Background: The significance of tactile stimulation in human social development and personal interaction is well documented; however, the underlying cerebral processes remain under-researched. This study employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural correlates of social touch processing, with a particular focus on the functional connectivity associated with the aftereffects of touch.
Methods: A total of 27 experimental subjects were recruited for the study, all of whom underwent a 5-minute calf and foot massage prior to undergoing resting-state fMRI.
Gestational alloimmune liver disease (GALD) is characterized by maternal IgG-directed fetal hepatocyte damage and can lead to severe liver failure and fetal or infant death. Moreover, GALD is associated with a near 90% risk of recurrence in subsequent pregnancies. We present a case of a newborn patient delivered to a 32-year-old G2P1000 mother who received prolonged antenatal intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment during the current pregnancy due to the neonatal death of the first child from GALD-related liver failure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Recent evidence suggests atrial fibrillation (AF) causes cardiomyopathy due to remodeling driven by both irregular rate and rhythm. Atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation in patients with reduced ejection fraction (EF) ≤ 35% has been shown to improve EF and mortality. It is unknown whether the benefits of AF ablation among patients with reduced EF are affected by the degree of pre-ablation rate control.
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