Technique refinement for complex locoregional reconstruction after spine surgery: Optimization of closed suction drain use.

Introduction: Plastic surgeons have become increasingly involved in the locoregional closure of spinal wounds after instrumentation, which has proven to minimize postoperative complications, especially among high-risk patient populations. Therefore, optimization and standardization of surgical techniques, including drain placement, for complex spine closure remain paramount. This study aims to investigate drain usage after plastic surgery closure for spine wounds to identify risk factors for postoperative complications that may provide insight to further guide intraoperative decision making.

Targeting the CD74 signaling axis suppresses inflammation and rescues defective hematopoiesis in -familial platelet disorder.

Familial platelet disorder (FPD) is associated with germline mutations, establishing a preleukemic state and increasing the risk of developing leukemia. Currently, there are no intervention strategies to prevent leukemia progression. Single-cell RNA sequencing ( = 10) combined with functional analysis of samples from patients with -FPD ( > 75) revealed that FPD hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) displayed increased myeloid differentiation and suppressed megakaryopoiesis because of increased activation of prosurvival and inflammatory pathways.

Implementing Mental Practice in Postgraduate Surgical Training for Minimally Invasive Surgery: A Systematic Review and Thematic Analysis.

Background: Unprecedented pressure on the National Health Service (NHS) has meant that there are increasing obstacles to surgical training. Simulation training is an option to improve surgical performance but is limited due to availability, accessibility and financial constraints. Mental practice (MP) has been proposed as a potential solution to supplement the traditional method of apprenticeship-style learning.

C-reactive protein (CRP) and otorrhoea as prognosticate markers for necrotising otitis externa treatment response: based on a retrospective cohort study of 62 patients.

Background: Recurrence rate of necrotising otitis externa (NOE) after treatment is 15-20%. This is mainly due to a lack of reliable clinical indicator for the resolution of disease.

Aims: We aim to assess the predictability of the otalgia, otorrhoea and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in a large cohort of sixty-two patients for treatment outcome.

Excision of a supergiant spinal schwannoma: illustrative case.

Background: The authors report on a patient who presented with an extremely large presacral schwannoma and subsequent mass effect-induced hydronephrosis and kidney failure. To the authors' knowledge, this case represents the largest radiographically verified spinal schwannoma in the medical literature. The tumor presented here was more than three times as large as a typical giant schwannoma.

Evaluation of Permanent Nipple-Areolar Complex Sensitivity Loss Following Reduction Mammaplasty.

Background: Predictors for permanent nipple-areolar complex (NAC) insensitivity after reduction mammaplasty are sparsely defined.

Objectives: We analyzed factors associated with NAC insensitivity over long-term follow-up.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of reduction mammaplasties on 1598 breasts performed by 4 surgeons from March 2015 to February 2023 was conducted.

Neighborhood Disadvantage Predicts Delay in Care in Bilateral Breast Reduction.

Purpose: The Area Deprivation Index (ADI) is a validated quantifiable measure of neighborhood disadvantage and social determinants of health (SDoH). Higher percentiles in ADI correlate with the most disadvantaged neighborhoods: lower income, lower education, and less access to transportation. Using ADI, we aimed to investigate the impact of SDoH on bilateral breast reduction (BBR) complication rates.

Boosting Your Context by Dual Similarity Checkup for In-Context Learning Medical Image Segmentation.

The recent advent of in-context learning (ICL) capabilities in large pre-trained models has yielded significant advancements in the generalization of segmentation models. By supplying domain-specific image-mask pairs, the ICL model can be effectively guided to produce optimal segmentation outcomes, eliminating the necessity for model fine-tuning or interactive prompting. However, current existing ICL-based segmentation models exhibit significant limitations when applied to medical segmentation datasets with substantial diversity.

Open-source hardware and software for the measurement, characterization, reporting, and correction of geometric distortion in MRI.

Background: Geometric distortion is a serious problem in MRI, particularly in MRI guided therapy. A lack of affordable and adaptable tools in this area limits research progress and harmonized quality assurance.

Purpose: To develop and test a suite of open-source hardware and software tools for the measurement, characterization, reporting, and correction of geometric distortion in MRI.

Domestic and International Cosmetic Tourism Complications Presenting to a US Tertiary Hospital.

Background: Cosmetic surgery tourism has become a significant global industry. Often patients who develop postoperative complications present for care in their US home state.

Objectives: In this study we evaluated patients who either traveled abroad or to other states within the United States for cosmetic surgeries and later came with complications for treatment at the authors' center.

Super-resolution neural networks improve the spatiotemporal resolution of adaptive MRI-guided radiation therapy.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers superb non-invasive, soft tissue imaging of the human body. However, extensive data sampling requirements severely restrict the spatiotemporal resolution achievable with MRI. This limits the modality's utility in real-time guidance applications, particularly for the rapidly growing MRI-guided radiation therapy approach to cancer treatment.

Field-Scale Testing of a High-Efficiency Membrane Reactor (MR)-Adsorptive Reactor (AR) Process for H Generation and Pre-Combustion CO Capture.

The study objective was to field-validate the technical feasibility of a membrane- and adsorption-enhanced water gas shift reaction process employing a carbon molecular sieve membrane (CMSM)-based membrane reactor (MR) followed by an adsorptive reactor (AR) for pre-combustion CO capture. The project was carried out in two different phases. In Phase I, the field-scale experimental MR-AR system was designed and constructed, the membranes, and adsorbents were prepared, and the unit was tested with simulated syngas to validate functionality.

The Impact of a Centralized Plastic Surgery Research Infrastructure on Scholarly Productivity and Output.

Although research and innovation is a key within the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery, the impact of team structure, interpersonal dynamics, and/or standardized infrastructure on scholarly output has been infrequently studied. In this work, we present the formation and implementation of a novel plastic surgery research program that aims to unite previously disparate clinical and translational research efforts at our institution to facilitate critical inquiry. From July 2022 to June 2023, our department launched a pilot research program based on three pillars: (1) formalization of a research curriculum (monthly research meetings for agenda setting and discussion for project honing, formal research leadership for meeting facilitation and workflow regulation), (2) development of a centralized database to compile ongoing research (Google Drive repository to house all ongoing research documents, facilitate real-time editing, and provide resources/templates for assisting in the research process), and (3) bolstering of a core research identity built on mentorship and collaboration (more frequent interactions to shift previously siloed faculty-student mentorship into a robust milieu of intercollaboration).

Alpha Defensin-1 Level Correlates with Periprosthetic Infection Severity following Implant-based Breast Reconstruction.

Background: Accurate diagnosis of periprosthetic infections following breast reconstructions is paramount to reduce morbidity. Alpha defensin-1 (AD-1) is an antimicrobial peptide released by neutrophils. This study evaluates the relationship between quantitative AD-1 levels and infection severity in patients with suspected periprosthetic infection.

Genomic landscape of patients with germline RUNX1 variants and familial platelet disorder with myeloid malignancy.

Familial platelet disorder with associated myeloid malignancies (FPDMM) is caused by germline RUNX1 mutations and characterized by thrombocytopenia and increased risk of hematologic malignancies. We recently launched a longitudinal natural history study for patients with FPDMM. Among 27 families with research genomic data by the end of 2021, 26 different germline RUNX1 variants were detected.

Real-time motion management in MRI-guided radiotherapy: Current status and AI-enabled prospects.

MRI-guided radiotherapy (MRIgRT) is a highly complex treatment modality, allowing adaptation to anatomical changes occurring from one treatment day to the other (inter-fractional), but also to motion occurring during a treatment fraction (intra-fractional). In this vision paper, we describe the different steps of intra-fractional motion management during MRIgRT, from imaging to beam adaptation, and the solutions currently available both clinically and at a research level. Furthermore, considering the latest developments in the literature, a workflow is foreseen in which motion-induced over- and/or under-dosage is compensated in 3D, with minimal impact to the radiotherapy treatment time.

Runx1-R188Q germ line mutation induces inflammation and predisposition to hematologic malignancies in mice.

Germ line mutations in the RUNX1 gene cause familial platelet disorder (FPD), an inherited disease associated with lifetime risk to hematopoietic malignancies (HM). Patients with FPD frequently show clonal expansion of premalignant cells preceding HM onset. Despite the extensive studies on the role of RUNX1 in hematopoiesis, its function in the premalignant bone marrow (BM) is not well-understood.

Irisin deficiency exacerbates diet-induced insulin resistance and cardiac dysfunction in type II diabetes in mice.

Irisin is involved in the regulation of a variety of physiological conditions, metabolism, and survival. We and others have demonstrated that irisin contributes critically to modulation of insulin resistance and the improvement of cardiac function. However, whether the deletion of irisin will regulate cardiac function and insulin sensitivity in type II diabetes remains unclear.