A Unique Presentation of Familial Idiopathic Colonic Varices.

Colonic varices typically occur in the setting of portal hypertension, and patients may present with rectal bleeding or occult anemia. Idiopathic colonic varices occur infrequently in the absence of cirrhosis and can involve the entire colon. We present a case of a 54-year-old Eastern European woman who had undergone diagnostic colonoscopy for newly diagnosed sigmoid adenocarcinoma and was incidentally found to have colonic varices with normal portal pressure gradients.

Adoption of Optimal Small (6-9 mm) Colorectal Polyp Resection Technique Over Time.

Background: Cold snare polypectomy (CSP) is the preferred resection technique for small (6-9 mm) polyps due to lower rate of incomplete resection compared to cold forceps polypectomy (CFP) and improved safety profile over hot snare polypectomy (HSP).

Aims: To describe resection techniques for small (6-9 mm) polyps and determine factors associated with sub-optimal technique.

Methods: This was retrospective cohort study of colonoscopies performed by gastroenterological and surgical endoscopists from 2012 to 2019 where at least one 6-9 mm polyp was removed.

Integrated Critical Care Curriculum for the Third-Year Internal Medicine Clerkship.

Introduction: A majority of residents provide care for critically ill patients, yet only a minority of medical schools require ICU rotations. Therefore, many medical students enter residency without prior ICU experience. The third-year internal medicine (IM) clerkship at our institution's Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) provided an opportunity for medical students to rotate through an open ICU as part of their inpatient ward rotation.

Tracking and Functional Characterization of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Mesenchymal Tumor Cells during Prostate Cancer Metastasis.

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been postulated as a mechanism by which cancer cells acquire the invasive and stem-like traits necessary for distant metastasis. However, direct in vivo evidence for the role of EMT in the formation of cancer stem-like cells (CSC) and the metastatic cascade remains lacking. Here we report the first isolation and characterization of mesenchymal-like and EMT tumor cells, which harbor both epithelial and mesenchymal characteristics, in an autochthonous murine model of prostate cancer.