Prevalence of Aortoiliac Aneurysms in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients Using the National Inpatient Sample Database.

Objective: Single-center studies have suggested that solid organ transplant recipients are at increased risk for arterial aneurysms. Moreover, they describe a more aggressive natural history with increased rates of expansion and rupture. In this exploratory analysis, we aim to assess the frequency of arterial aneurysms in solid organ transplant recipients using a large-scale national database.

Practice patterns in utilization of atherectomy and embolic protection devices in inpatient and outpatient treatment settings.

Objective: The frequency of atherectomy in lower extremity arterial disease has increased substantially over the past several years, specifically in the office-based laboratory (OBL) setting, yet the efficacy compared with other interventions and the consequences of distal embolization remain unknown. Embolic protection devices (EPDs) have been used at varying rates depending on physician and practice setting. Previous studies have described lesion characteristics to consider when weighing the benefits and drawbacks associated with device use.

Impact of a Hands-on Pre-Clinical Neurosurgery Elective Course on Second-Year Medical Student Interest and Attitudes.

Introduction: Medical student involvement opportunities and educational experiences with surgical residents during medical school have been shown to increase the chance of students deciding to specialize in surgical specialties. This study aims to determine the effect of a neurosurgery elective during the second preclinical year on student interest and opinion of neurosurgery.

Methods: Thirty-nine students completed opinion-based surveys and factual knowledge quizzes during a neurosurgical elective course over 3 iterations, which included lecture and skills lab instruction.

Complications After 3- and 4-Level Anterior Cervical Diskectomy and Fusion.

Background: Anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion (ACDF) is a standard surgical procedure used widely in the treatment of degenerative cervical spine conditions. Although the safety and effectiveness of single-level ACDF is well supported in the literature, reports of multilevel ACDF are sparse and present mixed results. There is concern for greater complications with increasing levels of fusion given the increased complexity, procedure duration, and invasiveness of multilevel ACDF.

Early Palliative Care for Patients With Brain Metastases Decreases Inpatient Admissions and Need for Imaging Studies.

Background: Early encounters with palliative care (PC) can influence health-care utilization, clinical outcome, and cost.

Aim: To study the effect of timing of PC encounters on brain metastasis patients at an academic medical center.

Setting/participants: All patients diagnosed with brain metastases from January 2013 to August 2015 at a single institution with inpatient and/or outpatient PC records available for review (N = 145).

Fostering Student Interest in Neurologic Surgery: The University of Pittsburgh Experience.

Introduction: Early involvement and research in neurosurgery can increase chances for medical students to matriculate successfully into residency. This study reports the creation of a Neurological Surgery Interest Group (NSIG) at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and shares its activities over 2 academic years.

Methods: In October 2014, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine's NSIG was created to augment medical student interest in neurosurgery.

Differential patterns of amygdala and ventral striatum activation predict gender-specific changes in sexual risk behavior.

Although the initiation of sexual behavior is common among adolescents and young adults, some individuals express this behavior in a manner that significantly increases their risk for negative outcomes including sexually transmitted infections. Based on accumulating evidence, we have hypothesized that increased sexual risk behavior reflects, in part, an imbalance between neural circuits mediating approach and avoidance in particular as manifest by relatively increased ventral striatum (VS) activity and relatively decreased amygdala activity. Here, we test our hypothesis using data from seventy 18- to 22-year-old university students participating in the Duke Neurogenetics Study.