Analysing the support mechanisms of the vaginal ring pessary on supine and upright MRI.

Vaginal pessaries have been used for millennia to alleviate symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Despite their long-standing use, the success rate of pessary treatment is approximately 60%, and the underlying mechanisms of support are not well understood. This study aims to investigate three previously proposed hypotheses regarding the support mechanisms of pessaries, utilizing supine and upright magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): (1) support by bony structures, (2) support by levator ani muscles (LAM), and (3) the uterus keeping the pessary in place by acting as a lever.

The Effect of Anterior Colporrhaphy: A Prospective Study Comparing POP-Q and Upright MRI.

Introduction And Hypothesis: The high recurrence rate (up to 40%) of native tissue surgery for pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is concerning and a better understanding of the effect of surgery is essential in optimizing treatment. As physical examination (Pelvic Organ Prolapse-Quantification, POP-Q) underestimates the degree of prolapse, upright assessment may provide new insights. Therefore, we compared supine POP-Q with upright magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination of the anatomical effect of native tissue POP surgery on the pelvic anatomy.

Sex Differences in Patient-rated Outcomes After Lumbar Spinal Fusion for Degenerative Disease: A Multicenter Cohort Study.

Study Design: Heterogeneous data collection via a mix of prospective, retrospective, and ambispective methods.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of biological sex on patient-reported outcomes after spinal fusion surgery for lumbar degenerative disease.

Summary Of Background Data: Current literature suggests sex differences regarding clinical outcome after spine surgery may exist.

Flow capacity of a superficial temporal artery as a donor in a consecutive series of 100 patients with superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery bypass.

Objective: A superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery (STA-MCA) bypass is classically considered a low-flow bypass. It is known that the flow in the flow augmentation STA-MCA bypass is influenced by flow demand of the revascularized territory and can reach significantly higher values. The authors report their intraoperative flow measurement data in a consecutive series of 100 STA-MCA bypasses performed at their institution.

Simultaneous Plate-Reader Characterization of Promoter Activity and Cell Growth in Engineered Mammalian Cells.

Automated high-throughput methods that support tracking of mammalian cell growth are currently needed to advance cell line characterization and identification of desired genetic components required for cell engineering. Here, we describe a high-throughput noninvasive assay based on plate reader measurements. The assay relies on the change in absorbance of the pH indicator phenol red.