Revisiting subcortical brain volume correlates of autism in the ABIDE dataset: effects of age and sex

BACKGROUND

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by substantial clinical, etiological and neurobiological heterogeneity. Despite this heterogeneity, previous imaging studies have highlighted the role of specific cortical and subcortical structures in ASD and have forwarded the notion of an ASD specific neuroanatomy in which abnormalities in brain structures are present that can be used for diagnostic classification approaches.

METHOD

A large (N = 859, 6-27 years, IQ 70-130) multi-center structural magnetic resonance imaging dataset was examined to specifically test ASD diagnostic effects regarding (sub)cortical volumes.

RESULTS

Despite the large sample size, we found virtually no main effects of ASD diagnosis. Yet, several significant two- and three-way interaction effects of diagnosis by age by gender were found.

CONCLUSION

The neuroanatomy of ASD does not exist, but is highly age and gender dependent. Implications for approaches of stratification of ASD into more homogeneous subtypes are discussed.

Nasal retinal dragging in X-linked retinoschisis

X-linked retinoschisis is a disorder characterized by the presence of foveal schisis and often peripheral splitting of the retina in the nerve fiber layer. The accompanying complications include vitreous hemorrhage and retinal detachment, which can lead to blindness. In this report five patients who presented during infancy or early childhood had nasal retinal dragging.

Surgical removal of massive subretinal hemorrhage associated with age-related macular degeneration

The authors report on 11 patients with age-related macular degeneration associated with massive subretinal hemorrhage, who were treated with surgical removal of the hemorrhage and associated fibrosis. Preoperative visual acuity ranged from 20/400 to hand motions. Postoperative visual acuity ranged from 20/200 to light perception with a minimum of 3 months of follow-up. Complications included partial or total retinal detachment in four patients (36%) and cataract in four patients (36%). Four of 11 patients showed some improvement in vision (36%). All four of these patients had surgery within 1 week of the onset of severe visual loss. Although surgical removal of large subretinal hemorrhages is technically feasible, visual recovery is limited, even in uncomplicated cases, by macular degenerative changes.

Scleral buckling in stages 4B and 5 retinopathy of prematurity

Twenty-two eyes with traction retinal detachment (RD) secondary to retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in 21 infants were treated by scleral buckling in combination with external cryotherapy and drainage of subretinal fluid. Anatomic reattachment of the retina was achieved in 13 (59%) of 22 eyes. Of those patients achieving anatomic reattachment with follow-up of 18 months or more, four (40%) of ten had 20/400 or better visual acuity.

[The use of contrast media in magnetic resonance tomography of head and neck tumors]

The ranking of MRT was evaluated retrospectively in 37 patients with clinically confirmed malignant neoplasms of the head and neck. The results were compared with the clinical and endoscopic findings and with computed tomographic scans (CT). MR consistently showed superior soft tissue definition and extent of disease compared with CT. However, the sensitivity of both methods was comparably high. With the exception of tumours of the floor of the mouth and the anterior third of tongue the use of paramagnetic contrast material improved image quality compared with T2-sequences. MRT was superior to CT in imaging the post-treatment head and neck. Even here, contrast enhanced T1-images improved contrast between recurrent tumour and adjacent soft tissues, although in some cases false positive diagnosis was caused by postradiation oedema and inflammatory changes.

[Rare complications following stapes operation and their surgical treatment]

After stapedectomy otoliths were displaced from the endolymphatic space to the cupula of the posterior semicircular canal and caused a paroxysmal benign positional nystagmus which lasted 18 months. The positional nystagmus demonstrated a rotatory component during the Hallpike manoeuvre. The paroxysmal benign nystagmus disappeared after transtympanic nerve neurectomy of the inferior branch of the vestibular nerve (Gacek 1974). This procedure is only recommended for vertigo lasting longer than 1 year. The current findings support the theory that cupulolithiasis is the cause of paroxysmal benign positional nystagmus which can occur after stapedectomy. The rotatory nystagmus is generated in the posterior semicircular canal.