Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent)
November 2024
Introduction: The heart team approach is now the standard of care for patients with complex coronary artery disease; however, the definition of a heart team is variable. We embarked on a project to create an extended, multidisciplinary heart team to evaluate patients we deemed high risk for coronary revascularization. In doing so, we created a new service, workflow, and paradigm.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOtolaryngol Head Neck Surg
February 2025
Objective: To determine the relationship between pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and 6-month progression-free survival (PFS)/2-year overall survival (OS) among patients with recurrent or metastatic (R/M) oral cavity cancer on pembrolizumab.
Study Design: This study was a retrospective, observational study performed at a tertiary care academic center.
Setting: Participants included patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) who began pembrolizumab treatment at the University of California, San Francisco between May 2016 and May 2022.
The use of ketamine and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) for treatment of depression has grown dramatically, though much of these data are short term. The clinical profile of maintenance treatment remains poorly characterized. We assessed maintenance KAP for efficacy, tolerability, and reasons for dropout.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProtein kinases are critical components of a myriad biological processes and strongly associated with various diseases. While kinase research has been a point of focus in biomedical research for several decades, a large portion of the kinome is still considered understudied or "dark," because prior research is targeted towards a subset of kinases with well-established roles in cellular processes. We present an empirical and in-silico hybrid workflow to extend the functional knowledge of understudied kinases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSalivary gland carcinoma is a rare form of head and neck carcinoma, but it comprises a variety of subsites and histologic subtypes that each present with unique clinical courses and management challenges. Preoperative work-up generally consists of fine-needle aspiration cytology and MRI. However, because of the large variety of subtypes, there are often challenges obtaining a histologic diagnosis before surgery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Among patients with bicuspid aortic valves (BAV) who are potential candidates for valve-sparing root replacement (VSRR), the long-term durability of this technique is not well understood. This study aimed to compare the clinical and echocardiographic outcomes of VSRR in those with BAV and tricuspid aortic valve (TAV) morphology.
Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of patients who underwent VSRR between 2007 and 2021 at a single center.
Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a common sensorineural hearing impairment that lacks U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnvironmental and genetic risk factors, and their interactions, contribute significantly to the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Recent epidemiology studies have implicated pyrethroid pesticides as an environmental risk factor for autism and developmental delay. Our previous research showed that low-dose developmental exposure to the pyrethroid pesticide deltamethrin in mice caused male-biased changes in the brain and in NDD-relevant behaviors in adulthood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Epicardial injection of botulinum toxin may suppress POAF.
Objectives: This study sought to assess the safety and efficacy of AGN-151607 for the prevention of POAF after cardiac surgery.
Reality is fleeting, and any moment can only be experienced once. Rewatching a video, however, allows people to repeatedly observe the exact same moment. We propose that people may fail to fully distinguish between merely observing behavior again (through replay) from that behavior being performed again in the exact same way.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To define symptomatology and responses to treatment in chronic sialadenitis from sialolithiasis versus duct stenosis and establish a minimal clinically significant difference (MCID) in the validated Obstructive Salivary Problem Impact Test (SPIT).
Study Design: Prospective, cohort.
Setting: Tertiary-care center.
People often decide whether to invest scarce resources-such as time, money, or energy-to improve their chances of a positive outcome. For example, a doctor might decide whether to utilize scarce medicine to improve a patient's chances of recovery, or a student might decide whether to study a few additional hours to increase their chances of passing an exam. We conducted 11 studies ( = 5,342 adults) and found evidence that people behave as if they focus on the relative reduction in bad outcomes caused by such improvements.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Overdose rates in rural areas have been increasing globally, with large increases in the United States. Few studies, however, have identified correlates of non-fatal overdose among rural people who use drugs (PWUD). The present analysis describes correlates of nonfatal overdose among a large multistate sample of rural PWUD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSchizophrenia is characterized by substantial alterations in brain function, and previous studies suggest insulin signaling pathways, particularly involving AKT, are implicated in the pathophysiology of the disorder. This study demonstrates elevated mRNA expression of AKT1-3 in neurons from schizophrenia subjects, contrary to unchanged or diminished total AKT protein expression reported in previous postmortem studies, suggesting a potential decoupling of transcript and protein levels. Sex-specific differential AKT activity was observed, indicating divergent roles in males and females with schizophrenia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The rate of occult metastasis in lip cancer is poorly studied. Management of the regional nodal basin in lip cancer is thus controversial. This study sought to understand the true rate of micrometastasis in lip cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The use of rapid-deployment valves (RDVs) has been shown to reduce the operative time for surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR). Long-term core laboratory-adjudicated data are scarce, however. Here we report final 7-year data on RDV use.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To describe the clinicopathologic presentation of buccal squamous cell carcinoma and identify risks factors for recurrence and overall survival.
Methods: This is a retrospective case-control study of patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) treated at a single tertiary care center between 2010 and 2022. All patients with buccal subsite OCSCC treated during this time frame were included and paired with a randomly selected age and gender matched patient with non-buccal OCSCC.
Laryngoscope Investig Otolaryngol
February 2024
Objectives: The Salivary Gland Committee of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery seeks to standardize terminology and technique for ultrasonograpy used in the evaluation and treatment of salivary gland disorders.
Methods: Development of expert opinion obtained through interaction with international practitioners representing multiple specialties. This committee work includes a comprehensive literature review with presentation of case examples to propose a standardized protocol for the language used in ultrasound salivary gland assessment.
Objective: Studies have shown that requiring tracheostomy following cardiac surgery has significant implications on outcomes. This study proposes a risk stratification model to predict the likelihood of requiring a tracheostomy after cardiac surgery.
Methods: Patients who underwent cardiac surgery between January 2010 and December 2019 were analyzed.
Psychoneuroendocrinology
May 2024
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the shortfalls in our understanding of how to treat coronavirus infections. With almost 7 million case fatalities of COVID-19 globally, the catalog of FDA-approved antiviral therapeutics is limited compared to other medications, such as antibiotics. All-trans retinoic acid (RA), or activated vitamin A, has been studied as a potential therapeutic against coronavirus infection because of its antiviral properties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Periodontitis is an immune-mediated inflammatory disease affecting almost half of the adult population and is the leading cause of tooth loss in the United States. The role of extracellular nucleotide signaling including nucleotide metabolizing enzyme CD73 adds an important layer of interaction of purine mediators capable of orchestrating inflammatory outcomes. CD73 is able to catabolize 5'-adenosine monophosphate into adenosine at the extracellular level, playing a critical role in regulating many processes under physiological and pathological conditions.
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