Detection and clinical impact of human leukocyte antigen antibodies in lung transplantation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

There is significant variability in lung transplant centers' approach to HLA antibodies, creating heterogeneity regarding their clinical significance. Some institutions use beads coated with multiple HLA to screen candidate sera and then use single antigen bead (SAB) to determine antibody identity if the pre-screen is positive. Other centers do not pre-screen, using SAB alone, which may detect low-level antibodies of unknown significance.

Extended Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis after Radical Cystectomy: A Call for Adherence to Current Guidelines.

Purpose: Radical cystectomy is inherently associated with morbidity. We assess the timing and incidence of venous thromboembolism, review current guideline recommendations and provide evidence for considering extended venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in all patients undergoing radical cystectomy.

Materials And Methods: We searched PubMed® for available literature on radical cystectomy and venous thromboembolism, focusing on incidence and timing, evidence supporting extended venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in patients undergoing radical cystectomy or abdominal oncologic surgery, current guideline recommendations, safety considerations and direct oral anticoagulants.

A Phase II Clinical Trial of Low-Dose Inhaled Carbon Monoxide in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Background: Preclinical studies have demonstrated that low-dose carbon monoxide (CO) can abrogate experimental lung fibrosis. To test the therapeutic role of inhaled CO, we designed a clinical study in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

Methods: We conducted a multicenter, phase IIa, double-blinded, sham-controlled, clinical trial.

Sleep Sufficiency in Pediatric and Adolescent Tourette's Disorder: National Survey of Children's Health.

Objective: The present study compared sleep sufficiency in youth with current Tourette's disorder (TD), history of TD and matched case controls, and examined predictors of sufficient sleep using a large US population-based survey.

Method: Participants were 673 caregivers of youth aged 6 to 17 years (298 with current TD, 122 with a history of TD with no endorsement of current diagnosis, and 254 matched case controls) from the 2007 and 2011-2012 versions of the National Survey of Children's Health. History and current TD status, current comorbidity (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and depression) and psychiatric medication status were assessed by yes/no items.

Proton Pump Inhibitors Independently Protect Against Early Allograft Injury or Chronic Rejection After Lung Transplantation.

Background: Acid reflux has been associated with poor outcomes following lung transplantation. Unlike surgical fundoplication, the role of noninvasive, pharmacologic acid suppression remains uncertain.

Aims: To assess the relationship between post-transplant acid suppression with proton pump inhibitors (PPI) or histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2RA) and onset of early allograft injury or chronic rejection following lung transplantation.

Comparison of Abiraterone Acetate and Docetaxel with Androgen Deprivation Therapy in High-risk and Metastatic Hormone-naïve Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.

Context: Randomized clinical trials have recently examined the benefit of adding docetaxel or abiraterone to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in hormone-naïve advanced prostate cancer (PCa).

Objective: To perform a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials, indirectly evaluating overall survival (OS) for men treated with abiraterone acetate plus prednisone/prednisolone with ADT (Abi-ADT) versus docetaxel with ADT (Doce-ADT) in hormone-naïve high-risk and metastatic PCa.

Evidence Acquisition: Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, and Clinicaltrials.

Preventing clinical progression and need for treatment in patients on active surveillance for prostate cancer.

Purpose Of Review: Active surveillance is an established treatment option for men with localized, low-risk prostate cancer (CaP). It entails the postponement of immediate therapy with the option of delayed intervention upon disease progression. The rate of clinical progression and need for treatment on active surveillance is approximately 50% over 15 years.

Lymphadenectomy in Gleason 7 prostate cancer: Adherence to guidelines and effect on clinical outcomes.

Background: To examine usage trends, guideline adherence, and survival data for patients undergoing lymphadenectomy (LND) at the time of radical prostatectomy (RP) for Gleason 7 prostate cancer (PCa).

Methods: The SEER database was queried for all patients with nonmetastatic biopsy Gleason 7 PCa from 2004 to 2013. Distribution and trends of LND were analyzed.

Overlapping functions of bone sialoprotein and pyrophosphate regulators in directing cementogenesis.

Although acellular cementum is essential for tooth attachment, factors directing its development and regeneration remain poorly understood. Inorganic pyrophosphate (PP), a mineralization inhibitor, is a key regulator of cementum formation: tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (Alpl/TNAP) null mice (increased PP) feature deficient cementum, while progressive ankylosis protein (Ank/ANK) null mice (decreased PP) feature increased cementum. Bone sialoprotein (Bsp/BSP) and osteopontin (Spp1/OPN) are multifunctional extracellular matrix components of cementum proposed to have direct and indirect effects on cell activities and mineralization.

[ANTI-N-METHYL-D-ASPARTATE (NMDA) ENCEPHALITIS: THE ISRAELI PEDIATRIC MULTI-CENTER EXPERIENCE].

Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) encephalitis is a disorder characterized by acute neuro-psychiatric symptoms, appearing mostly after a recent febrile disease, with a gradual progressive course, associated with laboratory or radiologic evidence of active inflammation. Many of the patients will present with a continuous neuro-cognitive disorder which could lead to major morbidity and even mortality. It was recently reported that this disorder can present at childhood as a primary disease or as a secondary complication of herpes simplex infection.

Bariatric Surgery in Adolescents: Is Routine Nutrient Supplementation Sufficient to Avoid Anemia Following Bariatric Surgery?

Background: Anemia following bariatric surgery is a known complication. To prevent nutrient deficiencies, adolescents require multivitamin/mineral supplementation following bariatric surgery. The purpose of this study was to investigate if routine multivitamin/mineral supplementation is sufficient to prevent anemia in adolescents undergoing bariatric surgery, particularly sleeve gastrectomy (SG), a procedure that may induce nutrient malabsorption.

The "old" 15 mm renal stone size limit for RIRS remains a clinically significant threshold size.

Purpose: To investigate the performance of retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) for the 1-2 cm renal stone size range in comparison to smaller stones.

Materials And Methods: From a data base of 3000 ureteroscopies between 2004 and 2014, 635 consecutive patients underwent RIRS for renal stones. Patients were divided to three groups according to their renal stone size (<10, 10-15, 15-20 mm).

Getting Drugs Across Biological Barriers.

The delivery of drugs to a target site frequently involves crossing biological barriers. The degree and nature of the impediment to flux, as well as the potential approaches to overcoming it, depend on the tissue, the drug, and numerous other factors. Here an overview of approaches that have been taken to crossing biological barriers is presented, with special attention to transdermal drug delivery.

Testosterone Responders to Continuous Androgen Deprivation Therapy Show Considerable Variations in Testosterone Levels on Followup: Implications for Clinical Practice.

Purpose: We determined whether men on continuous androgen deprivation therapy who achieve testosterone less than 0.7 nmol/l demonstrate subsequent testosterone elevations during followup and whether such events predict worse oncologic outcomes.

Materials And Methods: We evaluated a random, retrospective sample of 514 patients with prostate cancer treated with continuous androgen deprivation therapy in whom serum testosterone was less than 0.

Metastatic renal cell carcinoma: Patterns and predictors of metastases-A contemporary population-based series.

Objective: To assess the patterns and predictors of metastatic disease in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) at the time of diagnosis in a contemporary series.

Methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database was queried for all patients with kidney RCC from 2010 to 2013 (N = 50,815). Distribution and predictors of distant metastases at diagnosis were assessed.

Novel imaging in advanced prostate cancer.

Purpose Of Review: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most commonly diagnosed noncutaneous cancer and second leading cause of death in men. Imaging evaluation of PCa is challenging because of the prostate's deep pelvic location, its complex zonal anatomy and its multifocal nature. Novel imaging modalities are needed to improve detection, reassessment in biochemical relapse, and disease progression in advanced metastatic stages.

Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms and Benign Prostate Hyperplasia Features Among Male BRCA Mutation Carriers.

Objective: To analyze lower urinary tract symptoms and benign prostate hyperplasia features among male BRCA1 and 2 carriers and an age-matched control group.

Methods: Male BRCA carriers and noncarriers aged 40-70 years were enrolled in our cross-sectional study. Relevant clinical data were collected, and patients filled the International Prostate Symptom Score.

Chemotherapy may eradicate ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) but not the associated microcalcifications.

Introduction: We studied the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) ± trastuzumab on the ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) component in patients with locally advanced breast cancer who achieved pathological complete response (pCR).

Methods: The diagnostic biopsies of 92 consecutive breast cancer patients that were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) ± trastuzumab were evaluated for the presence of DCIS. Upon completion of NAC, the surgical specimens were evaluated for complete eradication of both the invasive and non-invasive cancer in the breast.

Bi-directional audiovisual influences on temporal modulation discrimination.

Cross-modal interactions of auditory and visual temporal modulation were examined in a game-like experimental framework. Participants observed an audiovisual stimulus (an animated, sound-emitting fish) whose sound intensity and/or visual size oscillated sinusoidally at either 6 or 7 Hz. Participants made speeded judgments about the modulation rate in either the auditory or visual modality while doing their best to ignore information from the other modality.

Use of Traumatic Brain Injury Prediction Rules With Clinical Decision Support.

Objectives: We determined whether implementing the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) traumatic brain injury (TBI) prediction rules and providing risks of clinically important TBIs (ciTBIs) with computerized clinical decision support (CDS) reduces computed tomography (CT) use for children with minor head trauma.

Methods: Nonrandomized trial with concurrent controls at 5 pediatric emergency departments (PEDs) and 8 general EDs (GEDs) between November 2011 and June 2014. Patients were <18 years old with minor blunt head trauma.

Densitometric and local histogram based analysis of computed tomography images in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Background: Prior studies of clinical prognostication in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) using computed tomography (CT) have often used subjective analyses or have evaluated quantitative measures in isolation. This study examined associations between both densitometric and local histogram based quantitative CT measurements with pulmonary function test (PFT) parameters and mortality. In addition, this study sought to compare risk prediction scores that incorporate quantitative CT measures with previously described systems.

Quantitative computed tomography assessment of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome after lung transplantation.

Background: Bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) is a clinical manifestation of chronic allograft rejection following lung transplantation. We examined the quantitative measurements of the proximal airway and vessels and pathologic correlations in subjects with BOS.

Methods: Patients who received a lung transplant at the Brigham and Women's Hospital between December 1, 2002 and December 31, 2010 were included in this study.

A double-blind, randomized, comparative study of the use of a combination of uridine triphosphate trisodium, cytidine monophosphate disodium, and hydroxocobalamin, versus isolated treatment with hydroxocobalamin, in patients presenting with compressive neuralgias.

Context: This paper reports on the results of treatment of compressive neuralgia using a combination of nucleotides (uridine triphosphate trisodium [UTP] and cytidine monophosphate disodium [CMP]) and vitamin B.

Objectives: To assess the safety and efficacy of the combination of nucleotides (UTP and CMP) and vitamin B in patients presenting with neuralgia arising from neural compression associated with degenerative orthopedic alterations and trauma, and to compare these effects with isolated administration of vitamin B.

Methods: A randomized, double-blind, controlled trial, consisting of a 30-day oral treatment period: Group A (n=200) receiving nucleotides + vitamin B and Group B (n=200) receiving vitamin B alone.