Gastrointestinal Discontinuity After Emergency Laparotomy.

During laparotomy, patients requiring intestinal resection may be temporarily left in gastrointestinal discontinuity (GID). We performed this study to determine predictors of futility for patients initially left in GID after emergency bowel resection. We divided the patients into 3 groups: never restored continuity and died (group 1), restored continuity and died (group 2), and restored continuity and survived (group 3).

A Case of Trisomy 13 Mosaicism With Aortic Root Dilatation.

We present a 6-year-old female child, with prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 13 mosaicism and nondisjunction, a bicuspid aortic valve, and severe aortic root dilatation. This patient is only the third reported case of aortic dilatation in the setting of trisomy 13 mosaicism. ().

Proteins inform survival-based differences in patients with glioblastoma.

Background: Improving the care of patients with glioblastoma (GB) requires accurate and reliable predictors of patient prognosis. Unfortunately, while protein markers are an effective readout of cellular function, proteomics has been underutilized in GB prognostic marker discovery.

Methods: For this study, GB patients were prospectively recruited and proteomics discovery using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis (LC-MS/MS) was performed for 27 patients including 13 short-term survivors (STS) (≤10 months) and 14 long-term survivors (LTS) (≥18 months).

Sex-specific gene and pathway modeling of inherited glioma risk.

Background: To date, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified 25 risk variants for glioma, explaining 30% of heritable risk. Most histologies occur with significantly higher incidence in males, and this difference is not explained by currently known risk factors. A previous GWAS identified sex-specific glioma risk variants, and this analysis aims to further elucidate risk variation by sex using gene- and pathway-based approaches.

Brain tumor biobanking in the precision medicine era: building a high-quality resource for translational research in neuro-oncology.

The growth of precision medicine has made access to biobanks with high-quality, well-annotated neuro-oncology biospecimens critical. Developing and maintaining neuro-oncology biobanks is best accomplished through multidisciplinary collaboration between clinicians and researchers. Balancing the needs and leveraging the skills of all stakeholders in this multidisciplinary effort is of utmost importance.

Models of epigenetic age capture patterns of DNA methylation in glioma associated with molecular subtype, survival, and recurrence.

Background: Models of epigenetic aging (epigenetic clocks) have been implicated as potentially useful markers for cancer risk and prognosis. Using 2 previously published methods for modeling epigenetic age, Horvath's clock and epiTOC, we investigated epigenetic aging patterns related to World Health Organization grade and molecular subtype as well as associations of epigenetic aging with glioma survival and recurrence.

Methods: Epigenetic ages were calculated using Horvath's clock and epiTOC on 516 lower-grade glioma and 141 glioblastoma cases along with 136 nontumor (normal) brain samples.

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation Infant and Childhood Primary Brain and Central Nervous System Tumors Diagnosed in the United States in 2007-2011.

The CBTRUS Statistical Report: Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation Infant and Childhood Primary Brain and Central Nervous System Tumors Diagnosed in the United States in 2007–2011 comprehensively describes the current population-based incidence of primary malignant and non-malignant brain and CNS tumors in children ages 0–14 years, collected and reported by central cancer registries covering approximately 99.8% of the United States population (for 2011 only, data were available for 50 out of 51 registries). Overall, brain and CNS tumors are the most common solid tumor, the most common cancer, and the most common cause of cancer death in infants and children 0–14 years.

Integrins protect cardiomyocytes from ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Ischemic damage is recognized to cause cardiomyocyte (CM) death and myocardial dysfunction, but the role of cell-matrix interactions and integrins in this process has not been extensively studied. Expression of α7β1D integrin, the dominant integrin in normal adult CMs, increases during ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), while deficiency of β1 integrins increases ischemic damage. We hypothesized that the forced overexpression of integrins on the CM would offer protection from I/R injury.

Novel role for vinculin in ventricular myocyte mechanics and dysfunction.

Vinculin (Vcl) plays a key structural role in ventricular myocytes that, when disrupted, can lead to contractile dysfunction and dilated cardiomyopathy. To investigate the role of Vcl in myocyte and myocardial function, cardiomyocyte-specific Vcl knockout mice (cVclKO) and littermate control wild-type mice were studied with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tagging before the onset of global ventricular dysfunction. MRI revealed significantly decreased systolic strains transverse to the myofiber axis in vivo, but no changes along the muscle fibers or in fiber tension in papillary muscles from heterozygous global Vcl null mice.

β1 integrin gene excision in the adult murine cardiac myocyte causes defective mechanical and signaling responses.

How mechanical signals are transmitted in the cardiac myocyte is poorly understood. In this study, we produced a tamoxifen-inducible mouse model in which β1 integrin could be reduced specifically in the adult cardiomyocyte, so that the function of this integrin could be assessed in the postnatal and mechanically stressed heart. The expression of β1 integrin was reduced to 35% of control levels, but function remained normal at baseline.

Association between support group attendance and weight loss after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

Background: Attending support group meetings has been linked to increased weight loss after gastric bypass surgery. However, the degree to which support group attendance influences weight loss is still unclear. This study quantitatively described the association between support group attendance and weight loss after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

Minimally invasive surgery via laparoscopy for intra-abdominal biopsy in obese rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta).

Purpose: To determine the safety and effectiveness of laparoscopy for repeated intra-abdominal biopsy of liver and omental adipose tissue (AT) in obese rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).

Methods: Nine obese rhesus monkeys were studied by use of 18 laparoscopic procedures (two procedures each, approx. six weeks apart).

Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy: the University of Maryland 6-year experience.

Purpose: We determined whether the results of laparoscopic donor nephrectomy warranted expansion of the availability of the technique.

Materials And Methods: Donor and recipient charts for 738 consecutive laparoscopic living donor nephrectomies have been reviewed.

Results: Renal donors were 69% white race and 57% female.