Baroreflex Sensitivity in Patients With Laryngopharyngeal Dysfunction-The Overwhelmed Vagus Hypothesis.

Importance: The autonomic nervous system maintains internal stability by concurrently prioritizing and managing different functions. It is currently not known whether dysfunction at the aerodigestive junction could overwhelm autonomic control and impair other functions.

Objective: To compare baroreflex sensitivity, a prognostically significant index of the autonomic system's ability to stabilize blood pressure, between patients with predominantly esophagogastric (digestive) and patients with predominantly laryngopharyngeal (aerodigestive) symptoms.

A multidisciplinary approach to identifying and managing heterotopic gastric inlet patches.

Introduction: Gastric inlet patches are often incidental, but can also be a treatable cause of laryngo-esophageal symptoms.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all patients whose gastric inlet patches were diagnosed following assessment for laryngopharyngeal and swallowing symptoms. Improvement following Argon Plasma Coagulation (APC) was assessed using Minimum Clinically-Important Difference methodology combining voice, throat, and swallowing domains.

Genome-wide association study of drought tolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) identifies SNP markers and candidate genes.

Drought stress poses a severe threat to global wheat production, necessitating an in-depth exploration of the genetic basis for drought tolerance associated traits. This study employed a 90 K SNP array to conduct a genome-wide association analysis, unravelling genetic determinants of key traits related to drought tolerance in wheat, namely plant height, root length, and root and shoot dry weight. Using the mixed linear model (MLM) method on 125 wheat accessions subjected to both well-watered and drought stress treatments, we identified 53 SNPs significantly associated with stress susceptibility (SSI) and tolerance indices (STI) for the targeted traits.

Proteomic analysis of near-isogenic lines reveals key biomarkers on wheat chromosome 4B conferring drought tolerance.

Drought is a major constraint for wheat production that is receiving increased attention due to global climate change. This study conducted isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation proteomic analysis on near-isogenic lines to shed light on the underlying mechanism of qDSI.4B.

Impact of endoscopic laser cricopharyngeal myotomy on lower oesophageal sphincter physiology.

Dysphagia is a watershed symptom that localises poorly. Dividing causes of dysphagia into oropharyngeal and oesophageal does not always best serve the patient. We report the case of a patient whose diagnosis and treatment required three separate specialist referrals to two specialties, with 18 months passing between initial referral and definitive treatment.

Eplerenone reduces renal ischaemia/reperfusion injury by modulating Klotho, NF-κB and SIRT1/SIRT3/PGC-1α signalling pathways.

Objectives: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a sudden impairment in kidney function that is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Inflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial impairment and energy depletion, along with organ dysfunction are hallmarks of AKI. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of Eplerenone, an aldosterone receptor antagonist, on the kidney injury caused by ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R).

Transcriptome Analyses of Near Isogenic Lines Reveal Putative Drought Tolerance Controlling Genes in Wheat.

Drought stress, especially at the grain-filling stage, is a major constraint for wheat production. Drought tolerance is a complex trait controlled by a large array of genes and pathways. This study conducted gene expression profiling on two pairs of near-isogenic lines (NILs) for an important QTL conferring drought tolerance on the short arm of chromosome 4B in wheat.

Predicting Pulmonary Function From the Analysis of Voice: A Machine Learning Approach.

Introduction: To self-monitor asthma symptoms, existing methods (e.g. peak flow metre, smart spirometer) require special equipment and are not always used by the patients.

Disorders of sex development and female reproductive capacity: A literature review.

Disorders of sex development (DSD) are a wide-ranging group of complex conditions that influence chromosomal, gonadal, and phenotypic sex. The prevalence of DSD is very low, but affected patients deserve individualized management to improve psychological, sexual, and reproductive outcomes. This review aims to clarify the fertility potential of DSD patients who can be reared as females and their chance of becoming pregnant, especially using assisted reproductive techniques (ART).

Comparative study of gavage and intraperitoneal administration of gamma-oryzanol in alleviation/attenuation in a rat animal model of renal ischemia/reperfusion-induced injury.

Objectives: Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) is the leading cause of acute kidney injury. This study aimed to elucidate the reno-protective effect of gamma-oryzanol (GO) by comparing gavage and intraperitoneal (IP) administration methods on renal I/R injury in a rat model.

Materials And Methods: Rats were divided into four groups including (group 1) sham, (group 2) I/R-control, (group 3) I/R+GO gavage-treated, and (group 4) I/R+ GO IP-treated.

Apnoeic ventilation for shared airway surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This report describes the care provided to a 64-year-old woman presenting with airway obstruction following recovery from COVID-19 pneumonitis, prolonged tracheal intubation and tracheostomy weaning. Her initial admission was with COVID-19 pneumonitis during the first surge of cases in early 2020, and was complicated by multiple bilateral segmental pulmonary emboli, a 28-day stay in intensive care, 16 days of mechanical ventilation and finally, a tracheostomy with subsequent weaning of respiratory support and rehabilitation. On presentation, her symptoms of airway obstruction were because of significant granuloma of the posterior glottis and subglottis, as well as a mild lambdoid deformity at the site of her previous tracheostomy.

A multidisciplinary approach for managing the infraglottic difficult airway in the setting of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Management of a difficult airway caused by pathology below the glottis is high-risk and requires a shared approach to airway planning and surgical treatment. Access to the trachea requires a careful assessment of the airway since the end-point of laryngoscopy for infraglottic airway management is not visualization of the larynx for tube placement, but access to the laryngotracheal complex in cases where intubation may not be feasible or may preclude surgical access. This work provides a common framework for creating multidisciplinary shared-airway management plans and presents devices and strategies that have in recent years improved airway management safety in this difficult patient group and may prove useful in the setting of the novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Long-term intubation and high rate of tracheostomy in COVID-19 patients might determine an unprecedented increase of airway stenoses: a call to action from the European Laryngological Society.

Introduction: The novel Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, may need intensive care unit (ICU) admission in up to 12% of all positive cases for massive interstitial pneumonia, with possible long-term endotracheal intubation for mechanical ventilation and subsequent tracheostomy. The most common airway-related complications of such ICU maneuvers are laryngotracheal granulomas, webs, stenosis, malacia and, less commonly, tracheal necrosis with tracheo-esophageal or tracheo-arterial fistulae.

Materials And Methods: This paper gathers the opinions of experts of the Laryngotracheal Stenosis Committee of the European Laryngological Society, with the aim of alerting the medical community about the possible rise in number of COVID-19-related laryngotracheal stenosis (LTS), and the aspiration of paving the way to a more rationale concentration of these cases within referral specialist airway centers.

Interspecialty referral of oesophagogastric and pharyngolaryngeal cancers delays diagnosis and reduces patient survival: A matched case-control study.

Objectives: Pharyngolaryngeal and oesophagogastric cancers present with swallowing symptoms and as such, their clinical evaluation traverses boundaries between different specialties. We studied the incidence and significance of interspecialty cancer referrals (ICRs), that is, pharyngolaryngeal cancers first evaluated by gastroenterology and oesophagogastric cancers first evaluated by otolaryngology.

Design: A subset analysis of our Integrated Aerodigestive Partnership's audit dataset, of all ICR patients, and an equal number of controls matched for age, sex and cancer subsite.

Vocal fold fixation due to proximal stenosis progression complicating idiopathic subglottic stenosis.

Purpose: This study examined the incidence and risk factors for vocal fold fixation due to proximal progression of idiopathic subglottic stenosis (ISS) over the course of serial treatments.

Methods: Records of 22 consecutive patients with ISS treated between 2004 and 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Patient, stenosis, and treatment details were recorded.

A physiological study to determine the mechanism of carbon dioxide clearance during apnoea when using transnasal humidified rapid insufflation ventilatory exchange (THRIVE).

Clinical observations suggest that compared with standard apnoeic oxygenation, transnasal humidified rapid-insufflation ventilatory exchange using high-flow nasal oxygenation reduces the rate of carbon dioxide accumulation in patients who are anaesthetised and apnoeic. This suggests that active gas exchange takes place, but the mechanisms by which it may occur have not been described. We used three laboratory airway models to investigate mechanisms of carbon dioxide clearance in apnoeic patients.

Outcomes of Treating Early Glottic Neoplasms With a Potassium Titanyl Phosphate Laser.

Objectives:: The aim of this study was to assess the outcome of treating glottic dysplasia and early squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) with potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) photoangiolytic laser ablation.

Methods:: Patient demographics, comorbidities, and tumor characteristics were recorded. Perceptual, patient-reported, and objective voice outcomes were assessed.

Stem cell therapy for lung diseases: From fundamental aspects to clinical applications.

The respiratory system is a complex group of organs in the human body, all of which are necessary in breathing. Due to its special anatomy and composition, after exposure to various damaging factors such as micro particles, carbon granules and toxic gases, the respiratory system can be affected by a variety of damage without return to its original state. Currently, the prevalence of lung diseases, including asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, such as emphysema, has increased remarkably.

The effectiveness of adding low-level light therapy to minoxidil 5% solution in the treatment of patients with androgenetic alopecia.

Background: Androgenetic alopecia is the commonest type of alopecia affecting over half of men and women. Low-level light therapy is a new technique for stimulating hair growth in both genders.

Aims: To overcome the shortcomings of previous epidemiological studies and a lack of controlled clinical trials on the subject, this study compared the effectiveness of adding low-level light therapy to minoxidil topical solution in the treatment of androgenetic alopecia in patients presenting to two skin clinics in Isfahan, Iran during 2014-2015.