Publications by authors named "Gerald Mcgwin"

Purpose: For structure-function research at the transition of aging to age-related macular degeneration, we refined the current consensus optical coherence tomography (OCT) nomenclature and evaluated a novel review software for investigational high-resolution OCT imaging (HR-OCT; <3 µm axial resolution).

Method: Volume electron microscopy, immunolocalizations, histology, and investigational devices informed a refined OCT nomenclature for a custom ImageJ-based review tool to assess retinal band visibility. We examined effects on retinal band visibility of automated real-time averaging (ART) 9 and 100 (11 eyes of 10 healthy young adults), aging (10 young vs 22 healthy aged), and age-related macular degeneration (AMD; 22 healthy aged, 17 early (e)AMD, 15 intermediate (i)AMD).

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Background: Bladder health encompasses total bladder well-being and not merely the absence of urinary symptoms. While much is known about the prevalence of urinary symptoms in women, little is known about the distribution of bladder health (eg, optimal to poor).

Objective: We report the distributions of multiple dimensions of bladder health and function in a population-based sample of community-dwelling women, overall and separately in women without urinary symptoms to begin to explore bladder health dimensions that may precede the onset of symptoms.

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  • - The study aimed to identify helmet use, head injury risks, and factors affecting these among collegiate equestrians at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Equestrian Sports Medicine Collaborative.
  • - Over 50% of participants experienced falls in a year, with concussions being the most reported head injury type; many athletes did not seek medical treatment even after self-reporting concussions.
  • - Findings revealed that experienced riders had a lower incidence of head injuries, but a majority (78%) did not follow guidelines to replace helmets after a fall, indicating a potential gap in safety practices.
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  • The study explores the link between retinal changes from age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and brain structure in older adults, specifically focusing on those aged 70 and above.
  • Participants underwent a series of tests, including cognitive assessments and brain imaging, to analyze the correlation between retinal thickness and brain morphology.
  • Results indicated that thinner outer retinal layers are associated with reduced size and thickness in critical brain areas, suggesting that AMD may have implications for cognitive health and brain aging.
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Background: Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) are typically self-reported ability to perform complex tasks vital for independent living. There is a need for a complementary objective, performance-based approach especially in tracking outcomes in visual rehabilitation for patients with irreversible vision impairment ("low vision"). Our goals are: (1) To describe the validity of timed performance of instrumental activities of daily living (timed IADL or TIADL) tasks in individuals with irreversible vision impairment, by examining its association with visual function (visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, visual field), (2) To explore the correlation between TIADL and self-reported IADL.

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Objectives: To evaluate the outcomes of staged management with external fixation (ex-fix) before definitive fixation of distal femur fractures.

Design: Retrospective cohort.

Setting: Single Level I Trauma Center.

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Background: The most frequent sequelae of pediatric lateral condyle fractures is lateral condyle overgrowth (LCO). The purpose of our study was to investigate LCO in relation to age, quality of reduction, type of fixation, and fracture displacement.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed operatively treated lateral condyle fractures in children.

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Purpose: In AMD, rod-mediated dark adaptation (RMDA) at 5° eccentricity is slower in eyes with subretinal drusenoid deposits (SDDs) than in eyes without. Here we quantified SDD burden using supervised deep learning for comparison to vision and photoreceptor topography.

Methods: In persons ≥60 years from the Alabama Study on Early Age-Related Macular Degeneration 2, normal, early AMD, and intermediate AMD eyes were classified by the AREDS nine-step system.

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Background: Resilience is a psychometric parameter defined as one's ability to recover or bounce back from stressful events and has been shown to correlate with better outcomes following multiple orthopedic procedures. The purpose of this study was to analyze the correlation between resiliency, as measured using the Brief Resiliency Scale (BRS) and various knee outcome scores, including the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), Lysholm, Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE), and Return to Work, following isolated partial meniscectomy.

Methods: One hundred patients who had undergone an isolated partial meniscectomy during a 3-year period at a single institution were successfully recruited to participate in the study.

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Objectives: To determine the effect of obesity on systemic complications after operative pelvic ring injuries.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Single level 1 trauma center.

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Objective: Financial strain and unmet social needs are associated with greater risk for lower urinary tract symptoms. Little research has examined financial strain and unmet social needs in relation to the more holistic concept of bladder health. This study utilizes baseline data from RISE FOR HEALTH: A U.

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  • The study investigates the effectiveness of medial vs. anterior surgical approaches for treating septic arthritis in children and adolescents, specifically focusing on the risk of developing avascular necrosis.
  • A retrospective review of 164 patients over 18 years found that the rate of avascular necrosis was similar between the two approaches: 7.9% overall, with 8.9% for the anterior approach and 6.3% for the medial approach.
  • The conclusion indicates that using the medial approach does not increase the risk of avascular necrosis compared to the anterior approach, providing reassurance for its use in treating pediatric septic hips.
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Purpose: In aging and early-intermediate age-related macular degeneration (AMD), rod-mediated dark adaptation (RMDA) slows more at 5° superior than at 12°. Using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), we asked whether choriocapillaris flow deficits are related to distance from the fovea.

Methods: Persons ≥60 years stratified for AMD via the Age-Related Eye Disease Study's nine-step system underwent RMDA testing.

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Background: Nonoperative management is an appealing option for purely transosseous thoracolumbar flexion-distraction injuries given the prospects of osseous healing and restoration of the posterior tension band complex. This study seeks to examine differences in outcomes following flexion-distraction injuries after operative and nonoperative management.

Methods: This study reviews all patients at a single Level 1 trauma center from 2004 to 2022 with AO Spine B1 thoracolumbar injuries treated operatively vs nonoperatively.

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  • Women with genital pain, especially those experiencing interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS), often have worse bladder health compared to those without pain or with nongenital pain.
  • A study involving 1,973 women revealed that those with genital pain had significantly lower scores in various aspects of bladder health, including bladder function and overall well-being.
  • The findings suggest that healthcare providers should consider evaluating bladder health in women suffering from genital pain to improve their care.
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Prcis: Diagnosis of glaucoma through telemedicine demonstrates moderate agreement with in-person ophthalmologist (MD) and in-person optometrist (OD) diagnosis, providing evidence that telemedicine is a timely, accurate screening method in settings where an in-person visit may not be feasible.

Objective: To compare diagnostic agreement of glaucoma between in-person MD, in-person OD, and a simulated telemedicine program.

Patients And Methods: A cross-sectional study of patients with normal optic nerve structural and functional imaging and new patients referred for glaucoma evaluation examined in-person by an MD for glaucoma with a dilated examination and structural and functional optic nerve testing (optical coherence tomography, photos, and visual field); examined in person by an OD with a dilated examination and optic nerve testing; and structural and functional optic nerve testing reviewed separately by 2 ophthalmologists [telemedicine ophthalmologist reviewer 1 (TMD1), telemedicine ophthalmologist reviewer 2 (TMD2)] with masking of prior MD and OD diagnoses.

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Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the association between physical therapists' recommended number of visits for a full recovery from common orthopedic injuries/surgeries and the extent of insurance coverage for these visits.

Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted with board-certified physical therapists. A qualitative questionnaire was used to gather physical therapists' demographics and the recommended number of physical therapy visits to achieve a full recovery after 11 common orthopedic diagnoses.

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Purpose: Accumulating case reports and series have suggested that teprotumumab may significantly increase the risk of hearing impairment that, in some cases, does not resolve. This study investigates the association between hearing impairment and teprotumumab use.

Methods: A disproportionality analysis was conducted using the United States Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System, a publicly accessible database used for postmarketing surveillance and research.

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Purpose: Research on Alzheimer's disease (AD) and precursor states demonstrates a thinner retinal nerve fiber layer (NFL) compared to age-similar controls. Because AD and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) both impact older adults and share risk factors, we asked if retinal layer thicknesses, including NFL, are associated with cognition in AMD.

Methods: Adults ≥ 70 years with normal retinal aging, early AMD, or intermediate AMD per Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) nine-step grading of color fundus photography were enrolled in a cross-sectional study.

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Purpose: We aimed to estimate the prevalence of a wide range of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in US women, and explore associations with bother and discussion with health care providers, friends, and family.

Materials And Methods: We analyzed baseline data collected from May 2022 to December 2023 in the RISE FOR HEALTH study-a large, regionally representative cohort study of adult female community members. LUTS and related bother were measured by the 10-item Symptoms of Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction Research Network Symptom Index, and discussion was assessed by a study-specific item.

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Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) play a crucial role as safety-net primary health care clinics in the United States, serving medically underserved areas and populations. However, eye services are rarely offered at FQHCs. We examined how telemedicine-generated ocular diagnoses impacted vision-targeted health-related quality of life at FQHCs in rural Alabama.

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Objective: We aimed to compare outcomes including seizure-free status at the last follow-up in adult patients with medically refractory focal epilepsy identified as lesional vs. non-lesional based on their magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings who underwent invasive evaluation followed by subsequent resection or thermal ablation (LiTT).

Methods: We identified 88 adult patients who underwent intracranial monitoring between 2014 and 2021.

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Introduction: The aims of the study were to describe baseline quantitative (short-wavelength) autofluorescence (qAF) findings in a large pseudophakic cohort at age-related macular degeneration (AMD)'s beginnings and to assess qAF8 as an outcome measure and evaluate Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) and Beckman grading systems.

Methods: In the ALSTAR2 baseline cohort (NCT04112667), 346 pseudophakic eyes of 188 persons (74.0 ± 5.

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Prcis: Targeted glaucoma screenings in populations with high levels of poverty and high proportions of people who identify as African American or Hispanic/Latino identified a 27% rate of glaucoma and suspected glaucoma, which is 3 times the national average.

Purpose: To describe the neighborhood-level social risk factors across the 3 SIGHT Study sites and assess potential characteristics of these populations to help other researchers effectively design and implement targeted glaucoma community-based screening and follow-up programs in high-risk groups.

Methods/results: In 2019, Columbia University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham each received 5 years of CDC funding to test a wide spectrum of targeted telehealth delivery methods to detect glaucoma in community-based health delivery settings among high-risk populations.

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Background: Irrigation is used to minimize infection of open wounds. Sterile saline is preferred, but potable water is becoming more widely accepted. However, the large volumes of water that are recommended are usually not available in austere environments.

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