Alpha-Gal Syndrome and Cardiac Surgery.

Galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose (alpha-gal) is a carbohydrate expressed by all mammals except for humans and certain old-world primates. It can be found in a plethora of products derived from mammals, including milk, organs, skeletal muscle and gelatin, in addition to products prepared with mammalian cells or constituents. In the late 2000s, an association between tick bites and the development of immunoglobulin E antibodies to the alpha-gal carbohydrate was discovered.

Potentially Harmful Ionizing Radiation Exposure from Diagnostic Tests and Medical Procedures in Patients with Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

Background: Patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) may have significant potentially harmful ionizing radiation exposure (PHIRE) from diagnostic tests and medical procedures (DTMP) during their initial hospitalization.

Methods: In this single-center, retrospective, observational study, we evaluated the incidence of PHIRE using all patients with radiographically proven aSAH who survived hospitalization over a 6-year period. Patient data were then used to fit a full logistic regression model, a reduced-variable logistic regression model with least absolute shrinkage and selection operator penalty, and a nonparametric tree-based model.