The Management of Dysfunctional Gallbladder Disease and the Role of Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy on Symptom Improvement: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background Biliary dyskinesia (BD) is a disorder characterised by abdominal pain of biliary origin (i.e., sudden steady pain at the right upper quadrant of the abdomen or the epigastrium, the absence of gallstones on ultrasound (US)), and a decreased gallbladder ejection fraction (GBEF) on a cholecystokinin-cholescintigraphy hepatobiliary iminodiacetic acid (CCK-HIDA) scan.

Perioperative Adverse Outcome and Its Predictors After Emergency Laparotomy Among Sigmoid Volvulus Patients: Retrospective Follow-Up Study.

Background: Acute sigmoid volvulus is a surgical emergency with closed-loop obstruction of the colon that often requires emergency laparotomy, which is associated with a multitude of post-operative complications. Although sigmoid volvulus is the main cause of intestinal obstruction in Ethiopia, local studies of its management outcomes are limited.

Objective: To assess the magnitude and predictors of adverse perioperative outcomes of emergency laparotomy for acute sigmoid volvulus in the Debre Markos Comprehensive Specialized Hospital (DMCSH), Amhara region, Ethiopia in 2023.

Microbiome and Colorectal Cancer Management.

Globally, colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most typical lethal cancers. One of the main factors for better outcomes in CRC management is the early detection of the disease. As an integral component of human metabolism and homeostasis, gut microbiome has recently been a subject of extensive research for its role in the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of CRC.

Diffusion-weighted imaging uncovers likely sources of processing-speed deficits in schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia, a devastating psychiatric illness with onset in the late teens to early 20s, is thought to involve disrupted brain connectivity. Functional and structural disconnections of cortical networks may underlie various cognitive deficits, including a substantial reduction in the speed of information processing in schizophrenia patients compared with controls. Myelinated white matter supports the speed of electrical signal transmission in the brain.

White Matter Integrity in High-Altitude Pilots Exposed to Hypobaria.

Introduction: Nonhypoxic hypobaric (low atmospheric pressure) occupational exposure, such as experienced by U.S. Air Force U-2 pilots and safety personnel operating inside altitude chambers, is associated with increased subcortical white matter hyperintensity (WMH) burden.

Heritability of complex white matter diffusion traits assessed in a population isolate.

Introduction: Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) methods can noninvasively ascertain cerebral microstructure by examining pattern and directions of water diffusion in the brain. We calculated heritability for DWI parameters in cerebral white (WM) and gray matter (GM) to study the genetic contribution to the diffusion signals across tissue boundaries.

Methods: Using Old Order Amish (OOA) population isolate with large family pedigrees and high environmental homogeneity, we compared the heritability of measures derived from three representative DWI methods targeting the corpus callosum WM and cingulate gyrus GM: diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), the permeability-diffusivity (PD) model, and the neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) model.

The common genetic influence over processing speed and white matter microstructure: Evidence from the Old Order Amish and Human Connectome Projects.

Speed with which brain performs information processing influences overall cognition and is dependent on the white matter fibers. To understand genetic influences on processing speed and white matter FA, we assessed processing speed and diffusion imaging fractional anisotropy (FA) in related individuals from two populations. Discovery analyses were performed in 146 individuals from large Old Order Amish (OOA) families and findings were replicated in 485 twins and siblings of the Human Connectome Project (HCP).