The Status of Cadaver-Based Anatomy Instruction in Missouri Medical Schools.

Cadaveric dissection has been a foundational principle of medical anatomic education for the last 400 years, yet medical anatomy course hours have been drastically reduced in the last decades. With this course reduction and the availability of other modalities for anatomic instruction, the physician may question the current role of cadavers in medical anatomy courses. This study aims to evaluate the role cadaveric dissection plays in anatomy programs in allopathic and osteopathic medical schools in Missouri and compare course hours to the national trend.

Effect of Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty on the Fellow Eye.

Aim: Determine if selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) affects the fellow eye's intraocular pressure (IOP).

Materials And Methods: A retrospective review of 76 pairs of eyes from 76 adult glaucoma patients who underwent SLT in one eye with at least 2 months between treatments were evaluated for IOP and medication reduction in the untreated fellow eye. Success was defined as ≥20% IOP reduction or ≥1 medication reduction without any additional IOP lowering procedures or medication.

Rate and durability of the clearance of HBsAg in Alaska Native persons with long-term HBV infection: 1982-2019.

Background And Aims: A functional cure and therapeutic end point of chronic HBV infection is defined as the clearance of HBsAg from serum. Little is known about the long-term durability of HBsAg loss in the Alaskan Native population.

Approach And Results: We performed a retrospective cohort study of Alaska Native patients with chronic HBV-monoinfection from January 1982 through December 2019.

Autoimmune hepatitis and overlap syndrome among Alaska Native people: Prevalence, clinical characteristics, and remission.

Background And Aim: High autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and overlap syndrome (OS) prevalence have been previously documented among Alaska Native people. The purpose of this project is to report changes in AIH/OS prevalence over time, clinical characteristics, and factors associated with biochemical remission.

Methods: We reviewed medical records for Alaska Native/American Indian (AN/AI) patients diagnosed with AIH/OS between 1984 and 2021.

Transcription factor genetics and biology in predisposition to bone marrow failure and hematological malignancy.

Transcription factors (TFs) play a critical role as key mediators of a multitude of developmental pathways, with highly regulated and tightly organized networks crucial for determining both the timing and pattern of tissue development. TFs can act as master regulators of both primitive and definitive hematopoiesis, tightly controlling the behavior of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). These networks control the functional regulation of HSPCs including self-renewal, proliferation, and differentiation dynamics, which are essential to normal hematopoiesis.

Comparison of HBV DNA and RNA markers in Alaska Native people who did and did not clear hepatitis B surface antigen.

In a comparison between 50 Alaska Native persons with chronic hepatitis B who cleared HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) and 50 Alaska Native age-, sex-, and HBV genotype-matched controls, we found differences in changes in HBV DNA and HBV RNA levels over time but no difference in hepatitis B core-related antigen. These findings suggest that serial HBV DNA and HBV RNA may be associated with HBV functional cure defined by HBsAg clearance.

Endothelial MRs Mediate Western Diet-Induced Lipid Disorders and Skeletal Muscle Insulin Resistance in Females.

Consumption of a Western diet (WD) consisting of excess fat and carbohydrates activates the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, which has emerged as an important risk factor for systemic and tissue insulin resistance. We recently discovered that activated mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs) in diet-induced obesity induce CD36 expression, increase ectopic lipid accumulation, and result in systemic and tissue insulin resistance. Here, we have further investigated whether endothelial cell (EC)-specific MR (ECMR) activation participates in WD-induced ectopic skeletal muscle lipid accumulation, insulin resistance, and dysfunction.

Hereditary platelet disorders associated with germ line variants in RUNX1, ETV6, and ANKRD26.

Hereditary platelet disorders (HPDs) are a group of blood disorders with variable severity and clinical impact. Although phenotypically there is much overlap, known genetic causes are many, prompting the curation of multigene panels for clinical use, which are being deployed in increasingly large-scale populations to uncover missing heritability more efficiently. For some of these disorders, in particular RUNX1, ETV6, and ANKRD26, pathogenic germ line variants in these genes also come with a risk of developing hematological malignancy (HM).

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant outcomes in adults with inherited myeloid malignancies.

There is increasing recognition that pathogenic germ line variants drive the development of hematopoietic cancers in many individuals. Currently, patients with hereditary hematologic malignancies (HHMs) receive similar standard therapies and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) approaches as those with sporadic disease. We hypothesize that patients with myeloid malignancies and deleterious germ line predisposition variants have different posttransplant outcomes than those without such alleles.

Bilateral lower extremity gait and function after unilateral total ankle arthroplasty: a case report.

Background: End-stage ankle osteoarthritis is one of the leading causes of chronic disability in North America. The main purpose of this case report was to describe the functional recovery of a person following total ankle arthroplasty (TAA) surgery using the INFINITY™ system for end stage osteoarthritis of the left ankle.

Case Description: We report a case of a 55-year-old male who had attempted conservative management for end stage ankle osteoarthritis in his left ankle but ultimately elected to undergo TAA using The INFINITY™ Total Ankle System.

The Alaska Native/American Indian experience of hepatitis C treatment with sofosbuvir-based direct-acting antivirals.

Background: Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) drugs have been effective in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Limited data are available on safety, tolerability, and efficacy in American Indian or Alaska Native people. We aim to evaluate the treatment outcomes of sofosbuvir- based regimens for treatment of HCV in a real life setting in Alaska Native/American Indian (AN/AI) people.

GATA2 deficiency syndrome: A decade of discovery.

GATA2 deficiency syndrome (G2DS) is a rare autosomal dominant genetic disease predisposing to a range of symptoms, of which myeloid malignancy and immunodeficiency including recurrent infections are most common. In the last decade since it was first reported, there have been over 480 individuals identified carrying a pathogenic or likely pathogenic germline GATA2 variant with symptoms of G2DS, with 240 of these confirmed to be familial and 24 de novo. For those that develop myeloid malignancy (75% of all carriers with G2DS disease symptoms), the median age of onset is 17 years (range 0-78 years) and myelodysplastic syndrome is the first diagnosis in 75% of these cases with acute myeloid leukemia in a further 9%.

HBV Genotype: A Significant Risk Factor in Determining Which Patients With Chronic HBV Infection Should Undergo Surveillance for HCC: The Hepatitis B Alaska Study.

Background And Aims: Information is limited regarding HBV genotype and the outcome of chronic HBV (CHB) infection. We examined the effect of HBV genotype on HCC occurrence in Alaska Native (AN) persons with CHB, where five HBV genotypes are found: A2, B6, C2, D, and F1.

Approach And Results: We calculated HCC incidence per 1,000 person-years of follow-up to determine which groups by age, sex, and genotype met current American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) HCC surveillance criteria.

Disrupted Excitatory Synaptic Contacts and Altered Neuronal Network Activity Underpins the Neurological Phenotype in PCDH19-Clustering Epilepsy (PCDH19-CE).

PCDH19-Clustering Epilepsy (PCDH19-CE) is an infantile onset disorder caused by mutation of the X-linked PCDH19 gene. Intriguingly, heterozygous females are affected while hemizygous males are not. While there is compelling evidence that this disorder stems from the coexistence of WT and PCDH19-null cells, the cellular mechanism underpinning the neurological phenotype remains unclear.

Quantitative Methods for Analyzing Intimate Partner Violence in Microblogs: Observational Study.

Background: Social media is a rich, virtually untapped source of data on the dynamics of intimate partner violence, one that is both global in scale and intimate in detail.

Objective: The aim of this study is to use machine learning and other computational methods to analyze social media data for the reasons victims give for staying in or leaving abusive relationships.

Methods: Human annotation, part-of-speech tagging, and machine learning predictive models, including support vector machines, were used on a Twitter data set of 8767 #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft tweets each.

Vaccination Status of Alaska Native Persons With Hepatitis A Virus Infection-Alaska, 1996-2018.

Following increases in reported cases of hepatitis A, we assessed the impact of hepatitis A vaccine in Alaska Native persons. During 1996-2018, only 6 cases of hepatitis A were identified, all in unvaccinated adults. Populations can be protected against hepatitis A by achieving sufficient vaccination coverage over time.

Immunogenicity of the hepatitis A vaccine 20 years after infant immunization.

To determine the duration of immunity provided by the Hepatitis A vaccination (HepA), we evaluated a cohort of participants in Alaska 20 years after being immunized as infants. At recruitment, participants received two doses of inactivated HepA vaccine on one of three schedules. We conducted hepatitis A antibody (anti-HAV) testing for participants at the 20-year time-point.

Public knowledge and attitudes towards bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in Ghana, West Africa.

Background And Objectives: Early bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is one of the most important predictors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) survival. There is a dearth of literature on CPR engagement in countries such as Ghana, where cardiovascular events are increasingly prevalent. In this study, we sought to evaluate Ghanaians' knowledge of and attitudes towards bystander CPR, in the context of the country's nascent emergency medicine network.

RUNX1-mutated families show phenotype heterogeneity and a somatic mutation profile unique to germline predisposed AML.

First reported in 1999, germline runt-related transcription factor 1 (RUNX1) mutations are a well-established cause of familial platelet disorder with predisposition to myeloid malignancy (FPD-MM). We present the clinical phenotypes and genetic mutations detected in 10 novel RUNX1-mutated FPD-MM families. Genomic analyses on these families detected 2 partial gene deletions, 3 novel mutations, and 5 recurrent mutations as the germline RUNX1 alterations leading to FPD-MM.