Childhood Maltreatment and Amygdala-Mediated Anxiety and Posttraumatic Stress Following Adult Trauma.

Background: Childhood abuse (physical, emotional, and sexual) is associated with aberrant connectivity of the amygdala, a key threat-processing region. Heightened amygdala activity also predicts adult anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, as do experiences of childhood abuse. The current study explored whether amygdala resting-state functional connectivity may explain the relationship between childhood abuse and anxiety and PTSD symptoms following trauma exposure in adults.

The Dichotomy of Threat and Deprivation as Subtypes of Childhood Maltreatment: Differential Functional Connectivity Patterns of Threat and Reward Circuits in an Adult Trauma Sample.

Background: Childhood maltreatment is associated with reduced activation of the nucleus accumbens, a central region in the reward network, and overactivity in the amygdala, a key region in threat processing. However, the long-lasting impact of these associations in the context of later-life stress is not well understood. The current study explored the association between childhood threat and deprivation and functional connectivity of threat and reward regions in an adult trauma sample.

Racial Discrimination and Resting-State Functional Connectivity of Salience Network Nodes in Trauma-Exposed Black Adults in the United States.

Importance: For Black US residents, experiences of racial discrimination are still pervasive and frequent. Recent empirical work has amplified the lived experiences and narratives of Black people and further documented the detrimental effects of racial discrimination on both mental and physical health; however, there is still a need for further research to uncover the mechanisms connecting experiences of racial discrimination with adverse health outcomes.

Objective: To examine neurobiological mechanisms that may offer novel insight into the association of racial discrimination with adverse health outcomes.

Polish Nurses' Opinions on the Expansion of Their Competences-Cross-Sectional Study.

The development of medical science creates new challenges for nurses to acquire new skills. Thanks to legal changes in Poland, nurses have gained the opportunity to independently provide health services in many areas, including consultations for patients. The aim of the survey is to analyze nurses' opinions on the expansion of competences in their profession.

Evaluation of non-invasive tests as diagnostic tools in assessment of bladder outlet obstruction severity in men with anterior urethral stricture.

Introduction: The aim of this article was to evaluate non-invasive tests, which were typically used in preoperative diagnosis of male patients with anterior urethral strictures in the assessment of the urethral resistance caused by urethral occlusion.

Material And Methods: A total of 63 adult males with confirmed urethral stricture and aged below 55 years old were enrolled in the study. Data obtained from non-invasive tests such as uroflowmetry (UF), ultrasound examination (USG), and questionnaires such as from The International Prostatic Symptom Score (IPSS), and The Patient-Reported Outcome Measure for Urethral Stricture Surgery (USS-PROM) were analyzed.

Acute White Matter Integrity Post-trauma and Prospective Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms.

Little is known about what distinguishes those who are resilient after trauma from those at risk for developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Previous work indicates white matter integrity may be a useful biomarker in predicting PTSD. Research has shown changes in the integrity of three white matter tracts-the cingulum bundle, corpus callosum (CC), and uncinate fasciculus (UNC)-in the aftermath of trauma relate to PTSD symptoms.

Hippocampal Resting-State Functional Connectivity Forecasts Individual Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms: A Data-Driven Approach.

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating disorder, and there is no current accurate prediction of who develops it after trauma. Neurobiologically, individuals with chronic PTSD exhibit aberrant resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between the hippocampus and other brain regions (e.g.

Neural impact of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage in traumatically injured adults.

Nearly 14 percent of Americans live in a socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhood. Lower individual socioeconomic position (iSEP) has been linked to increased exposure to trauma and stress, as well as to alterations in brain structure and function; however, the neural effects of neighborhood SEP (nSEP) factors, such as neighborhood disadvantage, are unclear. Using a multi-modal approach with participants who recently experienced a traumatic injury ( = 185), we investigated the impact of neighborhood disadvantage, acute post-traumatic stress symptoms, and iSEP on brain structure and functional connectivity at rest.

The impact of post-urethroplasty erectile dysfunction on the quality of life and treatment satisfaction.

Introduction: The aim of this article was to assess the influence of sexual disorders after urethroplasty on patient's quality of life (QoL) and satisfaction of treatment.

Material And Methods: We studied 106 sexually active patients who underwent urethroplasty due to urethral stricture. Patients completed the Urethral Stricture Surgery - Patient Reported Outcome Measure (USS - PROM) and International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) questionnaires before and after the treatment.

Stability of hippocampal subfield volumes after trauma and relationship to development of PTSD symptoms.

Background: The hippocampus plays a central role in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) pathogenesis, and the majority of neuroimaging research on PTSD has studied the hippocampus in its entirety. Although extensive literature demonstrates changes in hippocampal volume are associated with PTSD, fewer studies have probed the relationship between symptoms and the hippocampus' functionally and structurally distinct subfields. We utilized data from a longitudinal study examining post-trauma outcomes to determine whether hippocampal subfield volumes change post-trauma and whether specific subfields are significantly associated with, or prospectively related to, PTSD symptom severity.

Neighborhood disadvantage is associated with stable deficits in neurocognitive functioning in traumatically-injured adults.

Background: In trauma-exposed adults, the relationship between an individual's socioeconomic position (SEP) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been well demonstrated. One potential mechanism by which the stress associated with lower SEPs may impact trauma outcomes is through changes in neurocognition. In both healthy and clinical samples, area-level factors also appear to be independently related to neurocognition.

Ultrasonographic assessment of male anterior urethra. Description of the technique of examination and presentation of major pathologies.

During the last years the role of sonourethrography (SUG) in the assessment of anterior male urethra pathologies, has significantly increased. The investigation is easily performed, not time consuming and should be considered the imaging technique of choice for preliminary diagnosis, without exposing the patient to X-rays. In this paper we present the technique of examination and the most common pathologies in which SUG is indicated.

Erectile dysfunction after urethroplasty.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of urethroplasty on sexual function.

Material And Methods: We analyzed 75 operations: 41 anastomotic, 13 labial graft, 6 thigh skin mesh graft, and 15 penile skin flap urethroplasties. The severity of erectile dysfunction was assessed in the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF5) questionnaire, preoperatively and at least 3 months after the surgery.

Primary urethral carcinoma - unexpected cause of urethral stricture. Case report and review of the literature.

Primary cancer of urethra (PCU) is one of rarest malignancies of the urinary tract. In early stages this type of cancer presents non specific symptoms which can be mistaken with more common urethral strictures. That is why the PCU is frequently recognize in a locally advanced stage.

Evaluation of outcomes of Urethral Stricture Surgery: psychometric validation of a Polish language version of the Patient-Reported Outcome Measure for urethral stricture surgery.

Introduction: The aim of this study is to validate the Polish version of the Urethral Stricture Surgery - Patient-Reported Outcome Measure (USS-PROM) by evaluating its psychometric properties.

Material And Methods: Patients with urethral stricture scheduled for urethroplasty between 2014 and 2018 were prospectively enrolled. The results of the USS-PROM were obtained before the operation, and during follow-up visits.

Can ultrasonography be useful in the diagnosis of urethral disorders of female-to-male transsexuals?

Sonourethrography (SUG) is one of the basic imaging tools in the diagnosis of male anterior urethral strictures. So far, no one has described the use of this examination in transgender patients after "female-to-male" operation. Based on the presented case, we describe ultrasonographical features of the construction of a neophallus and offer information allowing a more accurate evaluation of urethral disorders in this group of patients.

Comparison between cystourethrography and sonourethrography in preoperative diagnostic management of patients with anterior urethral strictures.

Aim: To evaluate the urethral lesions and the degree of spongiofibrosis using cystourethrography (CUG) and sonourethrography (SUG) in order to propose the best imaging method for further surgical treatment.

Material And Methods: The study involved 66 patients with anterior urethral strictures with indication for urethroplasty. Results of CUG and SUG were compared with each other and data from surgical protocol.

[Assessment of the macula function by static perimetry, microperimetry and rarebit perimetry in patients suffering from dry age related macular degeneration].

Purpose: To compare the visual field results obtained by static perimetry, microperimetry and rabbit perimetry in patients suffering from dry age related macular degeneration (AMD).

Material And Methods: Fifteen eyes with dry AMD (hard or soft macula drusen and RPE disorders) were enrolled into the study. Static perimetry was performed using M2 macula program included in Octopus 101 instrument.

Intrathecal neostigmine for post-cesarean section analgesia: dose response.

Intrathecal (IT) neostigmine produces analgesia in animals and humans and enhances systemic opioid analgesia. To examine the safety of IT neostigmine for eventual use in obstetrics, we studied 24 healthy, term pregnant patients scheduled to receive elective cesarean section using a combined spinal-epidural anesthetic. Using an open-label, dose-ranging design, patients received either IT placebo or neostigmine 10, 30, or 100 microg in a 1-mL solution of 5% glucose in normal saline followed in 15 min by 2% epidural lidocaine for cesarean section.

[Bacterial endocarditis caused by Enterobacter agglomerans in a patient with mitral valve prolapse].

A case of bacterial endocarditis caused by Enterobacter agglomerans was observed in a 50-year-old patient with mitral valve leaflet prolapse. The diagnosis was based on clinical findings, positive blood cultures and echocardiographic investigations.