The Impact of Health Insurance on Mortality.

A 2008 review in the considered the question of whether health insurance improves health. The answer was a cautious yes because few studies provided convincing causal evidence. We revisit this question by focusing on a single outcome: mortality.

Treatment Strategies for Intermediate Spinal Instability Neoplastic Score (SINS 7-12) Patients: A Systematic Review.

Background: The Spinal Instability Neoplastic Score (SINS) is used in determining instability in patients with spinal metastases. Intermediate scores of 7 to 12 suggest possible instability, but there are no clear guidelines to address patients with these scores.

Methods: We searched in PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases for studies that included patient demographics, tumor histology, surgical or radiotherapy management, and outcomes of patients with intermediate SINS.

Intestinal Ultrasound Measures are Strongly Correlated With Small Bowel Endoscopic Lewis Score in Active Crohn's Disease.

Background: Small bowel video capsule endoscopy (SB-VCE) assesses mucosal inflammation in Crohn's disease (CD), while intestinal ultrasound (IUS) examines transmural involvement. We aimed to correlate SB-VCE with IUS in evaluating active CD and monitoring treatment response over time.

Methods: Patients with active SB-CD who initiated biologics were prospectively followed with fecal calprotectin (FC), SB-VCE, and IUS at baseline and after 14 and 52 weeks.

The Impact of Unilateral Transfemoral Amputation on Lumbar Bone and Muscle Quality.

Objective: To examine the long-term perioperative changes in lumbar bone density, muscle size and fatty atrophy, and facet degeneration after transfemoral amputation (TFA).

Design: All patients who underwent TFA at an academic center between 2002-2022 were retrospectively identified. Patients were required to have preoperative and postoperative CT (>1 year) and regularly utilize a prosthesis.

Closing the Gaps: Testing the Efficacy of Carbapenem and Cephalosporin Treatments of Late-Stage Anthrax in Rabbits.

Anthrax is a fatal zoonotic disease caused by exposure to spores. The CDC's guidelines divide anthrax treatment into three categories according to disease progression: post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), systemic, and systemic with a suspicion of CNS infection. While the prognosis for PEP or the early treatment of systemic anthrax is very good, ingress of the bacteria into the CNS poses a substantial clinical challenge.