Predictive modeling of postpartum blood pressure spikes.

Background: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are one of the leading causes of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Management of these conditions can pose many clinical dilemmas and can be particularly challenging during the immediate postpartum period. Models for predicting and managing postpartum hypertension are necessary to help address this clinical challenge.

Establishment of a normative cepstral pediatric acoustic database.

Importance: Few studies have used objective measures to evaluate the development of the normal pediatric voice. Cepstral analysis of continuous speech samples is a reliable method for gathering acoustic data; however, it has not been used to examine the changes that occur with voice development.

Objective: To establish and characterize acoustic patterns of the normal pediatric voice using cepstral analysis of voice samples from a normal pediatric voice database.

Prevalence of eosinophilic esophagitis in children with refractory aerodigestive symptoms.

Importance: Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is an increasingly important diagnosis for children; it has a remarkable impact on their quality of life and can present with aerodigestive symptoms commonly evaluated by otolaryngologists.

Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of EoE in children presenting to a pediatric aerodigestive clinic, to describe their presentation, and to review the role of subsequent food allergy evaluation and treatment.

Design: Review of a prospective database.

The utility of histopathology in identifying structural differences among layers of the lamina propria.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to assess the modality of laryngeal histopathology in identifying 1, 2, or 3 layers in the lamina propria.

Methods: Blinded analysis was performed, with a set of histophathologic slides where the magnification and localized regions shown were all standardized. Two senior pathologists with experience reviewing laryngologic histophathology were asked to assess whether the vocal fold lamina propria they evaluated contained 1, 2, or 3 layers.

Consistency of voice frequency and perturbation measures in children using cepstral analyses: a movement toward increased recording stability.

Importance: Few studies have evaluated the pediatric voice objectively using acoustic measurements. Furthermore, consistency of these measurements across time, particularly for continuous speech, has not been evaluated.

Objectives: (1) To evaluate normal pediatric voice frequency and perturbation using both time-based and frequency-based acoustic measurements, and (2) to determine if continuous speech samples facilitate increased recording stability.

Video-based assessment of operative competency in endoscopic sinus surgery.

Background: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires that residency programs have an effective plan for assessing their residents' competence. Current evaluation tools used for the assessment of operative competency are subjective, recall based, and do not allow providing formative feedback to the resident. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and validity of video-based assessment of endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) skills.