The association of congenital diaphragmatic hernia with scoliosis.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of scoliosis in patients who have undergone surgical repair of CDH and attempt to assess the aetiology of scoliosis in affected cases.

Methods: A prospectively collected database of patients with CDH treated in a single centre between 1997 and 2023 was reviewed. Cases with adequate records who continued to reside locally having survived beyond age 2 and > 2 years following CDH repair were included.

Is CT pulmonary angiography overutilized in the evaluation of patients with suspected pulmonary embolism? A retrospective study.

Introduction: Despite the high mortality rate of acute untreated pulmonary embolism (PE) at 30%, diagnosing PE is challenging. While the prevalence of PE has decreased in recent years, the overuse of computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) remains a concern. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) provides guidelines using the Wells score for PE assessment.

Consequences of the Pandemic on Mental Health of Healthcare Workers in the NHS.

In recent years, the public health system of the United Kingdom, the National Healthcare System (NHS), has encountered difficulties that have been acknowledged in research studies and public policy discussions, such as resignations and staff shortages. During the COVID-19 pandemic, NHS healthcare workers were confronted with demanding circumstances, exacerbating the constraints of an already struggling system. With this, the authors of this paper aim to better understand the relationships between frustration at work, fear of infection, working hours, and the turnover intention of healthcare workers during the pandemic.

Optimum diagnostic pathway and pathologic confirmation rate of early stage lung cancer: Results from the VIOLET randomised controlled trial.

Background: Pathologic confirmation of lung cancer influences treatment selection for suspected early-stage lung cancer. High pre-treatment tissue confirmation rates are recommended. We sought to define management and outcomes of patients undergoing surgery for primary lung cancer in a UK multi-centre clinical trial.

The Impact of Bariatric Surgery on Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Remission: A Systematic Review.

Bariatric surgery has been shown to significantly affect type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remission, particularly in obese individuals. This systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of bariatric surgical interventions in inducing remission of T2DM as well as to identify factors influencing surgical outcomes. The systematic review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.

Bullying, Harassment, and Undermining Behaviour in Cardiothoracic Surgery in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Background: Bullying, harassment, and undermining behaviour has a profound detrimental effect on the multi-professional team, patient safety, and clinical outcomes. Bullying creates a poor working and training environment , increasing stress, damaging confidence, and impairing wellbeing. We sought to characterize the prevalence and nature of bullying, harassment and undermining within cardiothoracic surgery in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

Bridging Distances and Enhancing Care: A Comprehensive Review of Telemedicine in Surgery.

Telemedicine in surgical care has undergone rapid advancements in recent years, leveraging technologies such as telerobotics, artificial intelligence (AI) diagnostics, and wearable devices to facilitate remote evaluation and monitoring of patients. These innovations have improved access to care, reduced costs, and enhanced patient satisfaction. However, significant challenges remain, including technical barriers, limited tactile feedback in telesurgery, and inequities arising from digital literacy and infrastructure gaps.

Plasmablastic Lymphoma Manifesting As Pleural Thickening and Effusion: A Case Report.

Plasmablastic lymphoma (PbL) is a subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, primarily linked to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. This case report presents a 34-year-old HIV-positive patient who exhibited unusual signs of pleural thickening and effusion. Initial evaluations, including imaging and pleural fluid analysis, suggested thoracic empyema.

Peripheral Nerve Stimulation Implantation Combining Ultrasound With Microendoscopy for Management of Chronic Neuropathic Pain: A Case Series Study.

Background: Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) has emerged as a minimally invasive percutaneous procedure addressing neuropathic pain. However, the percutaneous cylindrical lead ultrasound-guided implantation procedure requires expertise that limits widespread PNS utilization. To overcome these challenges, a microinvasive endoscopy device has very recently been developed, enhancing the precision of PNS implantation by providing accurate visualization of the targeted nerve.

The DLEU2-miR-15a-16-1 Cluster Is a Determinant of Bone Microarchitecture and Strength in Postmenopausal Women and Mice.

This study explores how select microRNAs (miRNAs) influence bone structure in humans and in transgenic mice. In trabecular bone biopsies from 84 postmenopausal women (healthy, osteopenic, and osteoporotic), we demonstrate that (deleted in lymphocytic leukemia 2)-encoded is strongly positively associated with bone mineral density (BMD) at different skeletal sites. In bone transcriptome analyses, levels correlated positively with the osteocyte characteristic transcripts (encoding sclerostin) and (Matrix Extracellular Phosphoglycoprotein), while the related showed a negative association with BMD and osteoblast markers.

Oxygen saturation in healthy-term neonates at high altitude: A multisite prospective study.

Objectives: To determine oxygen saturation (SpO) values and their variability in healthy-term neonates at high altitude.

Methods: In a prospective multisite, non-randomized blinded study, we performed SpO measurements in healthy neonates admitted to postnatal wards and followed up in Public Health Nurse Clinics (PHNC) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. We recruited healthy-term neonates (≥37 weeks) between 6 and 24 h of age.

Powdered human milk-derived versus bovine milk-derived breastmilk fortification: A multi-centre preterm randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To compare faecal calprotectin, plasma amino acids and clinical outcomes in preterm infants receiving powdered human milk-based fortifier (PHMF) compared to powdered bovine milk-based fortifier (PBMF) in preterm infants on an otherwise exclusive human milk diet (EHMD).

Methods: A randomised controlled trial in infants <32 weeks of gestation or <1500 g who only received human milk and had reached full enteral feeds (150 mL/kg/day), without pre-existing gastrointestinal morbidity. Primary outcome was faecal calprotectin within 21 days of starting fortification; secondary outcomes were calprotectin at discharge, plasma amino acids and clinical outcomes, including growth and neonatal morbidities.

Is Intravesical Gentamicin the New Gold Standard to Manage Refractory Urinary Tract Infections?-Experience From a Dedicated Multidisciplinary Complex UTI Clinic.

Aims: To assess the effectiveness of intravesical gentamicin in managing recurrent urinary tract infections (rUTIs) refractory to first- and second-line treatments.

Methods And Materials: This single-centre prospective cohort study included 41 patients treated with intravesical gentamicin over a 24-month period from 2021 to 2023. A multidisciplinary team comprising functional urologists, microbiologists, and specialist nurses was involved in the decision-making process and in designing the treatment protocol.

Prediction of Two Year Survival Following Elective Repair of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms at A Single Centre Using A Random Forest Classification Algorithm.

Objective: The decision to electively repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) involves balancing the risk of rupture, periprocedural mortality, and life expectancy. Random forest classifiers (RFCs) are powerful machine learning algorithms. The aim of this study was to construct and validate a random forest machine learning tool to predict two year survival following elective AAA repair.

Reporting guidelines for protocols of randomised controlled trials of implantable neurostimulation devices: the SPIRIT-iNeurostim extension.

Background: The Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials (SPIRIT) statement has improved the quality of reporting of randomised trial protocols. Extensions to the SPIRIT statement are needed to address specific issues of trial protocol reporting, including those relevant to particular types of interventions. Methodological and reporting deficiencies in protocols of clinical trials of implantable neurostimulation devices are common.

Cognition in Meningioma: Effects of Tumor Location and Tumor Removal.

Background: Meningiomas are the most common type of primary intracranial tumor, yet very few studies have assessed the effects of tumor removal.

Methods: Here we report analysis of patients with meningiomas who underwent routine neuropsychological assessment and surgery at a National Health Service (NHS) hospital in the North East of England over a 6-year period.

Results: Surgical removal of tumors significantly improved both phonemic and semantic verbal fluency and some measures of working memory and declarative memory.

Reporting guidelines for randomised controlled trial reports of implantable neurostimulation devices: the CONSORT-iNeurostim extension.

Background: The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement has improved the quality of reporting of randomised trials. Extensions to the CONSORT statement are often needed to address specific issues of trial reporting, including those relevant to particular types of interventions. Methodological and reporting deficiencies in clinical trials of implantable neurostimulation devices are common.

Enhancing Precision in Rectal Cancer Care: Unravelling the Correlation Between MRI Locoregional Staging and Prognostic Factors, With Post-resection Pathology.

Introduction Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) serves as a pivotal tool in the preoperative assessment of rectal cancer. This study aims to evaluate the accuracy of preoperative MRI pelvis in rectal cancer for locoregional staging, circumferential margin (CRM+), and vascular invasion (V1) with postoperative histopathological findings. Methods All patients who underwent preoperative staging MRI pelvis scanning for histology-proven primary rectal adenocarcinoma between January 2020 and July 2022 were included in this study.

Two-Year Outcomes Using Fast-Acting, Sub-Perception Therapy for Spinal Cord Stimulation: A European, Real-World, Multicenter Experience.

Over the last 20 years, spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has seen the development of various paresthesia-free paradigms. Recently, a novel modality has emerged (Fast-Acting Sub-perception Therapy, FAST) that engages the surrounding inhibition mechanism of action. We evaluated long-term, real-world outcomes of preferential FAST-SCS use in patients with chronic pain.

A boost to concentration or a distracting noise? A systematic review of surgeon and anaesthetist perspectives of the benefit of intra-operative music.

Background: The surgical team should be as harmonious and focussed as possible in the operating theatre. Whilst there is evidence of benefit for the use of music in the perioperative period for patient, little exists to inform of impact on those doing the surgery or anaesthesia. This review focuses on the perspectives of surgeons and anaesthetists, their views and opinions on the effect and impact of music during surgery.

A review of ptosis surgery techniques performed by British Oculoplastic Surgical Society members.

Introduction: Involutional ptosis repair is the signature procedure of Oculoplastic surgeons, with significant variation in approach. We aimed to assess the surgical approach currently used by BOPSS members for routine involutional ptosis repair.

Methods: A prospective 7-question survey was carried out of BOPSS members, assessing for prevalence of anterior- versus posterior-approach, bilateral simultaneous versus staged surgery, and approach to clinical photography.