Publications by authors named "Amnon Berger"

Background: There is paucity of data regarding prevalence and key harms of non-medical cannabis use in surgical patients. We investigated whether cannabis use in patients undergoing surgery or interventional procedures patients was associated with a higher degree of post-procedural healthcare utilisation.

Methods: 210,639 adults undergoing non-cardiac surgery between January 2008 and June 2020 at an academic healthcare network in Massachusetts, USA, were included.

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Article Synopsis
  • hATTR is a hereditary form of amyloidosis affecting around 50,000 people globally, commonly presenting as cardiac issues, polyneuropathy, or oculoleptomeningeal symptoms, with polyneuropathy being the most prevalent.
  • Recent advancements in treatment include Patisiran and Inotersen, which are RNA-targeted therapies that reduce the production of the transthyretin protein, aiming to mitigate the disease's progression.
  • The prognosis for hATTR is poor, typically with a median survival of less than 12 years, but these novel therapies offer promising strategies by addressing the disease at a genetic level.
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This is a review of the latest and seminal evidence in pediatric migraine. It covers the etiology and pathophysiology known today, and then will review treatment options, efficacy and safety, quality of data and indications. Though migraine is usually regarded as an infliction in adults, it is not uncommon in the pediatric population and affects up to 8% of children.

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Purpose Of Review: Migraines are prevalent and cause significant morbidity, decline in quality of life and healthcare costs universally. Treatment options are varied, but efficacy is limited. This review centers on Eptinezumab-jjmr, a humanized monoclonal specific to CGRP for the prevention of migraines in adults.

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Migraine is a common form of primary headache, affecting up to 1 in every 6 Americans. The pathophysiology is an intricate interplay of genetic factors and environmental influence and is still being elucidated in ongoing studies. The trigeminovascular system is now known to have a significant role in the initiation of migraines, including the release of pain mediators such as CGRP and substance P.

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Background: Chronic pain is a multifactorial condition that is afflicting populations worldwide causing an increasing economic, physical, mental, and emotional burden. Treatments range from medications to interventional procedures to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), such as acupuncture. This review aims to discuss the use of acupuncture in the treatment of chronic pain, proposed mechanisms, indications, and efficacy for various chronic pain conditions.

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Objective: Treatment options and associated biomarkers for advanced and recurrent disease are limited. Endometrial cancers (ECs) with CTNNB1 exon 3 mutations appear to have preferential response to bevacizumab, an anti-angiogenesis treatment, though the mechanism of action is unknown. We aim to identify mediators of bevacizumab-responsive endometrial cancers.

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Chronic shoulder pain affects millions of patients each year. Various conditions can result in shoulder pain ranging from rotator cuff injury, subacromial impingement, post-surgical pain, bursitis, adhesive capsulitis, and osteoarthritis. Typically, rotator cuff pathology is diagnosed by physical exam maneuvers along with advanced imaging modalities.

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Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine if using a combination of dexamethasone and dexmedetomidine (Dex-Dex) in a single-shot perineural local anesthestic provides an increased duration of pain relief and reduced consumption of opioids for patients undergoing shoulder surgery.

Patients And Methods: This is a retrospective trial of adult patients without major comorbidities undergoing elective, upper arm orthopedic procedures with regional nerve block for post-operative analgesia. Patients underwent nerve block with either 0.

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Purpose Of Review: Chronic pain continues to be one of the leading healthcare cost burdens in the United States and is typically defined as ongoing pain, lasting longer than six months. Various treatment options exist for chronic pain, including physical therapy, medical management, pain psychology, and interventional therapies. Pain medications have been the mainstay of treatment for chronic pain conditions with an increasing use of membrane stabilizers and antidepressants to treat neuropathic pain conditions.

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Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder and the leading cause of disability. It causes significant morbidity and disability through a plethora of symptoms, including movement disorders, sleep disturbances, and cognitive and psychiatric symptoms. The traditional pathogenesis theory of PD involves the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN).

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Purpose Of Review: Insomnia affects more than 10% of the population and causes significant discomfort and disability. Suvorexant is an orexin receptor antagonist that specifically targets the wake-sleep cycle. This review summarizes recent and seminal evidence in the biological and physiological evidence of insomnia, the mechanism of action of suvorexant in treating insomnia, and clinical evidence regarding its use.

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Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder. It is also the fastest-growing neurodegenerative disorder and has more than doubled between 1990 and 2016. Parkinson's disease causes significant morbidity and disability from motor dysfunction, sleep disturbances, and cognitive and psychiatric symptoms.

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With the ongoing public health crisis with prescription opioids, there is a need for safer alternatives for medication management in chronic pain patients. Buprenorphine is a partial mu-opioid agonist which is commonly utilized to treat patients with opioid-use disorders. The purpose of this review is to discuss the potential use of this medication for the treatment of chronic pain instead of resorting to more traditional Schedule II opioids.

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Hemiplegic shoulder pain (HSP) is a common comorbidity affecting stroke survivors. It can lead to chronic pain in a significant portion of patients. Prompt recognition and treatment may lead to improved outcomes, though it can be very challenging to treat.

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Purpose Of Review: The purpose of this systematic review is to discuss emerging evidence in the field of viscosupplementation for chronic knee pain secondary to Osteoarthritis (OA). This review focuses on types of viscosupplementation that are clinically available currently, evidence to support their use, contraindications, and adverse events.

Recent Findings: OA, also known as degenerative joint disease, is the most common form of arthritis in the United States, affecting 54.

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Article Synopsis
  • Low back pain is a prevalent issue affecting many people, with various causes behind it.
  • Common causes of pain include age-related changes in the spine and Modic changes.
  • The text discusses a unique case of chronic low back pain in a patient with a congenital fusion of lumbar vertebrae.
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Purpose Of Review: Fibromyalgia is a highly prevalent chronic pain syndrome that affects up to 4% of the population and causes significant morbidity and disability, with an increasing associated cost. Though many approaches for treatment have been tested, therapy regimens are still elusive, and efficacy is limited. This review summarizes the background of fibromyalgia and acupuncture and reviews the latest and seminal literature discussing the application of acupuncture in fibromyalgia.

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Bertolotti's Syndrome is defined as chronic back pain caused by transitional lumbosacral vertebra. The transitional vertebra may present with numerous clinical manifestations leading to a myriad of associated pain types. The most common is pain in the sacroiliac joint, groin, and hip region and may or may not be associated with radiculopathy.

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Meralgia paresthetica is a condition caused by entrapment of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve at the level of the inguinal ligament. This nerve is a purely sensory nerve and provides innervation to the anterolateral portion of the thigh. The condition can lead to numbness, paresthesia, dysesthesia, and pain over the anterolateral aspect of the thigh, which are exacerbated with walking, standing, and hip extension.

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Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is one of the most commonly conducted surgeries in the United States. Typically, TKA is conducted to relieve pain from patients with long-standing osteoarthritis. Postoperative knee pain is a common issue after TKA.

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Context: Neck pain is a common phenomenon and affects a large segment of the population. Chronic neck pain, lasting more than 3 months, likely occurs in 10% - 30% of patients with acute neck pain and affects up to 288 million cases globally, carrying a significant cost in terms of quality of life, disability, and healthcare dollars. Here we review neck pain background, acupuncture and the evidence that exist to support acupuncture use in chronic neck pain.

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Context: Abdominal pain is a widespread complaint and is one of the common reasons leading patients to seek medical care, either in emergency situations or with their primary providers. While acute abdominal pain is a better defined, usually surgical condition, chronic abdominal pain requires longer, typically lifelong, therapy. Chronic abdominal pain may also present with acute flares and complications.

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Context: Chronic neuropathic pain is a common condition, and up to 11.9% of the population have been reported to suffer from uncontrolled neuropathic pain. Chronic pain leads to significant morbidity, lowered quality of life, and loss of workdays, and thus carries a significant price tag in healthcare costs and lost productivity.

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Keratoconjunctivitis sicca ("dry eye") is a common (14%-30% of adults over age 48) though difficult to treat condition that causes both discomfort and disability with associated dryness, pain, and visual disturbances. Etiology is not clearly understood but is likely varied, with a subset of patients suffering from chronic neuropathic pain referred to as "burning eye syndrome." This review of existing literature summarizes the clinical presentation, natural history, pathophysiology, and treatment modalities of burning eye syndrome.

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