Impact of implementing stricter criteria for blood transfusion in patients with head and neck cancer undergoing free tissue transfer.

Objective: Recent literature studying the impact of blood transfusion on outcomes in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) have shown that blood transfusions are associated with increased risk of death and higher wound infection rates. The purpose of this study was to implement a lower transfusion threshold while comparing outcomes of free flap patients following initiation of a new transfusion guideline.

Methods: A retrospective study of all patients at a tertiary care academic center who underwent free tissue transfer after HNC resection between July 17, 2007 and June 7, 2021.

Elective Tympanostomy Tube Removal at 2.5 Years: Results of a Protocol for Retained Tubes.

Objectives: In 2001, we instituted a protocol for the removal of retained tympanostomy tubes, delaying elective removal until 2.5 years after placement. It was hoped that this would decrease the number of surgeries without increasing the rate of permanent tympanic perforations compared to removal at 2 years.

Breast cancer cells that preferentially metastasize to lung or bone are more glycolytic, synthesize serine at greater rates, and consume less ATP and NADPH than parent MDA-MB-231 cells.

Gene expression signatures associated with breast cancer metastases suggest that metabolic re-wiring is important for metastatic growth in lungs, bones, and other organs. However, since pathway fluxes depend on additional factors such as ATP demand, allosteric effects, and post-translational modification, flux analysis is necessary to conclusively establish phenotypes. In this study, the metabolic phenotypes of breast cancer cell lines with low (T47D) or high (MDA-MB-231) metastatic potential, as well as lung (LM)- and bone (BoM)-homing lines derived from MDA-MB-231 cells, were assessed by C metabolite labeling from [1,2-C] glucose or [5-C] glutamine and the rates of nutrient and oxygen consumption and lactate production.