Publications by authors named "Megan Zhao"

Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) is a non-inflammatory vasculopathy. While most patients have good clinical outcomes, RCVS can be associated with severe brain injury from ischemic stroke, subarachnoid, and intracerebral hemorrhage. A number of vasoactive medications have been implicated in RCVS, including triptans, amphetamines, antidepressants, and decongestants.

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Inequity in access to urban greenspaces might contribute to health disparities in the USA via multiple pathways. Academic medical centres can promote health equity in their surrounding communities by partnering with community organisations to improve greenspace access in urban environments. Academic medical centres are also uniquely positioned to advance health-equity leadership among the next generation of doctors through medical-education initiatives; of particular importance is that medical professionals are involved in advocating for the expansion of greenspace access due to its direct relationship with human health and wellness.

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Objective: Patients with lupus erythematosus (LE) are at heightened risk for clinical events, chiefly heart attacks and strokes, from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). We recently proposed new guidelines to assess and manage ASCVD event risk specifically in LE. Here, we examined current cardiovascular management in light of these new recommendations.

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Background: The most common complication of alcohol septal ablation (ASA) is transient periprocedural high-grade AV block (HGAVB). To date, no long-term follow-up of cardiovascular implantable electronic device (CIED) utilization after ASA has been reported. We hypothesized that CIED dependence on long-term follow-up can be predicted by ECG or procedural characteristics.

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Purpose: To evaluate how increasing age is associated with dry eye disease (DED) signs and symptoms in the Dry Eye Assessment and Management (DREAM) study. This study was undertaken to better understand how DED signs and symptoms differ across decades of life with goals to help assess detection and treatment of DED.

Design: Secondary analysis of the DREAM study.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to compare dry eye disease (DED) characteristics between men and women, as well as between premenopausal and postmenopausal women, utilizing various assessments and evaluations over time.
  • Results showed that women had significantly worse DED signs compared to men, and that postmenopausal women exhibited more severe signs than premenopausal women, based on several measured factors.
  • The findings highlight the importance of understanding these differences in DED severity to improve diagnosis and tailor future research on sex-related differences in the disease.
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This study was designed to assess the relationship between mental health service utilization and heavy episodic drinking (HED) after controlling for demographic and student-level variables. A national sample of college undergraduate respondents to the 2017-2018 Healthy Minds Study survey ( = 67,427). Hierarchical logistic regression entering all variables on a single step.

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In this study, we investigated the baseline characteristics and "trajectories" of clinical response in men and women after cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) implantation. Although women enjoy improved echocardiographic response after CRT compared with men, the kinetics of this response and its relation to functional performance and outcomes are less clear. We identified 592 patients who underwent CRT implantation at our center between 2004 and 2017 and were serially followed in a multidisciplinary clinic.

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Calciphylaxis is an uncommon but devastating disorder characterized by vascular calcification and subsequent cutaneous tissue necrosis. This results in exquisitely painful and slow healing wounds that portend exceptionally high morbidity and mortality. The diagnosis of this condition can be complicated because there are no conclusive serologic, radiographic or visual signs that this disease is manifesting.

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Article Synopsis
  • Current prostate cancer therapies improve patient outcomes but lack a cure for advanced cases like mCRPC.
  • Research shows that NUAK2 is overexpressed in prostate cancer and correlates with higher metastasis risk, making it a potential target for new treatments.
  • Inhibiting NUAK2 in lab studies and patient samples reduced cancer cell growth and tumor progression, suggesting its role as a promising target for further investigation in prostate cancer therapy.
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Serine/threonine kinase 3 (STK3) is an essential member of the highly conserved Hippo tumor suppressor pathway that regulates Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1) and TAZ. STK3 and its paralog STK4 initiate a phosphorylation cascade that regulates YAP1/TAZ inhibition and degradation, which is important for regulated cell growth and organ size. Deregulation of this pathway leads to hyperactivation of YAP1 in various cancers.

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Background: Heart failure (HF) patients with CRT devices are a vulnerable patient population during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic. It is important to develop innovative virtual care models to deliver multidisciplinary care while minimizing the risk of SARS-CoV2 exposure.

Objective: We aim to provide a description of how HF patients with CRT devices were assessed and managed in our virtual multidisciplinary clinic during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

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