Prenatal treprostinil reduces the pulmonary hypertension phenotype in the rat model of congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

Background: Persistent pulmonary hypertension (PH) causes significant mortality and morbidity in infants with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Since pulmonary vascular abnormalities in CDH develop early during foetal development, we hypothesized that prenatal maternal administration of treprostinil, through its anti-remodelling effect, would improve the PH-phenotype in the nitrofen rat model of CDH.

Methods: In a dose-finding study in normal, healthy pregnant rats, we demonstrated target-range foetal plasma treprostinil concentrations without signs of toxicity.

An Examination of General Surgery Residency Programs with a Rural Track.

Background: There is a steady decline in the general surgery workforce in rural areas of the United States. In response, some surgery residency programs have developed rural tracks to encourage rural practice and adequately prepare trainees for this setting.

Objective: To compare the practice type and location of graduates from general surgery residency programs with and without a dedicated rural track between 2011-2020.

Agreement between electronic medical records and self-reported urologic domains in the National Spina Bifida Patient Registry (NSBPR): Implications for future research.

Background: Self-report (SR) is an efficient data collection method. However, SR data have been shown to be discrepant with medical record (MR) documentation, which raises questions about using SR to supplement retrospective chart review in research. In this study, pediatric spina bifida (SB) patients who completed SR interviews about continence status and personal bladder/bowel management were identified.

Ultrasound Shear Wave Elastography: A Novel Method to Evaluate Bladder Pressure.

Purpose: Children with bladder dysfunction resulting in increased storage pressure are at risk for renal deterioration. The current gold standard for evaluation of bladder pressure is urodynamics, an invasive test requiring catheterization. We evaluated ultrasound shear wave elastography as a novel means of assessing bladder biomechanical properties associated with increased bladder pressure.