Publications by authors named "Kristen Knapp"

Introduction: Esophagectomy is a lifesaving procedure plagued by an anastomotic leak rate of 11%-35%. Ischemia is widely accepted to be the most significant risk factor for anastomotic leak. We hypothesized that the injection of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) into an ischemic esophagogastric anastomosis would prevent leakage.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Management of penetrating thoracoabdominal (PTA) injuries with signs of hemorrhage have warranted operative intervention but improved imaging capabilities have redefined interventions required. We examined outcomes of hemodynamically stable patients undergoing preoperative CT imaging with the hypothesis that CT imaging would decrease OR time without delaying OR arrival.

Methods: A retrospective multicenter study was performed amongst four urban trauma centers examining hemodynamically stable patients with PTA injuries requiring operative intervention from January 2017-December 2021.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Current societal guidelines recommend duplex ultrasound (DUS) surveillance beyond 30 days after carotid endarterectomy (CEA) for patients with risk factors for restenosis or who underwent primary closure. However, the appropriate duration of this surveillance has not yet been identified, and the rate at which DUS surveillance prompts intervention is unknown. Multiple calls for decreasing health care spending that does not provide value, including unnecessary testing, have been made.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is characterized by the development of cancer in the esophageal squamous epithelium through a step-by-step accumulation of genetic, epigenetic, and histopathological alterations. Recent studies have demonstrated that cancer-associated gene mutations exist in histologically normal or precancerous clones of the human esophageal epithelium. However, only a small proportion of such mutant clones will develop ESCC, and most ESCC patients develop only one cancer.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Acute appendicitis is possible for any pediatric patient with abdominal pain. At our tertiary care center, patients are transferred for surgical management with unnecessary or excessive imaging. We hypothesize that using the Alvarado score (AS) to clinically stage patients will identify patient groups that could be transferred prior to imaging.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Loss of expression of the gene, a subunit of the SWI/SNF complex, has been historically associated with thoracic . This loss of expression is extremely rare in gastric cancers, and its role in gastrointestinal tract carcinomas has not been fully elucidated. We report a case of a 73-year-old male with poorly differentiated, -deficient gastric cancer, showing that this immunophenotype is not limited to thoracic or advanced-stage tumors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: It remains unclear whether stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) offers the same benefit for patients with type 2 trigeminal neuralgia (TN2) as for those with type 1 trigeminal neuralgia (TN1). The objective of this study is to compare the outcomes of patients with TN1 and TN2 after SRS.

Methods: SRS outcomes of patients with trigeminal neuralgia treated at a single center from 1994 to 2016 were analyzed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, and Babesia microti, a causative agent of babesiosis, are increasingly implicated in the growing tick-borne disease burden in the northeastern United States. These pathogens are transmitted via the bite of an infected tick vector, Ixodes scapularis, which is capable of harboring and inoculating a host with multiple pathogens simultaneously. Clinical presentation of the diseases is heterogeneous and ranges from mild flu-like symptoms to near-fatal cardiac arrhythmias.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF