Publications by authors named "Breen K"

Cough syncope is an uncommon but well-recognised medical condition diagnosed primarily on the history provided by the sufferer. In situations where the sufferer is in control of a motor vehicle, syncope can lead to accidents involving death and injury. In the medico-legal setting, cough syncope can be a contested cause of such accidents.

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Purpose: In patients with a variety of malignancies undergoing multigene panel testing (MGPT), we examined the frequency of a pathogenic/likely pathogenic variant (PV) that would not have been predicted on the basis of the patient's personal and family history of cancer.

Methods: This is a retrospective review of patients with cancer ascertained from a single academic cancer center who underwent broad-based MGPT of ≥20 cancer predisposition genes not selected on the basis of personal or family cancer history from 2015 to 2021. Low-penetrance variants and recessive inheritance genes were excluded.

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  • Measurement-based care (MBC) enhances evidence-based practices (EBPs) by providing personalized feedback reports to clients and clinicians, particularly for young people with early psychosis.
  • A study evaluated these feedback reports at five specialty care programs, comparing outcomes for clients who received reports versus those who did not over their first six months of treatment.
  • Results indicated improvements in decision-making and treatment engagement among clients receiving feedback, with they participating more in supportive services, although overall statistical significance was not achieved.
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The lived experiences of psychiatric inpatients are not well represented in the literature, especially when these experiences pertain to health. Reports regarding sleep health are particularly sparse, despite the increasing prevalence of sleep disorders in this population. The current study aimed to explore inpatient and staff perspectives of inpatient sleep quality to aid the future development of a sleep quality intervention.

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  • Pancreas divisum (PD) is a common birth defect of the pancreas, but the genetic factors behind it are still unclear, prompting a genome-wide study to find potential genetic links.
  • Researchers analyzed data from 13,940 participants, identifying a significant genetic locus on chromosome 3q29 associated with PD, specifically linked to two genes related to cellular functions.
  • The study not only established a genetic link to PD but also identified potential regulatory genes that might influence pancreatic development, which could aid in better understanding and treating related pancreatic conditions.
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Introduction: Vitamin-K antagonists (VKA) are considered the first-line anticoagulants for thrombotic antiphospholipid syndrome (TAPS), particularly with triple positivity or arterial events. However, thrombotic recurrence remains high despite anticoagulation and other clinical issues may arise. Long-term parenteral anticoagulants may therefore be considered, however little is known about the viability of fondaparinux in this setting.

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Objectives: To assess human in vivo intrarenal pressure (IRP) and peristaltic activity at baseline and after ureteric stent placement, using a narrow calibre pressure guidewire placed retrogradely in the renal pelvis.

Patients And Methods: A prospective, multi-institutional study recruiting consenting patients undergoing ureteroscopy was designed with ethical approval. Prior to ureteroscopy, the urinary bladder was emptied and the COMET™ II pressure guidewire (Boston Scientific) was advanced retrogradely via the ureteric orifice to the renal pelvis.

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  • People with a genetic condition called inherited antithrombin deficiency (IATD) have a higher chance of getting blood clots.
  • A study looked at 33 patients with IATD who took a type of medicine called direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) for their blood clots.
  • The results showed that those who took the right amount of DOACs had very few problems and fewer blood clots, suggesting that these medicines are effective and mostly safe for people with IATD.
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Introduction: Bleeding and thrombotic events (BTE) are frequent during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). They occur at varying timepoints and may be affected by temporal changes in coagulation and fibrinolysis. We aimed to assess various coagulation and fibrinolytic markers over time and their relationship with BTE.

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Stress impairs fertility, at least in part, via inhibition of gonadotropin secretion. Luteinizing hormone (LH) is an important gonadotropin that is released in a pulsatile pattern in males and in females throughout the majority of the ovarian cycle. Several models of stress, including acute metabolic stress, suppress LH pulses via inhibition of neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus that coexpress kisspeptin, neurokinin B, and dynorphin (termed KNDy cells) which form the pulse generator.

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Despite rapid advances in the field of immunotherapy, including the success of immune checkpoint inhibition in treating multiple cancer types, clinical response in high-grade gliomas (HGGs) has been disappointing. This has been in part attributed to the low tumor mutational burden (TMB) of the majority of HGGs. Hypermutation is a recently characterized glioma signature that occurs in a small subset of cases, which may open an avenue to immunotherapy.

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Studies using real-world data (RWD) can complement evidence from clinical trials and fill evidence gaps during different stages of a medicine's lifecycle. This review presents the experience resulting from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) pilot to generate RWE to support evaluations by EU regulators and down-stream decision makers from September 2021 to February 2023. A total of 61 research topics were identified for RWE generation during this period, covering a wide range of research questions, primarily generating evidence on medicines safety (22, 36%), followed by questions on the design and feasibility of clinical trials (11, 18%), drug utilization (10, 16%), clinical management (10, 16%), and disease epidemiology.

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Background: The aim was to ascertain the impact of irrigation technique on human intrarenal pressure during retrograde intrarenal surgery.

Methods: A parallel randomized trial recruited patients across three hospital sites. Patients undergoing retrograde intrarenal surgery for renal stone treatment with an 11/13-Fr ureteral access sheath were allocated randomly to 100 mmHg pressurized-bag (PB) or manual hand-pump (HP) irrigation.

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  • Human activities are altering the Earth's climate by changing atmospheric compositions and creating radiative forcing, which drives climate change.
  • The reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions from shipping in 2020 resulted in significant radiative forcing, potentially doubling the warming rate in the 2020s compared to previous decades.
  • This increased forcing not only correlates with the observed warming in 2023 but also impacts precipitation patterns, suggesting that marine cloud brightening could be a method for geoengineering to cool the climate, despite its challenges.
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Purpose: Prostate biopsy is central to the accurate histological diagnosis of prostate cancer. In current practice, the biopsy procedure can be performed using a transrectal or transperineal route with different technologies available for targeting of lesions within the prostate. Historically, the biopsy procedure was performed solely by urologists, but with the advent of image-guided techniques, the involvement of radiologists in prostate biopsy has become more common.

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Unlabelled: Women with germline pathogenic variants (PV) in the fumarate hydratase (FH) gene develop cutaneous and uterine leiomyomata and have an increased risk of developing aggressive renal cell carcinomas. Many of these women are unaware of their cancer predisposition until an atypical uterine leiomyoma is diagnosed during a myomectomy or hysterectomy, making a streamlined genetic counseling process after a pathology-based atypical uterine leiomyoma diagnosis critical. However, the prevalence of germline pathogenic/likely PVs in FH among atypical uterine leiomyomata cases is unknown.

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  • Measurement-based care (MBC) helps improve mental health treatment by using feedback to make it better for patients and doctors.
  • This study looked at a special feedback report given to people with early psychosis to see if it helped them in their care.
  • The results showed that those who got the feedback report felt more involved in their treatment and attended more sessions, while both groups improved their symptoms.
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Unintentional overdose is a leading driver of maternal death in Colorado. The high volume of maternal deaths from preventable causes lends questions to failures in our clinical and community-based care for pregnant and postpartum people. The Colorado Maternal Mortality Review Committee identified 3 main contributors including stigma in the community and health care system, fragmentation of the health care system, and the need for more clinician training.

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Background: A novel hydrophobically modified chitosan (hm-chitosan) polymer has been previously shown to improve survival in a non-compressible intra-abdominal bleeding model in swine. We performed a 28-day survival study to evaluate the safety of the hm-chitosan polymer in swine.

Methods: Female Yorkshire swine (40-50 kg) were used.

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Objective: To define molecular features of ovarian cancer (OC) with germline pathogenic variants (PVs) in non-BRCA homologous recombination (HR) genes and analyze survival compared to BRCA1/2 and wildtype (WT) OC.

Methods: We included patients with OC undergoing tumor-normal sequencing (MSK-IMPACT) from 07/01/2015-12/31/2020, including germline assessment of BRCA1/2 and other HR genes ATM, BARD1, BRIP1, FANCA, FANCC, NBN, PALB2, RAD50, RAD51B, RAD51C, and RAD51D. Biallelic inactivation was assessed within tumors.

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Introduction: The physical health of individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) is a cause for concern. While the purpose of inpatient mental health settings is rehabilitation and treatment, the physical health of hospitalised patients commonly deteriorates. Physical activity (PA) has been identified as an appropriate intervention to help improve the psychological and physical health of inpatients.

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Immune cell-based therapies are promising strategies to facilitate immunosuppression withdrawal after organ transplantation. Regulatory dendritic cells (DCreg) are innate immune cells that down-regulate alloimmune responses in preclinical models. Here, we performed clinical monitoring and comprehensive assessment of peripheral and allograft tissue immune cell populations in DCreg-infused live-donor liver transplant (LDLT) recipients up to 12 months (M) after transplant.

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The germline TP53 p.R337H mutation is reported as the most common germline TP53 variant. It exists at a remarkably high frequency in the population of southeast Brazil as founder mutation in two distinct haplotypes with the most frequent co-segregating with the p.

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