How to use X-ray templating to guide minimally invasive screw removal.

A How to Do It article describing the use of X-ray templating to guide minimally invasive surgical screw removal. By calibrating X-ray measurements using the screw itself as a template marker, we propose a method to reduce incision size and operative time to minimise the risks associated with screw removal.

Impact of switching from digital mammography to tomosynthesis plus digital mammography on breast cancer screening in Alberta, Canada.

Objectives: To compare abnormal call rates (ACR), cancer detection rates (CDR), positive predictive values (PPVs), and annual return to screen recommendations after switching from digital mammography (DM) to digital breast tomosynthesis plus DM (DBT + DM) for breast cancer screening.

Setting: The Alberta Breast Cancer Screening Program collects screening data from clinics throughout the province of Alberta, Canada.

Methods: This study retrospectively collected data, between 2015 and 2018, on women aged 40+ who underwent breast cancer screening at two large volume multisite radiology groups to compare metrics one year prior and one year after DBT + DM implementation.

COVID-19 infection among international travellers: a prospective analysis.

Objectives: This report estimates the risk of COVID-19 importation and secondary transmission associated with a modified quarantine programme in Canada.

Design And Participants: Prospective analysis of international asymptomatic travellers entering Alberta, Canada.

Interventions: All participants were required to receive a PCR COVID-19 test on arrival.

Improving follow-up testing in children with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli through provision of a provider information sheet.

The aim of this study was to improve follow-up laboratory testing for children infected by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) through the provision of an information sheet to healthcare providers in the province of Alberta, Canada. An information sheet recommending the performance of laboratory tests, every 24-48h until 3 days after diarrhoea resolves or the platelet count stabilises or begins to rise, was sent to all physicians who ordered a STEC-positive stool test as of 1 November 2016. The information sheet was only distributed to physicians in one of the province's five healthcare delivery zones (i.

Lisfranc Fixation Techniques and Postoperative Functional Outcomes: A Systematic Review.

The optimal method of fixation of acute Lisfranc injuries is yet to be established. We aim to systematically review the literature to identify the impact of fixation method on postoperative functional outcomes. A systematic review was undertaken using the PRISMA framework to identify all studies reporting postoperative functional outcomes in patients who underwent open-reduction internal fixation of acute Lisfranc injuries.

Differential Effect of Genetic Burden on Disease Phenotypes in Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis in a Canadian Cohort.

Background And Aims: Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) demonstrate considerable phenotypic heterogeneity and course. Accurate predictors of disease behaviour are lacking. The contribution of genetics and specific polymorphisms is widely appreciated; however, their cumulative effect(s) upon disease behaviour remains poorly understood.

Preoperative Ustekinumab Treatment Is Not Associated With Increased Postoperative Complications in Crohn's Disease: A Canadian Multi-Centre Observational Cohort Study.

Background: Ustekinumab (UST), an anti-IL12/23 inhibitor is indicated for moderate-to-severe Crohn's disease (CD). However, it is unclear if patients treated with UST are at increased risk for postoperative complications.

Aim: To evaluate the postoperative safety outcomes in UST-treated CD patients.

Primary biliary cholangitis patients exhibit MRI changes in structure and function of interoceptive brain regions.

Background: Many patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) experience non-hepatic symptoms that are possibly linked to altered interoception, the sense of the body's internal state. We used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine if PBC patients exhibit structural and functional changes of the thalamus and insula, brain regions that process signals related to interoception.

Methods: Fifteen PBC patients with mild disease and 17 controls underwent 3 Tesla T1-weighted MRI, resting-state functional MRI, and quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM), to measure thalamic and insular volume, neuronal activity and iron deposition, respectively.

Magnetic resonance imaging evidence of hippocampal structural changes in patients with primary biliary cholangitis.

Introduction: Behavioral symptoms are commonly reported by patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). In other patient populations, symptoms are commonly associated with hippocampal volume reduction linked to neuroinflammation (inferred from regional iron deposition), as demonstrated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We hypothesized that PBC patients would exhibit reduced volume and increased iron deposition of the hippocampus.

Primary Biliary Cholangitis Alters Functional Connections of the Brain's Deep Gray Matter.

Objectives: Fatigue, itch, depressed mood, and cognitive impairment significantly impact the quality of life of many patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). Previous neuroimaging studies of non-hepatic diseases suggest that these symptoms are often associated with dysfunction of deep gray matter brain regions. We used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) to determine whether PBC patients exhibit altered functional connections of deep gray matter.

Validation of coding algorithms for the identification of patients hospitalized for alcoholic hepatitis using administrative data.

Background: Epidemiologic studies of alcoholic hepatitis (AH) have been hindered by the lack of a validated International Classification of Disease (ICD) coding algorithm for use with administrative data. Our objective was to validate coding algorithms for AH using a hospitalization database.

Methods: The Hospital Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) was used to identify consecutive adults (≥18 years) hospitalized in the Calgary region with a diagnosis code for AH (ICD-10, K70.

Inclusion of Sarcopenia Within MELD (MELD-Sarcopenia) and the Prediction of Mortality in Patients With Cirrhosis.

Objectives: Limitations of the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score include its failure to assess the nutritional and functional status of cirrhotic patients. Our objectives were to evaluate the impact of sarcopenia in cirrhosis and whether the inclusion of muscularity assessment within MELD could improve the prediction of mortality in patients with cirrhosis.

Methods: We included 669 cirrhotic patients who were consecutively evaluated for liver transplantation.

Risk factors for mortality in patients with alcoholic hepatitis and assessment of prognostic models: A population-based study.

Background: Severe alcoholic hepatitis (AH) is associated with a substantial risk for short-term mortality.

Objectives: To identify prognostic factors and validate well-known prognostic models in a Canadian population of patients hospitalized for AH.

Methods: In the present retrospective study, patients hospitalized for AH in Calgary, Alberta, between January 2008 and August 2012 were included.

Liver stiffness by transient elastography predicts liver-related complications and mortality in patients with chronic liver disease.

Background: Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by transient elastography (TE, FibroScan) is a validated method for noninvasively staging liver fibrosis. Most hepatic complications occur in patients with advanced fibrosis. Our objective was to determine the ability of LSM by TE to predict hepatic complications and mortality in a large cohort of patients with chronic liver disease.

The feasibility and reliability of transient elastography using Fibroscan®: a practice audit of 2335 examinations.

Background: Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) using transient elastography is widely used in the management of patients with chronic liver disease.

Objectives: To examine the feasibility and reliability of LSM, and to identify patient and operator characteristics predictive of poorly reliable results.

Methods: The present retrospective study investigated the frequency and determinants of poorly reliable LSM (interquartile range [IQR]⁄median LSM [IQR⁄M] >30% with median liver stiffness ≥7.

Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt vs endoscopic therapy in preventing variceal rebleeding.

Aim: To compare early use of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) with endoscopic treatment (ET) for the prophylaxis of recurrent variceal bleeding.

Methods: In-patient data were collected from 190 patients between January 2007 and June 2010 who suffured from variceal bleeding. Patients who were older than 75 years; previously received surgical treatment or endoscopic therapy for variceal bleeding; and complicated with hepatic encephalopathy or hepatic cancer, were excluded from this research.

The arterial supply of the patellar tendon: anatomical study with clinical implications for knee surgery.

The middle-third of the patellar tendon (PT) is well-established as a potential graft for cruciate ligament reconstruction, but there is little anatomical basis for its use. Although studies on PT vascular anatomy have focused on the risk to tendon pedicles from surgical approaches and knee pathophysiology, the significance of its blood supply to grafting has not been adequately explored previously. This investigation explores both the intrinsic and extrinsic arterial anatomy of the PT, as relevant to the PT graft.

A comparative anatomical study of brachioradialis and flexor carpi ulnaris muscles: implications for total tongue reconstruction.

Background: Total or subtotal glossectomy following resection of intraoral tumors causes significant morbidity. Recent surgical endeavors have focused on the creation of a neotongue with both sensory and motor innervation. Although various local or regional free flaps have been used for this purpose, the optimal donor site remains undecided.