An innovative phase 2 chronic pain master protocol design to assess novel mechanisms in multiple pain types.

Introduction: The phase 2 chronic pain master protocol (CPMP) presented here provides a construct to accelerate the investigation of novel analgesics, broadly referred to here as mechanisms. Designed to address historical challenges in analgesic research and development, such as the choice of indication, this protocol enables the efficient evaluation of potential therapeutics with different mechanisms of action in 3 pain types: nociceptive pain (osteoarthritis), neuropathic pain (diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain), and mixed pain (chronic low back pain).

Methods: The study design was determined before the identification of any specific molecule.

Case report: Endovascular embolization of the thoracoacromial branch of axillary artery after gunshot trauma at a regional trauma center.

Introduction And Importance: Penetrating subclavian-axillary artery injury is a rare vascular injury associated with high morbidity and mortality rates traditionally treated with open surgical repair, however endovascular treatments have been utilized in selected cases.

Case Presentation: We report a case of a 31-year-old male with a traumatic gunshot injury to the thoracoacromial branch of the left axillary artery successfully managed with endovascular embolization at a regional trauma center.

Clinical Discussion: The availability of a hybrid operating suite in severely injured patients is associated with reduced time to intervention, reduced operative duration and improved clinical outcomes.

Bladder perforation: an unusual complication caused by rectus sheath haematoma.

Rectus sheath haematoma (RSH) is an uncommon cause of abdominal pain. Despite being previously viewed as a benign, self-limiting condition, there is increasing evidence suggesting significant local and systemic complications with RSH. We present a case of an 82-year-old female who developed a large RSH following prescription of therapeutic anticoagulation for her new onset atrial fibrillation.

The diabetic foot ulcer.

Background: Diabetic foot ulcers are associated with significant morbidity and mortality and can subsequently lead to hospitalisation and lower limb amputation if not recognised and treated in a timely manner.

Objective: The aim of this article is to review the current evidence for preventing and managing diabetic foot ulcers, with the aim to increase clinicians' confidence in assessing and treating these complex medical presentations.

Discussion: All patients with diabetes should have an annual foot review by a general practitioner or podiatrist.

Two cases of neuroangiostrongyliasis: A rare disease because rarely considered or rarely diagnosed?

Aim: The rat lungworm, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, is well established in eastern Australia, where it is the almost exclusive cause of human eosinophilic meningoencephalitis (EME). While neuroangiostrongyliasis can result in severe morbidity or death, its diagnosis requires a high index of clinical suspicion among medical practitioners. Prevention requires a high level of public awareness.

External iliac artery occlusion in a paediatric patient following handlebar trauma.

Arterial occlusion following blunt trauma is an uncommon occurrence. We report an unusual case of delayed external iliac artery occlusion in a young male following blunt abdominal injury. He was successfully treated with thromboendarterectomy and saphenous vein patch repair.

Needs and workflow assessment prior to implementation of a digital pathology infrastructure for the US Air Force Medical Service.

Background: Advances in digital pathology are accelerating integration of this technology into anatomic pathology (AP). To optimize implementation and adoption of digital pathology systems within a large healthcare organization, initial assessment of both end user (pathologist) needs and organizational infrastructure are required. Contextual inquiry is a qualitative, user-centered tool for collecting, interpreting, and aggregating such detailed data about work practices that can be employed to help identify specific needs and requirements.

Telemedicine process used to implement an effective and functional screening program for diabetic retinopathy.

Background: Diabetic retinopathy, damage to the blood vessels in the retina, is the leading cause of blindness in adults 20-74 years of age. Nearly 300 million people worldwide have diabetes and nearly half of all people with diabetes will develop some degree of diabetic retinopathy during their lifetime. It has been estimated that blindness from diabetic retinopathy is preventable in at least 65% of cases, if detected early.

Evaluation of whole slide image immunohistochemistry interpretation in challenging prostate needle biopsies.

Whole slide images (WSIs), also known as virtual slides, can support electronic distribution of immunohistochemistry (IHC) stains to pathologists that rely on remote sites for these services. This may lead to improvement in turnaround times, reduction of courier costs, fewer errors in slide distribution, and automated image analyses. Although this approach is practiced de facto today in some large laboratories, there are no clinical validation studies on this approach.

Primary histologic diagnosis using automated whole slide imaging: a validation study.

Background: Only prototypes 5 years ago, high-speed, automated whole slide imaging (WSI) systems (also called digital slide systems, virtual microscopes or wide field imagers) are becoming increasingly capable and robust. Modern devices can capture a slide in 5 minutes at spatial sampling periods of less than 0.5 micron/pixel.

Use of whole slide imaging in surgical pathology quality assurance: design and pilot validation studies.

By imaging large numbers of slides automatically at high resolution, modem automated whole slide imaging (WSI) systems have the potential to become useful tools in pathology practice. This article describes a pilot validation study for use of automated high-speed WSI systems for surgical pathology quality assurance (QA). This was a retrospective comparative study in which 24 full genitourinary cases (including 47 surgical parts and 391 slides) were independently reviewed with traditional microscopy and whole slide digital images.

Parent management training and Asperger syndrome: a randomized controlled trial to evaluate a parent based intervention.

This controlled trial of a parent management intervention aimed to increase parental competence in management of problem behaviours associated with Asperger syndrome. The intervention compared two formats, a 1 day workshop and six individual sessions. Measures were taken on three occasions: pre-intervention, at 4 weeks, and at 3 month follow-up.

Friedreich's ataxia with chorea and myoclonus caused by a compound heterozygosity for a novel deletion and the trinucleotide GAA expansion.

Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is the most common hereditary ataxia, affecting about 1 in 50,000 individuals. It is caused by mutations in the frataxin gene; 98% of cases have homozygous expansions of a GAA trinucleotide in intron 1 of the frataxin gene. The remaining 2% of patients are compound heterozygotes, who have a GAA repeat expansion in one allele and a point mutation in the other allele.