Publications by authors named "Huen K"

Background: Patients with neurogenic bladder are at risk of developing renal deterioration secondary to increased intravesical pressures. To date, urodynamics is the gold standard test to properly assess bladder dynamics. Home bladder manometry is a low-cost and simple method to evaluate bladder pressures and volumes during clean intermittent catheterization (CIC).

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Purpose: We aim to estimate the odds of UTI-related hospital care in spina bifida (SB) patients aged 18 to 25 years as compared with patients with SB in adolescence (11-17 years) or adulthood (26-35 years). We hypothesize that patients with SB in the typical transitional age, 18 to 25 years, will have higher odds of UTI-related hospital care as compared to adolescent SB patients or adult SB patients.

Materials And Methods: Using Cerner Real-World Data, we performed a retrospective cohort analysis comparing SB patients to age- and gender-matched controls.

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Undescended testis is the most common genital disorder identified at birth. Boys who do not have spontaneous descent of the testis at 6 months of age, adjusted for gestational age, should be referred to pediatric urology for timely orchiopexy. Retractile testes are at risk for secondary ascent of the testes and should be monitored by physical examination annually.

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Article Synopsis
  • Seasonal variations at birth can influence DNA methylation, which may affect health outcomes over a person’s lifetime.
  • A study involving multiple cohorts discovered specific DNA methylation patterns linked to different birth seasons, revealing 26 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) at birth and 32 in childhood.
  • Results suggested that geographic latitude plays a role in these associations, linking certain genes to conditions like schizophrenia and asthma, particularly in infants born in higher latitudes (≥50°N).
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Objective: To compare the surgical outcomes and complications of boys who underwent double-face onlay-tube-onlay transverse preputial island flap (DFOTO) one-stage repair vs. two-stage repair for proximal hypospadias.

Study Design: Males with proximal hypospadias who underwent DFOTO or two-stage repair at a single institution from 2008 to 2021 were identified.

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Introduction And Objective: Optimal means to correct ventral curvature (VC) is debated. Our preferred technique for curvature greater than 45° is corporoplasty using tunica vaginalis flap (TVF). We describe our complications with TVF for ventral lengthening.

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Background: Cryptorchidism is one of the most common reasons for pediatric urology referral and one of the few pediatric urologic conditions in which there are established AUA guidelines that recommend orchiopexy be performed before 18 months of age. While access to timely orchiopexy has been studied previously, there is no current study with data from a national clinical database evaluating timely orchiopexy after the AUA guidelines were published. Additionally, prior studies on delayed orchiopexy may have included patients with an ascended testis, which is a distinct population from those with true undescended testicles.

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Gestational age (GA) is an important determinant of child health and disease risk. Two epigenetic GA clocks have been developed using DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns in cord blood. We investigate the accuracy of GA clocks and determinants of epigenetic GA acceleration (GAA), a biomarker of biological ageing.

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Background: Single-layer ACell Cytal matrix (ACell Inc, Columbia, MD) is a commercially available, acellular scaffold derived from porcine bladder epithelial basement membrane and tunica propria. We describe our initial experience using Cytal as corporal graft in pediatric patients who underwent correction of ventral curvature in proximal hypospadias repair.

Methods: A retrospective review of a single-institution, 4 surgeon hypospadias database was performed between January 2020 and December 2021.

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Background: Patients with spina bifida are at risk for developing bladder and renal deterioration secondary to increased bladder storage pressures.

Objectives: To determine the association of home bladder volume and pressure measurements (home manometry) to: 1) detrusor storage pressures on urodynamics (UDS); and 2) the presence of Society of Fetal Urology (SFU) grades 3-4 hydronephrosis on renal bladder ultrasound in patients with spina bifida.

Methods: Data were prospectively collected on patients with spina bifida and neurogenic bladder requiring clean intermittent catheterization.

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Epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) are widely implemented in epidemiology, and the Illumina HumanMethylationEPIC BeadChip (EPIC) DNA microarray is the most-used technology. Recently, next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based methods, which assess DNA methylation at single-base resolution, have become more affordable and technically feasible. While the content of microarray technology is fixed, NGS-based approaches, such as the Roche Nimblegen, SeqCap Epi Enrichment System (SeqCap), offer the flexibility of targeting most CpGs in a gene.

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Article Synopsis
  • Research shows that children exhibit sex-specific differences in disease prevalence, onset age, and susceptibility, potentially linked to DNA methylation variations.
  • A meta-analysis of 8438 newborns and 4268 older children found significant differences in DNA methylation at nearly 47,000 CpG sites, with males generally showing lower methylation than females.
  • The study identified additional methylation sites related to conditions like cancer and psychiatric disorders, emphasizing the role of DNA methylation in understanding health disparities between sexes.
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Smoking-associated DNA methylation (DNAm) signatures are reproducible among studies of mostly European descent, with mixed evidence if smoking accelerates epigenetic aging and its relationship to longevity. We evaluated smoking-associated DNAm signatures in the Costa Rican Study on Longevity and Healthy Aging (CRELES), including participants from the high longevity region of Nicoya. We measured genome-wide DNAm in leukocytes, tested Epigenetic Age Acceleration (EAA) from five clocks and estimates of telomere length (DNAmTL), and examined effect modification by the high longevity region.

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Cognitive skills are a strong predictor of a wide range of later life outcomes. Genetic and epigenetic associations across the genome explain some of the variation in general cognitive abilities in the general population and it is plausible that epigenetic associations might arise from prenatal environmental exposures and/or genetic variation early in life. We investigated the association between cord blood DNA methylation at birth and cognitive skills assessed in children from eight pregnancy cohorts within the Pregnancy And Childhood Epigenetics (PACE) Consortium across overall (total N = 2196), verbal (total N = 2206) and non-verbal cognitive scores (total N = 3300).

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The anterior sagittal trans-ano-rectal approach (ASTRA) provides excellent exposure to the urethra and vagina for partial or total urogenital sinus mobilization and subsequent reconstruction for patients with urogenital sinus anomalies. It is a frequent approach to reconstruction for children with a high confluence. However, the division of the anterior anal external sphincter and the rectal wall in the ASTRA incurs morbidity, which include fecal incontinence if one veers from the midline, and increased risk of wound infection due to fecal soilage.

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Importance: Essential workers in agriculture and food production have been severely affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: To identify risk factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection among farmworkers in California.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study invited farmworkers in California's Salinas Valley (Monterey County) receiving transcription-mediated amplification (TMA) tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection at federally qualified community clinics and community sites to participate.

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Exposures to phthalates, parabens, and other phenols are often correlated due to their ubiquitous use in personal care products and plastics. Examining these compounds as a complex mixture may clarify inconsistent relationships between individual chemicals and childhood adiposity. Using data from the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) study, a longitudinal cohort of children in Salinas Valley, California ( = 309), we examined biomarkers of 11 phthalate metabolites and 9 phenols, including several parabens and bisphenol A, measured in maternal urine at two time points during pregnancy.

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During the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, farmworkers in the United States are considered essential personnel and continue in-person work. We conducted prospective surveillance for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and antibody prevalence among farmworkers in Salinas Valley, California, during June 15-November 30, 2020. We observed 22.

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Introduction And Objective: 50-80% of term newborns develop jaundice, or hyperbilirubinemia (HB), in their first week. The vast majority have benign etiologies, including physiologic jaundice of the newborn and breast milk/breastfeeding jaundice, which do not affect the synthetic capacity of the liver, thus conferring a low risk of peri-procedural bleeding. Though uncommon, HB in the setting of sepsis, biliary obstruction, or metabolic disease, may increase procedural bleeding risk.

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Article Synopsis
  • DNA methylation in childhood and adolescence shows significant correlations with body mass index (BMI), suggesting potential early indicators of obesity.
  • Analysis involved cord blood and whole blood measurements from up to 4,133 children in various studies, indicating the importance of age-specific patterns in dietary and physical health.
  • Findings reveal that as children age, the strength of the associations between DNA methylation and BMI increases, emphasizing the potential for using methylation patterns in obesity prevention strategies.
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