Introduction White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Whether WMHs are associated with the decline of functional neural networks in AD is debated. Method Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and WMH were assessed in 78 subjects with increased amyloid levels on AV-45 positron emission tomography (PET) in different clinical stages of AD. We tested the association between WMH volume in major atlas-based fiber tract regions of interest (ROIs) and changes in functional connectivity (FC) between the tracts’ projection areas within the default mode network (DMN). Results WMH volume within the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF) was the highest among all tract ROIs and associated with reduced FC in IFOF-connected DMN areas, independently of global AV-45 PET. Higher AV-45 PET contributed to reduced FC in IFOF-connected, temporal, and parietal DMN areas. Conclusions High fiber tract WMH burden is associated with reduced FC in connected areas, thus adding to the effects of amyloid pathology on neuronal network function.

An increase of FoxP3+ lymphocytes could be shown in peripheral blood of patients with MTC but not in patients with benign goiter; this increase also correlates with findings in lymph nodes and thyroid gland. The number of FoxP3+ cells correlated with the patients' prognosis. Therefore, FoxP3+ lymphocytes are a good diagnostic criterion for malignancy in patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma, and their presence at staging may influence therapeutic decisions.

Children with infantile nephropathic cystinosis (INC), an inherited lysosomal storage disease resulting in cystine accumulation in all body cells, are prone to progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD), impaired growth and reduced weight gain; however, systematic anthropometric analyses are lacking. In this prospective multicenter study we investigated linear growth, body proportion, body mass index (BMI), upper arm fat area (UFA) and biochemical parameters in 43 pediatric INC patients with CKD stages 1 to 5 and 49 age‐matched CKD controls, with 193 annual measurements. INC patients showed more impaired height than CKD controls (−1.8 vs −0.7 z‐score; P < .001), despite adequate cysteamine therapy, treatment for Fanconi syndrome and more frequent use of growth hormone. Only the youngest INC patients shared the same body pattern with CKD controls characterized by preferential impairment of leg length and rather preserved trunk length. In late‐prepuberty, body pattern changed only in INC patients due to improved leg growth and more impaired trunk length. Mean UFA z‐score in INC patients was slightly reduced in early childhood and progressively decreased thereafter reaching −0.8 z‐score in adolescence, while CKD controls showed a steady increase in standardized BMI and UFA especially during adolescent age. Menarche in female INC patients was significantly delayed compared to CKD controls. Our data indicate that with age and progression of disease, pediatric INC patients undergo unique changes of body growth and fat stores that are distinct from those with CKD stemming from other causes, suggesting other factors apart from CKD to contribute to this development. Pediatric patients with infantile nephropathic cystinosis display more severe impaired linear growth than other peer CKD patients, despite of cysteamine treatment, supplementation for Fanconi syndrome, and more frequent use of growth hormone, with a distinct change of body proportions and overall lower body fat.

Summary Aim: Tumor scintigraphy with 201-TICI is an established diagnostic method in the follow-up of differentiated thyroid cancer. We investigated the relationship between thyroglobulin (Tg) level and tumor detectability. Subject and methods: We analyzed the scans of 122 patients (66 patients with proven tumor). The patient population was divided into groups with Tg above (N = 33) and below (N = 33) 5 ng/ml under TSH suppression or above (N = 33) and below (N = 33) 50 ng/ml under TSH stimulation. Tumor detectability was compared by ROC-analysis (True-Positive-Fraction test, specificity 90%). Results: There was no significant difference (sensitivity 75% versus 64%; p = 0.55) for patients above and below 5 ng/ml under TSH suppression and a just significant difference (sensitivity 80% versus 58%; p = 0.04) for patients above and below 50 ng/ml under TSH stimulation. In 18 patients from our sample with tumor, Tg under TSH suppression was negative, but 201-TICI-scan was able to detect tumor in 12 patients. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate only a moderate dependence of tumor detectability on Tg level, probably without significant clinical relevance. Even in patients with slight Tg elevation 201-TICI scintigraphy is justified.