Hemorrhoid Banding: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.

Background: Hemorrhoid banding is an established treatment for symptomatic internal hemorrhoids with proven efficacy, low cost, and limited discomfort. Although the costs and quality of life following individual banding treatments have been investigated, little is known about cumulative cost and quality of life from sequential banding therapy or how these cumulative costs compare to surgical therapy.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the cost-effectiveness of sequential hemorrhoid banding therapy.

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Total Neoadjuvant Therapy Followed by Radical Resection Versus Conventional Therapy for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer.

Background: Definitive surgery with total mesorectal excision is the mainstay of treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer. Multimodality therapy improves long-term survival. Current standards advise neoadjuvant chemoradiation followed by radical surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy.

Factors predicting reclassification of variants of unknown significance.

Unlabelled: Genetic variants of unknown significance (VUS) are an increasingly common result of genetic testing. VUS present dilemmas for treatment and surveillance. Family history may play a role in VUS reclassification over time.

Robotic Colorectal Surgery Learning Curve and Case Complexity.

Purpose: To understand the role of case complexity in the learning curve for robotic colorectal surgery.

Materials And Methods: Sixty-two patients who underwent robot-assisted colorectal surgery were retrospectively reviewed. Each case was assigned a category of complexity ranging from I to IV.

What happens after a failed LIFT for anal fistula?

Background: Ligation of the intersphincteric fistula tract (LIFT) was developed to treat transsphincteric anal fistulas. The aftermath of a failed LIFT has not been well documented.

Methods: Retrospective chart review of LIFT procedure for transsphincteric anal fistula between March 2012 and September 2016.

Molecular Markers for Colorectal Cancer.

Colorectal cancers develop through at least 3 major pathways, including chromosomal instability, mismatch repair, and methylator phenotype. These pathways can coexist in a single individual and occur in both sporadic and inherited colorectal cancers. In spite of the unique molecular and genetic signatures of colorectal cancers, nonspecific chemotherapy based on the antineoplastic effects of 5-fluorouracil is the cornerstone of therapy for stage III and some stage II disease.

Sex and regional differences in rabbit right ventricular L-type calcium current levels and mathematical modelling of arrhythmia vulnerability.

What is the central question of this study? Regional variations of ventricular L-type calcium current (I ) amplitude may underlie the increased arrhythmia risk in adult females. Current amplitude variations have been described for the left ventricle but not for the right ventricle. What is the main finding and its importance? Adult female rabbit right ventricular base myocytes exhibit elevated I compared with female apex or male myocytes.

Arrested maturation of excitatory synapses in autosomal dominant lateral temporal lobe epilepsy.

A subset of central glutamatergic synapses are coordinately pruned and matured by unresolved mechanisms during postnatal development. We report that the human epilepsy gene LGI1, encoding leucine-rich, glioma-inactivated protein-1 and mutated in autosomal dominant lateral temporal lobe epilepsy (ADLTE), mediates this process in hippocampus. We created transgenic mice either expressing a truncated mutant LGI1 (835delC) found in ADLTE or overexpressing a wild-type LGI1.