A Two-decade Assessment of Changing Practice for Surgical Decompression and Fixation after Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury - Impact on Healthcare Utilization and Cost.

Early surgery after traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) has been associated with a greater neurological recovery and reduced secondary complications. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the trend of early TSCI surgery (within 24 hours) over two decades and the effect on length of hospitalization, complications, and hospital charges. We extracted emergency admissions of adults diagnosed with TSCI from the National Inpatient Sample database (1998-2016).

Concurrent Validity and Comparative Responsiveness of PROMIS-SF Versus Legacy Measures in the Cervical and Lumbar Spine Population: Longitudinal Analysis from Baseline to Postsurgery.

Background: The aim of our study was to evaluate the change in Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) scores at baseline, 3 months, and 12 months postprocedure and correlate with legacy measures.

Methods: We analyzed patients in 3 cohorts: lumbar, cervical, and the pooled cohort from our database, 2014-2017. Outcome variables were PROMIS items of pain interference, emotional distress and physical function, EuroQol 5 dimensions, visual analog scale, Oswestry Disability Index/Neck Disability Index, back, leg/neck and arm pain scales, and Patient Satisfaction Index.

Incidence and Risk Factors for Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Infection after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.

Allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) recipients are at risk of many infections. Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are increasingly recognized as clinically significant pathogens in this population. We investigated the incidence and risk factors for NTM infection after allogeneic HCT.

Dynamic links between emerging cognitive skills and brain processes.

The goal of the present study was to investigate whether advanced cognitive skills in one domain impact the neural processing of unrelated skills in a different cognitive domain. This question is related to the broader issue of how cognitive-neurodevelopment proceeds as different skills are mastered. To address this goal, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were used to assess linkages between cognitive skills of preschool children as reflected in their performance on a pre-reading screening test (Get Ready To Read) and their neural responses while engaged in a geometric shape matching task.

Letter knowledge, phonological processing, and print knowledge: skill development in nonreading preschool children.

Development of reading skills was examined in 4-year-old children from low-income homes attending a prekindergarten program. Fall to spring gains in letter identification were examined and compared with skills in phonological processing, rhyme detection, and environmental print, and with performance on a screening tool (Get Ready to Read). It was anticipated that participants might show slow skill development.

Alphabetic skills in preschool: a preliminary study of letter naming and letter writing.

Development of letter naming and writing (skills in writing first name, dictated and copied letters, and dictated and copied numbers) was examined in 79 preschool children (M age = 56 months). Skills were assessed in the fall to determine the status of these procedural skills that are components of alphabetic knowledge at the start of the school year. Children with high letter-naming scores also had high scores on letter writing, including dictated or copied letters and writing some or all of the letters of their names.