Publications by authors named "Dickie B"

Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to measure mediastinal positioning in neonates with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) using chest x-rays, particularly in those needing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
  • Researchers developed a Mediastinal Shift Index (MSI) to quantitatively assess mediastinal shift and found it had excellent agreement among different raters.
  • Results indicated that a higher initial MSI was significantly associated with survival, demonstrating stronger predictive value compared to the observed/expected lung head ratio (O/E LHR).
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Neuroinflammation is a promising therapeutic target in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), characterized in the brain by microglial activation and blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown. In this study, 36 acute, spontaneous, supratentorial ICH patients underwent dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI to measure BBB permeability () 1-3 days post-onset and 16 returned for [C]()-PK11195 PET to quantify microglial activation (), 2-7 days post-onset. We first tested if these markers were increased and co-localized in the perihematomal brain and found that perihematomal and were increased vs.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to evaluate how surgical management varies for pediatric patients with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) who also have other health complications that might require surgery.
  • Researchers analyzed data from children who had CDH repair between 2012 and 2022, focusing on how often they needed additional surgeries like gastrostomy or tracheostomy following their initial treatment.
  • Results showed that nearly half of the patients required further surgical interventions, with significant regional differences in practices and higher costs and hospital stays linked to these additional procedures.
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Background: Radiotherapy is key in the treatment of primary and secondary brain tumors. However, normal tissue is inevitably irradiated, causing toxicity and contributing to cognitive dysfunction. The relative importance of vascular damage to cognitive decline is poorly understood.

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Background/aim: Patients with hypoxic bladder cancer benefit from hypoxia modification added to radiotherapy, but no biomarkers exist to identify patients with hypoxic tumours. We, herein, aimed to implement oxygen-enhanced MRI (OE-MRI) in xenografts derived from muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) for future hypoxia biomarker discovery work; and generate gene expression data for future biomarker discovery.

Materials And Methods: The flanks of female CD-1 nude mice inoculated with HT1376 MIBC cells.

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Objectives: Our study examines if the disease severity profile of our Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) patient cohort adherent to long-term follow-up differs from patients lost to follow-up after discharge and examines factors associated with health care utilization.

Methods: Retrospective review identified CDH survivors born 2005-2019 with index repair at our institution. Primary outcome was long-term follow-up status: "active" or "inactive" according to clinic guidelines.

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Cloacal exstrophy is the most severe congenital anomaly of the exstrophy-epispadias complex and is characterized by gastrointestinal, genitourinary, neurospinal, and musculoskeletal malformations. Individualized surgical reconstruction by a multidisciplinary team is required for these complex patients. Not infrequently, patients need staged surgical procedures throughout childhood and adolescence.

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Purpose: Antegrade colonic enemas (ACE) can be an effective management option for defecation disorders and improve quality of life. Best practice regarding channel placement is unclear and variation may exist around preferred initial type of channel, age at placement, and underlying diagnoses. We aimed to describe practice patterns and patient characteristics around ACE channel placement.

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Article Synopsis
  • Brain swelling in pediatric cerebral malaria (CM) is linked to fluid buildup, but the process of draining this fluid during recovery remains unclear.
  • Research using an experimental model reveals that fluid accumulation is due to vasogenic edema, rather than cerebrospinal fluid entering through blood vessels.
  • The study identifies that both fluid and molecules are rapidly drained from the brain to deep cervical lymph nodes via specific pathways; blocking these lymphatics hinders fluid drainage and affects the effectiveness of anti-malarial treatment.
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Purpose: A robotic-assisted laparoscopic approach to appendicostomy offers the benefits of a minimally invasive approach to patients who would typically necessitate an open procedure, those with a larger body habitus, and those requiring combined complex colorectal and urologic reconstructive procedures. We present our experience performing robotic-assisted appendicostomies with a focus on patient selection, perioperative factors, and functional outcomes.

Methods: A retrospective review of patients who underwent a robotic-assisted appendicostomy/neoappendicostomy at our institution was performed.

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Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a highly debilitating neurodegenerative condition. Despite recent advancements in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying ALS, there have been no significant improvements in therapeutic options for ALS patients in recent years. Currently, there is no cure for ALS, and the only approved treatment in Europe is riluzole, which has been shown to slow the disease progression and prolong survival by approximately 3 months.

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Purpose: Hirschsprung Disease (HD) is typically diagnosed in the neonatal period. A small subset of patients have a prolonged course of abdominal distention and constipation prior to diagnosis. Late HD is defined as having been diagnosed at greater than or equal to one year of age.

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Background: Cloacal exstrophy (CE) represents a rare sub-group of anorectal malformations. Traditionally managed with a permanent colostomy, colonic pull-through (PT) has emerged to allow cleanliness without a life-long stoma. We sought to understand outcomes of PT in a large multi-center CE population.

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Objective: Pediatric rectal prolapse is a common and often self-limited condition with multiple management options. Selecting the optimal approach requires personalization and remains a challenge for pediatricians and pediatric surgeons.

Methods: A single-center retrospective review of 67 children with rectal prolapse undergoing surgical evaluation between 2010 and 2021.

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Article Synopsis
  • Intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) is a deadly stroke type with limited treatment options, leading to significant disabilities in survivors and prompting interest in novel regenerative medicine approaches.
  • Injectable biomimetic hydrogels, specifically a self-assembling peptide hydrogel called Alpha2, were tested for safety and efficacy in stimulating brain tissue regeneration in rats with ICH.
  • Results showed that Alpha2 was safe and well-tolerated, promoting increased cell proliferation without negatively impacting functional outcomes, indicating potential for future studies to enhance its regenerative effects through modifications or adjunct therapies.
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This manuscript describes the ISMRM OSIPI (Open Science Initiative for Perfusion Imaging) lexicon for dynamic contrast-enhanced and dynamic susceptibility-contrast MRI. The lexicon was developed by Taskforce 4.2 of OSIPI to provide standardized definitions of commonly used quantities, models, and analysis processes with the aim of reducing reporting variability.

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Purpose: Software has a substantial impact on quantitative perfusion MRI values. The lack of generally accepted implementations, code sharing and transparent testing reduces reproducibility, hindering the use of perfusion MRI in clinical trials. To address these issues, the ISMRM Open Science Initiative for Perfusion Imaging (OSIPI) aimed to establish a community-led, centralized repository for sharing open-source code for processing contrast-based perfusion imaging, incorporating an open-source testing framework.

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A technique for quantifying regional blood-brain barrier (BBB) water exchange rates using contrast-enhanced arterial spin labelling (CE-ASL) is presented and evaluated in simulations and in vivo. The two-compartment ASL model describes the water exchange rate from blood to tissue, , but to estimate in practice it is necessary to separate the intra- and extravascular signals. This is challenging in standard ASL data owing to the small difference in values.

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Background: The incidence and optimal management of rectal prolapse following repair of an anorectal malformation (ARM) has not been well-defined.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed utilizing data from the Pediatric Colorectal and Pelvic Learning Consortium registry. All children with a history of ARM repair were included.

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Objectives: Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a birth defect associated with long-term morbidity. Our objective was to examine longitudinal change in Functional Status Scale (FSS) after hospital discharge in CDH survivors.

Design: Single-center retrospective cohort study.

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Background: Venous malformations (VMs) involving the vulva are rare but often cause debilitating pain, aesthetic concern, and functional impairment. Treatment with medical therapy, sclerotherapy, operative resection, or a combination thereof may be considered. The optimal therapeutic approach remains unclear.

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Blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction occurs in many brain diseases, and there is increasing evidence to suggest that it is an early process in dementia which may be exacerbated by peripheral infection. Filter-exchange imaging (FEXI) is an MRI technique for measuring trans-membrane water exchange. FEXI data is typically analysed using the apparent exchange rate (AXR) model, yielding estimates of the AXR.

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Article Synopsis
  • Recent studies on tissue-resident macrophages highlight differences between C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice, particularly in large-cavity macrophage (LCM) behavior in their pleural cavities.
  • C57BL/6 mice showed effective LCM expansion and monocyte integration upon nematode infection, while BALB/c mice did not demonstrate the same response.
  • Key factors for macrophage differentiation involved T cells and interleukin-4 receptor alpha signaling, with GATA6 macrophages playing a critical role in controlling the body's response to the infection.
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Purpose: To evaluate potential modeling paradigms and the impact of relaxation time effects on human blood-brain barrier (BBB) water exchange measurements using FEXI (BBB-FEXI), and to quantify the accuracy, precision, and repeatability of BBB-FEXI exchange rate estimates at 3 .

Methods: Three modeling paradigms were evaluated: (i) the apparent exchange rate (AXR) model; (ii) a two-compartment model ( ) explicitly representing intra- and extravascular signal components, and (iii) a two-compartment model additionally accounting for finite compartmental and relaxation times ( ). Each model had three free parameters.

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Background/purpose: A small number of Hirschsprung disease (HD) patients develop inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-like symptoms after pullthrough surgery. The etiology and pathophysiology of Hirschsprung-associated IBD (HD-IBD) remains unknown. This study aims to further characterize HD-IBD, to identify potential risk factors and to evaluate response to treatment in a large group of patients.

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