up. The primary outcome measure was the negative predictive value (NPV) of FDG-PET/CT scans and other supporting diagnostic test characteristics, including time dependency with increasing follow-up time. Results Of 152 patients, 125 had adequate primary tumor control after CCRT and entered follow-up (median, 20.4 months). Twenty-three (18.4%) had residual neck disease. Overall, NPV was 92.1% (95% CI, 86.9% to 95.3%; null hypothesis: NPV = 85%; P = .012) with sensitivity of 65.2% (95% CI, 44.9% to 81.2%), specificity of 91.2% (95% CI, 84.1% to 95.3%), positive predictive value of 62.5% (95% CI, 45.5% to 76.9%), and accuracy of 86.4% (95% CI, 79.3% to 91.3%). Sensitivity was time dependent and high for residual disease manifesting up to 9 months after imaging but lower (59.7%) for disease detected up to 12 months after imaging. Standardized reporting criteria reduced the number of equivocal reports (95% CI for the difference, 2.6% to 15.0%; P = .003). Test characteristics were not improved with the addition of lymph node CT morphology criteria. Conclusion FDG-PET/CT surveillance using Hopkins criteria 12 weeks after CCRT is reliable in LAHNSCC except for late manifesting residual disease, which may require an additional surveillance scan at 1 year after CCRT to be detected.

The (18) F-FDG-PET-CT parameters are lower in HPV-positive than in HPV-negative patients. Low pretreatment SUV values in HPV-positive oropharyngeal SCC may be at least partly explained by HPV-induced tumor changes.

Sensory neurons and immune cells share a common microenvironmental niche for surveying tissue integrity. The immune and nervous systems both sense deviations in homeostasis and initiate protective responses and, upon malfunction, also jointly contribute to disease. Barrier tissues are heavily innervated by nociceptors, the sensory neurons that detect noxious stimuli, leading to pain and itch. The same tissues are also home to diverse immune cells that respond to infections and injury. The physical proximity of nociceptors and immune cells allows for direct local interactions between the two, independent of the CNS. We discuss in this study their ligand–receptor–based interactions and propose the need to shift from studying individual neuroimmune interactions to exploring the reciprocal neuroimmune interaction network in its entirety: the “neuroimmune interactome.” Identification of the nature of the interactome in health and its plasticity in disease will unravel the functional consequences of interactions between nociceptors and immune cells.