The acute urge to be physically active is a relevant clinical phenomenon in patients suffering from eating disorders. In this study with n = 20 female patients with anorexia nervosa and n = 10 female patients with bulimia nervosa, a virtual reality (VR) jogging paradigm was applied as a novel highly immersive 3D exposure paradigm. Patients were asked to rate their acute urge to be physically active during the exposure procedure. A 10-item self-report questionnaire (smQ) was developed to capture the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects of the acute urge to move. We hypothesized that exposure would lead to habituation of the urge to be physically active. We also hypothesized that leptin levels would be associated with the degree of the subjective urge to be physically active, while habituation would be associated with a decrease in stress hormones (α-amylase, cortisol, and cortisone in saliva). A statistically significant change in subjective scores in the smQ from baseline to postexposure was seen. Our novel VR paradigm may serve as a therapeutic tool for exposure and habituation of the urge of acutely engaging in physical activity in patients with eating disorders.
Objectives: Sialolithiasis is the most common cause of calcifications detected with ultrasound in patients with chronic inflammatory symptoms and swellings of the salivary glands. Other differential diagnoses of calcifications are extremely rare and mostly benign. Methods: Case report and literature review. Results: Two rare cases of malignant parotid gland tumors with calcifications in a localization typical for sialolithiasis, which were mistaken for salivary calculi based on image findings, are presented. Conclusions: This report intends to highlight the pitfalls in the imaging of parotid gland diseases. Even if malignant tumors of the parotid gland with calcifications are extremely rare, in ambiguous cases, differential diagnoses should be considered carefully. A high suspicion index of the need for further diagnostics in cases with calcifications is practical and could include missing periprandial symptoms, no obstruction signs in the proximal duct, and missing evidence of sialolithiasis in sialendoscopy.
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