Assessing the Readability of Online English and Spanish Resources for Polydactyly and Syndactyly.

Introduction: Online patient education materials (PEMs) that are difficult to read disproportionately affect patients with low health literacy and educational attainment. Patients may not be fully informed or empowered to engage meaningfully with providers and advocate for their goals. We aim to assess the readability of online PEMs regarding polydactyly and syndactyly.

Siblings with vitamin D-dependent rickets type 1A: Importance of genetic testing and a review of genotype-phenotype correlations.

Vitamin D-dependent rickets type 1A (VDDR1A) is a rare condition caused by biallelic pathogenic variants in CYP27B1, which encodes 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-1-α-hydroxylase. Inadequate activity of this enzyme results in deficient 1α-hydroxylation of inactive 25-hydroxyvitamin D to biologically active 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, with consequent adverse effects on calcium and phosphate metabolism. A female child was clinically diagnosed at 18 months old with hypophosphatemic rickets based on phenotype and biochemical testing, with neither parent affected.

Gynecomastia Surgery Patient Education: An Information Quality Assessment of YouTube Videos.

Background: YouTube is a platform for many topics, including plastic surgery. Previous studies have shown poor educational value in YouTube videos of plastic surgery procedures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality and accuracy of YouTube videos concerning gynecomastia surgery (GS).

Assessing the Readability of Online English and Spanish Language Patient Education Resources Provided by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, and American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgeons.

Introduction: The National Institutes of Health recommends that patient education materials (PEMs) be written at the sixth grade level. However, PEMs online are still generally difficult to read. The usefulness of online PEMs depends on their comprehensibility.

Using Artificial Intelligence to Assess the Teratogenic Risk of Vitamin A Supplements.

Vitamin A in high doses has been found to be highly teratogenic, leading to severe fetal abnormalities if exposure occurs during pregnancy. Hence, prescription vitamin A acne medications like isotretinoin are highly regulated via programs such as iPledge, which intend to avert fetal exposure to isotretinoin and to educate healthcare providers, pharmacists, and patients about the significant risks associated with isotretinoin and its appropriate usage conditions. However, over-the-counter (OTC) vitamin A supplements are not subject to these requirements, and calculating the vitamin A content of these supplements can be difficult due to the lack of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations and inconsistencies in labeling.

War on Rats: the architecture of the bubonic plague in Galveston.

Galveston, Texas is one of the oldest seaport cities in the Gulf of Mexico west of New Orleans, making it a historically prime location for disease outbreaks. The bubonic plague bacterium, , likely spread to Galveston via infected rats and fleas on steamboats. Known as the Black Death, the bubonic plague infected 17 Galvestonians from 1920 to 1921.

Association of Cardiovascular Medications With Adverse Outcomes in a Matched Analysis of a National Cohort of Patients With COVID-19.

Background: The use of statins, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs)/angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), and anticoagulants may be associated with fewer adverse outcomes in COVID-19 patients.

Methods: Nested within a cohort of 800,913 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between April 1, 2020 and June 24, 2021 from the Optum COVID-19 database, three case-control studies were conducted. Cases-defined as persons who: (1) were hospitalized within 30 days of COVID-19 diagnosis ( = 88,405); (2) were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU)/received mechanical ventilation during COVID-19 hospitalization ( = 22,147); and (3) died during COVID-19 hospitalization ( = 2300)-were matched 1:1 using demographic/clinical factors with controls randomly selected from a pool of patients who did not experience the case definition/event.

No One Dies Alone: Addressing a Gap in Medical Education.

Medical school curriculum typically consists of didactical experiences with minimal patient interaction for junior students followed by clinical experiences with supplementary didactics for senior students. Due to the focus on understanding basic medical concepts and disease pathophysiology during the first few years of medical school, students have limited exposure to real-life clinical situations that involve complex, difficult concepts such as death and dying. This leaves students ill-prepared to contribute meaningfully to patients' end-of-life (EOL) care that they will inevitably encounter during their clerkship years.

Isotretinoin, Vitamin A Supplements, and Unintended Pregnancies in Post Roe v. Wade America.

Isotretinoin is a potent vitamin A derivative that is used to treat acne. However, despite its utility in dermatologic care, it is also highly teratogenic and can cause severe life-threatening fetal abnormalities in the first trimester of pregnancy. As a result, existing regulations are stringent in order to prevent accidental pregnancies in women taking isotretinoin.

Ignoring the elephant in the room-overregulated isotretinoin and unregulated dietary supplements in the United States.

Isotretinoin is an acne medication regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) iPledge Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy program due to its potential for birth defects. This program enforces monthly pregnancy tests and comprehension quizzes, among other requirements, which results in disproportionate medication access barriers. In December 2021, the iPledge system underwent a series of changes, which resulted in systemwide malfunctions and hour-long phone support line waiting times.

The limits of viability of extremely preterm infants.

Shaeffer and Avery's textbook, (1971), estimated the limit of viability to be around 28 weeks' gestation and/or 1000 g. Contemporarily, however, attempts are being made to resuscitate infants as early as 22 weeks' gestation. Clearly the "limit of viability" is a moving target, and the acceptable risk of intervening to attempt to "save" these small infants/fetuses is a value judgment and not one that can be answered by science.

The human side of medicine-lessons from a student-run clinic.

In this narrative account, I describe my first experience as a medical student volunteering at a student-run clinic in Galveston, Texas. I witness the stark contrast between medicine in the classroom and medicine in the clinic. This article explores the importance of clinical exposure in learning about the human side of medicine from the perspective of a medical student.