Evaluation of a Mobile Health Approach to Tuberculosis Contact Tracing in Botswana.

Tuberculosis (TB) contact tracing is typically conducted in resource-limited settings with paper forms, but this approach may be limited by inefficiencies in data collection, storage, and retrieval and poor data quality. In Botswana, we developed, piloted, and evaluated a mobile health (mHealth) approach to TB contact tracing that replaced the paper form-based approach for a period of six months. For both approaches, we compared the time required to complete TB contact tracing and the quality of data collected.

Evaluating the potential impact of a mobile telemedicine system on coordination of specialty care for patients with complicated oral lesions in Botswana.

Mobile telemedicine involves the use of mobile device (e.g., cell phones, tablets) technology to exchange information to assist in the provision of patient care.

A comparison of cook-medley hostility subscales and mortality in patients with coronary heart disease: data from the heart and soul study.

Objective: Hostility is associated with adverse outcomes in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). However, assessment tools used to evaluate hostility in epidemiological studies vary widely.

Methods: We administered nine subscales of the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale (CMHS) to 656 outpatients with stable CHD between 2005 and 2007.

Relation of left atrial dysfunction to ischemic stroke in patients with coronary heart disease (from the heart and soul study).

This study sought to determine whether left atrial (LA) dysfunction independently predicts ischemic stroke. Atrial fibrillation (AF) impairs LA function and is associated with ischemic stroke. However, ischemic stroke frequently occurs in patients without known AF.

Inequalities in lung cancer care of elderly patients with schizophrenia: an observational cohort study.

Objective: Cancer mortality is higher in individuals with schizophrenia, a finding that may be due, in part, to inequalities in care. We evaluated gaps in lung cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survival among elderly individuals with schizophrenia.

Methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database linked to Medicare records was used to identify patients 66 years or older with primary non-small cell lung cancer.

Association of CHADS2, CHA2DS2-VASc, and R2CHADS2 scores with left atrial dysfunction in patients with coronary heart disease (from the Heart and Soul study).

The predictive ability of the CHADS2 index to stratify stroke risk may be mechanistically linked to severity of left atrial (LA) dysfunction. This study investigated the association between the CHADS2 score and LA function. We performed resting transthoracic echocardiography in 970 patients with stable coronary heart disease and normal ejection fraction and calculated baseline LA functional index (LAFI) using a validated formula: (LA emptying fraction×left ventricular outflow tract velocity time integral)/LA end-systolic volume indexed to body surface area.

Complications of primary and revision functional endoscopic sinus surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis.

Objectives/hypothesis: The goal of this study was to determine the incidence of major complications following primary and revision functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). In addition, this study aimed to determine factors associated with the occurrence of complications including patient and provider characteristics and the use of image guidance system (IGS) technology.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort analysis of California and Florida all-payer databases from 2005 to 2008.

Acute care of pediatric patients with sickle cell disease: a simulation performance assessment.

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a rare disorder with cardinal features including hospitalization for vaso-occlusive pain episodes, acute pulmonary injury, and increased infection rates. For physician-trainees, learning optimal SCD management is challenging because of limited exposure to life threatening complications requiring timely interventions.

Procedure: To create, demonstrate reliability, and validate simulation-based, acute care SCD scenarios for physician-trainees, seven scenarios were derived from SCD patient cases.

Quantifying the effect of cardiopulmonary resuscitation quality on cardiac arrest outcome: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background- Evidence has accrued that cardiopulmonary resuscitation quality affects cardiac arrest outcome. However, the relative contributions of chest compression components (such as rate and depth) to successful resuscitation remain unclear. Methods and Results- We sought to measure the effect of cardiopulmonary resuscitation quality on cardiac arrest outcome through systematic review and meta-analysis.

Optic pathway glioma as part of a constitutional mismatch-repair deficiency syndrome in a patient meeting the criteria for neurofibromatosis type 1.

Patients with constitutional mismatch repair-deficiency (CMMR-D) caused by the biallelic deletions of mismatch repair (MMR) genes have a high likelihood of developing malignancies of the bone marrow, bowel, and brain. Affected individuals often have phenotypic features of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1), including café-au-lait spots. Optic pathway gliomas (OPGs), a common manifestation of NF-1, have not been reported.

Sex differences in parietal lobe structure and development.

Structural magnetic resonance imaging studies provide evidence for sex differences in the human brain. Differences in surface area and the proportion of gray to white matter volume are observed, in particular in the parietal lobe. To our knowledge, no studies have examined sex differences in parietal lobe structure in younger populations or in the context of development.

Designing, optimizing, and implementing high-throughput siRNA genomic screening with glioma cells for the discovery of survival genes and novel drug targets.

A major challenge for the treatment of cancers, such as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), has been resistance to radiation and cancer chemotherapeutics. Short interfering RNA (siRNA) based screening may facilitate the identification of genes and pathways essential for cancer cell survival and could enable a more targeted therapeutic approach for the treatment of GBM. Although the commercial availability of siRNA libraries has expanded greatly, detailed methods for the implementation and analysis of genome-scale screens are largely lacking.

Advances in the pathogenesis and treatment of IBD.

Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are chronic remitting and relapsing inflammatory bowel diseases. We present a typical case of Crohn's disease in a young woman and discuss potential treatment options. Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis likely result from interaction of multiple genetic and environmental risk and protective factors.

SIX1 mutation screening in 247 branchio-oto-renal syndrome families: a recurrent missense mutation associated with BOR.

Branchio-oto-renal syndrome (BOR) is a clinically heterogeneous autosomal dominant form of syndromic hearing loss characterized by variable hearing impairment, malformations of the pinnae, the presence of branchial arch remnants, and various renal abnormalities. Both EYA1 and SIX1 are expressed in developing otic, branchial and renal tissue. Consistent with this expression pattern, mutations in both genes cause BOR syndrome.

Defining cancer cachexia in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Purpose: Cancer cachexia is a devastating and understudied illness in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The primary objective was to identify clinical characteristics and serum levels of cytokines and cachexia-related factors in patients with HNSCC. The secondary objective was to detect the occurrence of cytokine and cachexia-related factor gene expression in HNSCC tumors.

Results of a pilot study of the effects of celecoxib on cancer cachexia in patients with cancer of the head, neck, and gastrointestinal tract.

Background: Animal models suggest that cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors may be beneficial in suppressing cancer cachexia. We investigated the effect of short-course celecoxib on body composition, inflammation, and quality of life (QOL) in patients with cancer cachexia in a phase II clinical pilot trial.

Methods: Eleven cachectic patients with head and neck or gastrointestinal cancer were randomly assigned to receive placebo or celecoxib for 21 days while awaiting the initiation of cancer therapy.

Cancer cachexia syndrome in head and neck cancer patients: Part II. Pathophysiology.

Cancer cachexia is a morbid wasting syndrome common among patients with head and neck cancer. While its clinical manifestations have been well characterized, its pathophysiology remains complex. A comprehensive literature search on cancer cachexia was performed using the National Library of Medicine's PubMed.

Inheritance pattern of Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome is heterogeneous in 291 families with an affected proband.

Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is congenital disorder whose molecular etiology is related to genetic and epigenetic mutations on 11p15. The majority of cases of BWS are sporadic, but a substantial proportion are familial, with an unknown inheritance pattern, although autosomal dominant and sex-dependent inheritance have been proposed. We tested the hypothesis that in familial BWS, autosomal dominant inheritance is the primary mode of transmission underlying familial instances.

Factors associated with preterm delivery in mothers of children with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome: a case cohort study from the BWS registry.

Pregnancy that results in a child with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is associated with preterm delivery. Based on previous case series, we hypothesized that preterm delivery of a child with BWS was due to known risk factors for preterm delivery such as polyhydramnios and gestational hypertension. A case cohort study using the BWS Registry at Washington University School of Medicine was undertaken.

Vancomycin-induced linear IgA disease manifesting as bullous erythema multiforme.

Background: Vancomycin-induced linear immunoglobulin A (IgA) disease, an autoimmune, blistering disease in response to vancomycin administration, is characterized by a subepidermal, vesiculobullous eruption and linear IgA deposition along the basement membrane zone on direct immunofluorescence.

Case Report: We report the case of an 81-year-old man treated with vancomycin who developed diffuse erythema multiforme and tense bullae involving the palmoplantar surfaces. Discontinuation of vancomycin therapy resulted in complete resolution of this patient's cutaneous eruption.