Socioeconomic Status Based on Area Deprivation Index Does Not Affect Postoperative Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Endovascular Aortic Aneurysm Repair in the VA Health-Care System.

Background: Living conditions and socioeconomic status are known to impact individual health and access to medical care. Prior research has validated the Area Deprivation Index (ADI) tool as a measure of socioeconomic disadvantage for a given locality. Living in a neighborhood with a higher ADI score has been associated with increased rates of hospital readmission due to complications following surgery.

Carbon Monoxide-Related Vision Loss in an Acute Burn Patient.

Carbon monoxide poisoning can occur as part of smoke exposure in the burn population. Here we report the case of a 32-year-old, previously healthy male, with carbon monoxide-related blindness after smoke exposure in an apartment fire. Cerebral hypoperfusion was diagnosed using magnetic resonance imaging of the brain, and the patient was diagnosed with cortical visual impairment.

The Cell Surface Receptors Ror1/2 Control Cardiac Myofibroblast Differentiation.

Background A hallmark of heart failure is cardiac fibrosis, which results from the injury-induced differentiation response of resident fibroblasts to myofibroblasts that deposit extracellular matrix. During myofibroblast differentiation, fibroblasts progress through polarization stages of early proinflammation, intermediate proliferation, and late maturation, but the regulators of this progression are poorly understood. Planar cell polarity receptors, receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1 and 2 (Ror1/2), can function to promote cell differentiation and transformation.