Pain and Perception: Exploring Psychedelics as Novel Therapeutic Agents in Chronic Pain Management.

Purpose Of Review: Chronic pain affects approximately 1.5 billion people worldwide, representing the leading cause of disability and a significant financial burden on healthcare systems. Conventional treatments, such as opioids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, are frequently linked to adverse effects, including dependency and gastrointestinal issues, and often offer limited long-term relief.

Evaluation of Swallowing Dysfunction With Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing in the Neonatal Unit.

Background: Preterm and low-birth-weight infants often experience discoordination of the suck-swallow-breathe pattern, leading to dysrhythmic feeding, inefficient feeding skills, and swallowing dysfunction, increasing the risk of aspiration and respiratory morbidity. While videofluoroscopic swallowing study is commonly utilized to assess swallow function in neonates, flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) has been an emerging modality and has been utilized routinely at our institution since 2018.

Method: A single-center, retrospective study including 90 infants admitted to the neonatal unit between 2018-2023 who underwent FEES procedure.

Early-Stage IM Treatment with the Host-Derived Immunostimulant CPDI-02 Increases Curative Protection of Healthy Outbred Mice Against Subcutaneous Infection with Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant USA300.

: Community-acquired methicillin-resistant (CA-MRSA) greatly complicates the treatment of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI). It was previously found that subcutaneous (SQ) treatment with the mononuclear phagocyte (MP)-selective activator complements peptide-derived immunostimulant-02 (CPDI-02; formerly EP67) and increases prophylaxis of outbred CD-1 mice against SQ infection with CA-MRSA. Here, we determined if treatment with CPDI-02 also increases curative protection.

Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Chronic Pouchitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Pouchitis is a common complication after ileal-pouch anal anastomosis in patients with medically refractory ulcerative colitis. There has been a lack of high-level evidence focusing on the safety and efficacy outcomes of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT). We aim to evaluate outcomes and complications of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for chronic pouchitis.

Safety and Efficacy of Initiating Parenteral Nutrition at Home, Home Start PN, in Advanced Peritoneal Metastasis.

Background: Patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis often experience intestinal failure throughout the course of their disease, and total parenteral nutrition (TPN) can be used as a temporary solution or as a bridge to definitive cytoreductive surgery. Guidelines for TPN are well established for inpatients and in 2014, guidelines were established for the initiation of TPN for outpatients in a home setting. However, the safety and efficacy of home start TPN in advanced oncology patients remain unknown.

Chronic cannabis use differentially modulates neural oscillations serving the manipulate versus maintain components of working memory processing.

The legalization of recreational cannabis use has expanded the availability of this psychoactive substance in the United States. Research has shown that chronic cannabis use is associated with altered working memory function, however, the brain areas and neural dynamics underlying these affects remain poorly understood. In this study, we leveraged magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate neurophysiological activity in 45 participants (22 heavy cannabis users) during a numerical WM task, whereby participants were asked to either maintain or manipulate (i.

Ethical Considerations in the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Pain Medicine.

Although the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into medicine and healthcare holds transformative potential, significant challenges must be necessarily addressed. This technological innovation requires a commitment to ethical principles. Key issues concern autonomy, reliability, and bias.

Long-term growth and nutrition outcomes in children following intestinal transplantation.

Objective: Intestinal transplantation (ITx) has become an accepted option for children with serious complications from intestinal failure and parenteral nutrition (PN) dependence. We aimed to assess long-term growth and nutritional outcomes in these patients. We also assessed factors influencing nutritional status and ability to wean off tube feedings (TFs) after ITx.

Investigating Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Disparities in Pelvic Organ Prolapse Surgery.

Importance: Racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities have been observed in the mode of pelvic organ prolapse surgery. Some of the disparities may be attributed to differences in access to care and advanced surgical technology across the United States, although this is difficult to study.

Objective: We aimed to investigate whether racial/ethnic or socioeconomic disparities in a mode of prolapse surgery exist in a managed care setting, where differences in access are minimized.

Correlates and Barriers of Exercise, Stress, and Wellness in Medical Students.

Unlabelled: Medical students report higher stress and increased mental illness than peers of similar age. Burnout and depression among medical students and physicians have also been correlated with increased risk of medical errors and decreased importance of altruistic values, such as providing care to medically underserved populations. This study works to analyze the effects of exercise, nutrition, sleep, and other factors affecting wellness and performance of medical students, as well as identifying barriers to exercise and possible solutions.

The Relationship Between Engagement Time in Case-based Learning and Performance on Preclinical Medical Education Exams.

Case- and team-based learning activities are increasingly popular in medical education. Our institution utilizes a novel approach of using case-based learning (CBL) as prework for team-based learning (TBL) in preclinical medical education. This study evaluated the relationship between the time spent in CBL and performance on subsequent assessments including TBL performance on the IRAT and TRAT, and exam performance.

Wyburn-Mason disease: Management of a Spetzler-Martin grade 5 arteriovenous malformation with predominant thalamic involvement.

Wyburn-Mason disease (WMD) is a rare congenital phakomatosis known for its complex arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) predominantly affecting the brain and ocular structures. We present the case of a 19-year-old female with an unruptured Spetzler-Martin grade 5 left thalamic AVM, who initially exhibited progressive visual impairment and migraines. Following diagnosis, she was treated with trametinib, a MEK inhibitor; however, nine months later, she developed acute complications, including left monocular blindness and right hemisensory loss.

Total Prehospital Time and Tractor Injuries: A Nebraska State Trauma Registry Analysis.

Background: Agriculture is a hazardous industry, with tractor-related incidents being among the leading causes of traumatic injury and death. These injuries tend to take place far away from hospitals, thus leading to increased prehospital time to receive care. Understanding the relationship between prehospital time and outcomes such as hospital length of stay and mortality in the state of Nebraska could inform resource allocation for tractor related injuries.

Ligand recognition by 14-3-3 proteins requires negative charges but not necessarily phosphorylation.

Protein-protein interactions involving 14-3-3 proteins regulate various cellular activities in normal and pathological conditions. These interactions have mostly been reported to be phosphorylation-dependent, but the 14-3-3 proteins also interact with unphosphorylated proteins. In this work, we investigated whether phosphorylation is required, or, alternatively, whether negative charges are sufficient for 14-3-3ε binding.

Subcortical brain iron and its link to verbal memory in children with developmental language disorder.

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is a common neurodevelopmental condition characterized by significant difficulty with language learning, comprehension, and expression. The neurocognitive bases of DLD are underspecified but are thought to be related, in part, to altered basal ganglia (BG). The BG are known to have a high level of brain iron, which contributes to myelination and dopaminergic pathways among other physiological mechanisms.

Correlation of Increased Lateral Tibial Slope With Baseline Tibial Position in Intact Knees and Side-to-Side Anterior Tibial Translation for Knees With ACL Tears.

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) stress techniques-including single-leg stress radiographs, Telos, and KT-1000 arthrometer-are highly accessible and can provide additional diagnostic information to assess ACL and ACL graft integrity. The degree of anterior tibial translation (ATT) may be useful in guiding treatment when a diagnosis on magnetic resonance imaging is not conclusive or for judging if additional treatments, such as anterolateral complex augmentation, may be necessary.

Purpose/hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of increasing posterior tibial slope (PTS) on baseline tibial position (BTP) and side-to-side differences (SSD) in ATT.

Governance Considerations for Point-of-Care Ultrasound: a HIMSS-SIIM Enterprise Imaging Community Whitepaper in Collaboration with AIUM.

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has emerged as a standard of care across a variety of healthcare settings due to its ability to provide critical clinical information and as well as procedural guidance to clinicians directly at the bedside. Implementation of enterprise imaging (EI) strategies is needed such that POCUS images can be appropriately captured, indexed, managed, stored, distributed, viewed, and analyzed. Because of its unique workflow and educational requirements, reliance on traditional order-based workflow solutions may be insufficient.

Automated Detection of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Using CT Imaging for Calculating the Ventricle-to-Subarachnoid Volume Ratio.

Background And Purpose: Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is a diagnostic challenge because its clinical symptoms and imaging appearance resemble normal aging and other forms of dementia. Identifying NPH is essential so that patients can receive timely treatment to improve gait distortion and quality of life. An automated marker of NPH was developed and evaluated on clinical CT images, and its utility was assessed in a large patient cohort.

Proposing Bromo-epi-androsterone (BEA) for perioperative neurocognitive disorders with Interleukin-6 as a druggable target.

Cognitive impairment following surgery is a significant complication, affecting multiple neurocognitive domains. The term "perioperative neurocognitive disorders" (PND) is recommended to encompass this entity. Individuals who develop PND are typically older and have increases in serum and brain pro-inflammatory cytokines notwithstanding the type of surgery undergone.

Utility of color Doppler imaging in patients with retinoblastoma treated by intra-arterial chemotherapy.

Background: There are no clinical parameters that predict response to intra-arterial chemotherapy (IAC), which is a first-line treatment for primary and recurrent unilateral retinoblastoma. We evaluated the utility of ophthalmic ultrasound with color Doppler imaging to predict retinoblastoma response to IAC treatment.

Methods: The medical records of 14 retinoblastoma patients (20 eyes) treated with IAC were reviewed retrospectively.