Safety and feasibility of single use cholecystoscopy for guiding laser or mechanical cholelithotripsy, and mechanical cholelithotomy.

PURPOSE Patients with acute calculus cholecystitis and contraindications to cholecystectomy receive cholecystostomy drainage catheters, many of which remain in place until end of life. This study aims to assess safety, feasibility, and early clinical outcomes of percutaneous cholecystoscopy using the LithoVue endoscope, laser/mechanical cholelithotripsy, and mechanical cholelithotomy for management of symptomatic cholelithiasis. METHODS This was a single-institute retrospective analysis of 17 patients with acute calculus cholecystitis who had contraindications to cholecystectomy, underwent cholecystostomy catheter placement between 2015 and 2017, and stone removal between 2017 and 2018.

Surgical resection, radiotherapy and percutaneous thermal ablation for treatment of stage 1 non-small cell lung cancer: protocol for a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Introduction: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) makes up the majority of lung cancer cases. Currently, surgical resection is the gold standard of treatment. However, as patients are becoming medically more complex presenting with advanced disease, minimally invasive image-guided percutaneous ablations are gaining popularity.

Mechanical thrombectomy for pulmonary embolism in patients with patent foramen Ovale.

Background: The current level of evidence for mechanical thrombectomy (MT) of pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients with patent foramen ovale (PFO) is limited.

Results: This was a retrospective analysis of 9 patients with PFO and acute high-risk or intermediate-high-risk PE, 6 with intermediate-high risk and 3 with high-risk PE. All underwent MT using the Inari FlowTriever System from Dec 2018 to November 2019.

Safety of Deep Brain Stimulation Lead Placement on Patients Requiring Anticlotting Therapies.

Background: Limited studies exist to support the safety of performing neuromodulation surgeries in patients whose anticlotting medication has been held. Here, we assess the safety of performing deep brain stimulation (DBS) in this patient population.

Methods: All consecutive DBS patients who underwent lead and battery placement/revision at our institution between 2011 and 2020 were included in this Institutional Review Board-approved prospective outcomes database.

Catheter-directed therapies for pulmonary embolism: considerations for patients with patent foramen ovale.

Pulmonary embolism can be fatal, especially in high-risk patients who have contraindications to systemic thrombolysis or surgical embolectomy. For this population, interventionalists can provide catheter-directed therapies, including catheter-directed thrombolysis and thrombectomy, using a wide array of devices. Endovascular treatment of pulmonary embolism shows great promise through fractionated thrombolytic drug delivery, fragmentation, and aspiration mechanisms with thrombectomy devices.

Effect of Eye Opening on Single-Unit Activity and Local Field Potentials in the Subthalamic Nucleus.

Background: Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN DBS) is an established treatment in Parkinson's disease (PD). We investigate the effect of eye opening on neuronal activity and local field potentials (LFPs) in the STN.

Methods: We prospectively enrolled 25 PD patients undergoing STN DBS in our institution.

Occipital Nerve Stimulation Attenuates Neuronal Firing Response to Mechanical Stimuli in the Ventral Posteromedial Thalamus of a Rodent Model of Chronic Migraine.

Background: Chronic migraine (CM) is a highly debilitating disease, and many patients remain refractory to medicinal therapy. Given the convergent nature of neuronal networks in the ventral posteromedial nucleus (VPM) and the evidence of sensitization of pain circuitry in this disease, we hypothesize CM rats will have increased VPM neuronal firing, which can be attenuated using occipital nerve stimulation (ONS).

Objective: To determine whether VPM firing frequency differs between CM and sham rats, and whether ONS significantly alters firing rates during the application of mechanical stimuli.

A Comparison of Unilateral Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), Simultaneous Bilateral DBS, and Staged Bilateral DBS Lead Accuracies.

Background: Accuracy of lead placement within the brain can affect the outcome of deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery. Whether performing unilateral lead implantation, simultaneous bilateral lead implantation, or staged bilateral lead implantation affects accuracy has not yet been assessed. We compare lead placement errors to evaluate whether one approach affords greater lead accuracy.

Evaluation of Quantitative Measurement Techniques for Head Tremor With Thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation.

Background: Ventralis intermedius thalamic deep brain stimulation (VIM DBS) has shown to be safe and effective for medically refractory essential tremor (ET). We evaluate the use of quantitative tremor measurement methods for head tremor in ET using a "smart" hat and a smartphone application.

Methods: We enrolled 13 ET patients who previously underwent VIM DBS.

Transthoracic needle aspiration: the past, present and future.

Transthoracic needle aspiration (TTNA) has been used to diagnose disease in the lung for many decades. Thanks to advances in technology and cytopathology, the diagnostic power, accuracy, safety, and efficacy of TTNA are constantly improving. The transition from fluoroscopy to computed tomography (CT) has yielded better visualization, and ability to enhance sophistication of tools used to biopsy.

Radiologic-pathologic analysis of quantitative 3D tumour enhancement on contrast-enhanced MR imaging: a study of ROI placement.

Objectives: To investigate the influence of region-of-interest (ROI) placement on 3D tumour enhancement [Quantitative European Association for the Study of the Liver (qEASL)] in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients treated with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE).

Methods: Phase 1: 40 HCC patients had nine ROIs placed by one reader using systematic techniques (3 ipsilateral to the lesion, 3 contralateral to the lesion, and 3 dispersed throughout the liver) and qEASL variance was measured. Intra-class correlations were computed.

Relationship of sodium and magnesium intakes to hypertension proven by 24-hour urianalysis in a South Indian population.

The Healthy Eating Asians Remain Together (HEART) study was carried out to investigate the relationship between 24-hour urine nutritional biomarkers and cardiometabolic risks in India. A total of 168 participants underwent health examination to assess body mass index, blood pressure, and 24-hour urine samples. The participants were divided into normotensive and hypertensive.

The International Society of Hypertension and World Hypertension League call on governments, nongovernmental organizations and the food industry to work to reduce dietary sodium.

The International Society of Hypertension and the World Hypertension League have developed a policy statement calling for reducing dietary salt. The policy supports the WHO and the United Nations recommendations, which are based on a comprehensive and up-to-date review of relevant research. The policy statement calls for broad societal action to reduce dietary salt, thus reducing blood pressure and preventing hypertension and its related burden of cardiovascular disease.

Grand challenges: integrating mental health services into priority health care platforms.

In the last article of a five-part series providing a global perspective on integrating mental health, Vikram Patel and colleagues discuss the competencies, operational innovation, and packages of care needed, and argue that integration will complement primary care system strengthening.

Grand challenges in global mental health: integration in research, policy, and practice.

In the first article of a five-part series providing a global perspective on integrating mental health, Pamela Collins and colleagues set the scene for why mental health care should be combined with priority programs on maternal and child health, non-communicable diseases, and HIV, and how this might be done.

Differences in perceptions and fast food eating behaviours between Indians living in high- and low-income neighbourhoods of Chandigarh, India.

Background: Increased density of fast food restaurants is associated with increased prevalence of obesity in developed countries. However, less is known about this relationship in developing countries undergoing rapid urbanization and how differences in neighbourhood income affect the patronage of fast food outlets. The purpose of the study is to explore the differences in fast food preferences, perceptions, and patronage between Indians living in high- and low-income neighbourhoods.

Elevation in cardiovascular disease risk in South Asians is mediated by differences in visceral adipose tissue.

South Asians have a higher risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) that remains largely unexplained. We hypothesized that the increased CVD risk in South Asians compared to Europeans is mediated through higher levels of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in South Asians compared to total body fat and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAT). South Asians (207) and Europeans (201) underwent assessment for demographics, body fat, and risk factors.