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Abstract: Objective: To assess changes in cognitive function and affective state following carotid endarterctomy (CEA) for high-degree unilateral internal carotid artery stenosis. Methods: In 33 patients, a CEA was performed under local anaesthesia for a high-grade unilateral stenosis of the internal carotid artery (group A). Twenty-five patients underwent surgery for peripheral arterial occlusive disease under regional anaesthesia served as controls (group B). Patients with neurological deficits due to previous strokes or dementia were excluded. Intelligence level was assessed preoperatively. Cognitive tests were applied preoperatively and postoperatively (3–5 days after surgery) and after 4 months follow-up. Confounding factors, including anxiety and depression, were checked through questionnaires and interviews. Results: No perioperative neurological complication occurred following CEA. Patients in group A showed a significant postoperative deterioration only in one sub-test. There was no significant change in anxiety and depression during follow up. The control group B had no significant changes in cognitive test performance. Anxiety improved significantly postoperatively, but increased again at the end of the study. There was no significant difference between the groups over time. Conclusion: Cognitive function does not change following CEA of a unilateral internal carotid stenosis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The present meta analysis summarized the results of 37 published, controlled studies that investigated the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions on quality of life (QoL) in adult cancer patients. The overall effect size of psychosocial interventions and the effect of potential moderating variables such as type and duration of intervention, sociodemographic and clinical parameters, characteristics of QoL measurement, and methodological quality of the selected studies were calculated using a meta analysis model suggested by Hunter and Schmidt. The overall effect size was 0.31 (correlation equivalent delta) which corresponds to a standardized mean difference of d=0.65 (N=3120 cancer patients). The most important moderating variable was duration of psychosocial intervention with durations of more than 12 weeks being significantly more effective than interventions of shorter duration. The meta analytical findings support the usefulness of psychosocial interventions for improving QoL in adult cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]