Publications by authors named "R F Friesen"

Introduction: Sjögren's syndrome (SS) presents complex diagnostic challenges due to its multi-organ involvement, often leading to misdiagnosis, which can result in unnecessary treatments, elevated healthcare costs, and significant impacts on patient quality of life. Accurate diagnosis is therefore critical, utilising ACR/EULAR criteria that include both labial minor salivary gland (LMSG) biopsy and anti-SSA antibodies.

Methods: This retrospective study analysed medical records of 87 adults suspected of primary SS, who underwent both anti-SSA serology and LMSG biopsy.

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Purpose: To correct maternal breathing and fetal bulk motion during fetal 4D flow MRI.

Methods: A Doppler-ultrasound fetal cardiac-gated free-running 4D flow acquisition was corrected post hoc for maternal respiratory and fetal bulk motion in separate automated steps, with optional manual intervention to assess and limit fetal motion artifacts. Compressed-sensing reconstruction with a data outlier rejection algorithm was adapted from previous work.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to establish reference values for fetal 4D flow MRI and assess its reliability in measuring blood flow in healthy fetuses and those with suspected aortic coarctation (CoA).
  • Researchers conducted MRI scans on 34 pregnant patients, collecting data from both healthy fetuses and those with potential cardiovascular issues, analyzing the accuracy and consistency of the flow measurements obtained.
  • The results indicated that fetal 4D flow MRI provides reliable hemodynamic measurements with high precision and repeatability, although it tends to underestimate blood flow compared to traditional 2D phase contrast MRI techniques.
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Early exposure to human milk and time to first trophic feed in low birth weight (LBW) infants (<2 kg) is associated with a decreased risk of mortality, sepsis, and length of hospital stay. This project, focused on infants born at less than 2 kg, aimed to identify the mean time to first feed after birth, identify barriers to initiation of the first feed, and meet the target of having 90% of infants receive their first feed within the first 6 hours of life. This quality improvement (QI) project occurred in a thirty-bed level III NICU over 29 months using two Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles.

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