Evaluation of the genetic basis of familial-associated early-onset hematologic cancers in an ancestral/ethnically diverse population.

Genetic predisposition to hematologic malignancies has historically been addressed utilizing patients recruited from clinical trials and pedigrees constructed at major treatment centers. Such efforts leave unexplored the genetic basis of variations in risk by race/ethnic group shown in population-based surveillance data where cancer registration, compulsory by law, delivers universal enrollment. To address this, we performed exome sequencing on DNA isolated from newborn bloodspots derived from sibling pairs with early-onset cancers across California in which at least one of the siblings developed a hematologic cancer, using unbiased recruitment from the full state population.

Analyzing the Correlation Between Surgeon Experience and Patient Length of Hospital Stay.

Introduction  Many clinical, social, and even economic factors have been extensively analyzed in the literature and shown to influence the length of stay (LOS) after spinal procedures. However, surgeon's experience was mostly examined relative to a learning curve and not regarding the time in practice. The primary objective of this study was to determine the effect of one surgeon's experience on the LOS in patients undergoing one- to two-level transforaminal lumbar interbody fusions (TLIFs).