Brain metabolic abnormalities associated with developmental venous anomalies.

Background And Purpose: Developmental venous anomalies are the most common intracranial vascular malformation and are typically regarded as inconsequential, especially when small. While there are data regarding the prevalence of MR imaging findings associated with developmental venous anomalies, FDG-PET findings have not been well-characterized.

Materials And Methods: Clinical information systems were used to retrospectively identify patients with developmental venous anomalies depicted on MR imaging examinations who had also undergone FDG-PET.

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 study of the augmentation of a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor partial agonist in depression: is there a relationship to leptin levels?

This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluated the efficacy of CP-601,927, an α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor partial agonist and an augmenting agent of antidepressants in major depressive disorder patients with insufficient response to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). After open-label treatment with an SSRI for 8 weeks, subjects with a Hamilton Depression Scale 17 score greater than or equal to 16 were entered into a double-blind phase and randomized to CP-601,927 2 mg twice daily or placebo for 6 weeks. The primary end point was the change in Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score from double-blind baseline to week 14.

Omega-3 Fatty acids and gestational length in a high-risk psychiatric population due to psychiatric morbidity and medication exposure during pregnancy.

Objective: Premature birth is associated with infant morbidity and mortality. Women with psychiatric disorders represent an at-risk population for premature delivery and other obstetrical complications. The primary aim of this study was to assess the association between omega-3 fatty acid use and length of gestation.

Characterization of genomic deletion efficiency mediated by clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 nuclease system in mammalian cells.

The clustered regularly interspaced short [corrected] palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated (Cas) 9 nuclease system has provided a powerful tool for genome engineering. Double strand breaks may trigger nonhomologous end joining repair, leading to frameshift mutations, or homology-directed repair using an extrachromosomal template. Alternatively, genomic deletions may be produced by a pair of double strand breaks.

Ovarian cancer: targeting the untargetable.

The premise that all tumors are targetable has been met with some controversy in the approach to epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Genomic analysis shows that these tumors (specifically, high-grade serous carcinomas) are genomically unstable and lack actionable driver mutations, much like HER2 in breast and gastric cancers. In this paper, Michael Birrer, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital, argues that the interpretation of genomic data in ovarian cancer requires a more thoughtful approach that necessitates a closer inspection of the data beyond the mere presence or absence of mutations.

Competing risks in low-risk breast cancer.

In recent years a growing amount of data on prognostic features of breast cancer has allowed for identification of tumors with a very low risk of recurrence. Markers used to predict the risk of distant spread include classic clinicopathologic features as well as newer tumor gene signatures, which have been validated and are being used in cohorts of patients with breast cancer patients who have low-risk disease. However, the definition of "low-risk" breast cancer requires consideration of patient-related factors such as comorbidities and age in addition to tumor characteristics, as high competing risks for mortality might be more important than cancer recurrence from a patient's point of view.

Measuring value at the provider level in the management of cleft lip and palate patients.

"Value" has become a buzzword in current health-care discussions. This study demonstrates a provider-led strategy to measuring costs, an understudied component of the value equation, for a complex diagnosis for the purposes of improvement. A retrospective, microcosting methodology was used to measure costs for all hospital and physician services and costs to the patient over 18 months of multidisciplinary care for patients with cleft lip and palate.

Pediatric free tissue transfer: a 29-year experience with 433 transfers.

Background: Free tissue transfer in pediatric patients represents the ultimate challenge in microsurgery. There have been few large series presented in the literature. The authors report one surgeon's experience over a three-decade period with 433 consecutive cases of free tissue transfer in pediatric patients.