Unraveling aortic hemodynamics using fluid structure interaction: biomechanical insights into bicuspid aortic valve dynamics with multiple aortic lesions.

Aortic lesions, exemplified by bicuspid aortic valves (BAVs), can complicate congenital heart defects, particularly in Turner syndrome patients. The combination of BAV, dilated ascending aorta, and an elongated aortic arch presents complex hemodynamics, requiring detailed analysis for tailored treatment strategies. While current clinical decision-making relies on imaging modalities offering limited biomechanical insights, integrating high-performance computing and fluid-structure interaction algorithms with patient data enables comprehensive evaluation of diseased anatomy and planned intervention.

Creating and Reliving the Moment: Using Musical Improvisation and Care Aesthetics as a Lens of Connection and Self-Expression for Younger People Living with Dementia.

Musical improvisation is a generative process of spontaneously creating music 'in the moment'. For people with young onset dementia, musical improvisation provides an extended opportunity for creative self-expression and connection to one's own body and life story. Using visual research methods, including video elicitation interviews, this paper explores the 'in the moment' musical experiences of five people living with young onset dementia who took part in a 15-week improvised music-making programme (Music in Mind).

Biomechanical Evaluation of Mitral Valve Repair: Virtual Chordal Transposition to Restore Anterior Leaflet Prolapse.

Background: Surgical management of an anterior leaflet prolapse remains comparatively challenging and has led to the lack of any firmly established standard repair techniques, as seen in cases of posterior leaflet prolapse. Chordal transposition repair is widely acknowledged as a remarkably durable technique that utilizes the patient's native chordae. This study aims to evaluate and predict the biomechanical and functional characteristics of a normal mitral valve (MV) model and a pathological MV model featuring anterior ruptured mitral chordae tendineae (RMCT), and to assess the effectiveness of the chordal transposition repair in the pathological MV model.

An analysis of referral patterns of traumatic brain injury at Groote Schuur Hospital Trauma Centre.

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can result in significant morbidity and mortality if not diagnosed in a timely manner. Brain computed tomography (CT) is the diagnostic gold standard but is of limited availability in most South African public hospitals, resulting in transfer of TBI patients to tertiary hospitals.

Objective: To describe the referral patterns and outcomes of patients with TBI referred to Groote Schuur Hospital Trauma Centre.