Medical and Behavioral Correlates of Depression History in Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Background And Objectives: Depression is commonly associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across the life span. We sought to identify medical and behavioral problems associated with a history of a parent-reported diagnosis of depression in a large sample of school-aged children and adolescents with ASD.

Methods: A sample of 1272 participants (aged 6-17 years; mean [SD]: 9.

Knowledge and Uptake of Genetic Counseling and Colonoscopic Screening Among Individuals at Increased Risk for Lynch Syndrome and their Endoscopists from the Family Health Promotion Project.

Objectives: Individuals whose families meet the Amsterdam II clinical criteria for hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer are recommended to be referred for genetic counseling and to have colonoscopic screening every 1-2 years. To assess the uptake and knowledge of guideline-based genetic counseling and colonoscopic screening in unaffected members of families who meet Amsterdam II criteria and their treating endoscopists.

Methods: Participants in the Family Health Promotion Project who met the Amsterdam II criteria were surveyed regarding their knowledge of risk-appropriate guidelines for genetic counseling and colonoscopy screening.

Identification of early breast cancer patient cohorts who may benefit from lapatinib therapy.

In resource-constrained environments many patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)+ early breast cancer are currently not offered adjuvant anti-HER2 therapy. For patients who might be able to receive the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) lapatinib (e.g.

Behavioral outcomes in children exposed prenatally to lamotrigine, valproate, or carbamazepine.

Objectives: To evaluate adaptive behavior outcomes of children prenatally exposed to lamotrigine, valproate, or carbamazepine, and to determine if these outcomes were dose-dependent.

Methods: Data were collected from women enrolled in the North American Anti epileptic Drug (AED) Pregnancy Registry who had taken lamotrigine, valproate, or carbamazepine monotherapies throughout pregnancy to suppress seizures. The adaptive behavior of 252 exposed children (including 104 lamotrigine-exposed, 97 carbamazepine-exposed, and 51 valproate-exposed), ages 3- to 6-years-old, was measured using the Vineland-II Adaptive Behavior Scales, administered to each mother by telephone.

Propofol Enhances Hemoglobin-Induced Cytotoxicity in Neurons.

Background: It has been increasingly suggested that propofol protects against hypoxic-/ischemic-induced neuronal injury. As evidenced by hemorrhage-induced stroke, hemorrhage into the brain may also cause brain damage. Whether propofol protects against hemorrhage-induced brain damage remains unknown.

Use of Coronary Computed Tomographic Angiography Findings to Modify Statin and Aspirin Prescription in Patients With Acute Chest Pain.

Coronary CT angiography (CCTA) is used in patients with low-intermediate chest pain presenting to the emergency department for its reliability in excluding acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, its influence on medication modification in this setting is unclear. We sought to determine whether knowledge of CCTA-based coronary artery disease (CAD) was associated with change in statin and aspirin prescription.

Remote video auditing with real-time feedback in an academic surgical suite improves safety and efficiency metrics: a cluster randomised study.

Importance: Compliance with the surgical safety checklist during operative procedures has been shown to reduce inhospital mortality and complications but proper execution by the surgical team remains elusive.

Objective: We evaluated the impact of remote video auditing with real-time provider feedback on checklist compliance during sign-in, time-out and sign-out and case turnover times.

Design, Setting: Prospective, cluster randomised study in a 23-operating room (OR) suite.

Retinal Dystrophy and Optic Nerve Pathology in the Mouse Model of Mucolipidosis IV.

Mucolipidosis IV is a debilitating developmental lysosomal storage disorder characterized by severe neuromotor retardation and progressive loss of vision, leading to blindness by the second decade of life. Mucolipidosis IV is caused by loss-of-function mutations in the MCOLN1 gene, which encodes the transient receptor potential channel protein mucolipin-1. Ophthalmic pathology in patients includes corneal haze and progressive retinal and optic nerve atrophy.

Outcome-Driven Cluster Analysis with Application to Microarray Data.

One goal of cluster analysis is to sort characteristics into groups (clusters) so that those in the same group are more highly correlated to each other than they are to those in other groups. An example is the search for groups of genes whose expression of RNA is correlated in a population of patients. These genes would be of greater interest if their common level of RNA expression were additionally predictive of the clinical outcome.

The 2D:4D ratio, a proxy for prenatal androgen levels, differs in men with and without MS.

Objective: To determine whether the 2D:4D ratio (ratio of the second and fourth digit lengths), a proxy for lower prenatal androgen to estrogen ratio, differs in men with and without multiple sclerosis (MS) using a case-control study design.

Methods: We obtained 2 digital scans of the right hand for men with MS presenting to a scheduled clinic visit at a large MS referral center, and for men without autoimmune or endocrine diseases. All individuals were aged 18 to 65 years, right-handed, and reported no prior digit trauma.

Pre-morbid type 2 diabetes mellitus is not a prognostic factor in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine whether a history of pre-morbid type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) is a prognostic factor in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Methods: The relationship between DM2 and survival was analyzed in a study population consisting of 1,322 participants from 6 clinical trials.

Results: Survival did not differ by diabetes status (log-rank test, P = 0.

Long-term hazard of recurrence in HER2+ breast cancer patients untreated with anti-HER2 therapy.

Introduction: Worldwide, many patients with HER2+ (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive) early breast cancer (BC) do not receive adjuvant trastuzumab. Hazards of recurrence of these patients with respect to hormone receptor status of the primary tumor have not been described.

Methods: Using data from 1,260 patients randomized to placebo in the adjuvant TEACH trial, we report 10-year annual hazards of recurrence in HER2+ patients not treated with anti-HER2 therapy.

Patients report worse MS symptoms after menopause: findings from an online cohort.

Background: Many women with multiple sclerosis (MS) are postmenopausal, yet the impact of menopause on MS symptoms is unknown.

Objective: To investigate patient-reported impact of menopause in a large online research platform, PatientsLikeMe (PLM).

Methods: A detailed reproductive history survey was deployed to PLM members, and responses were linked to PLM׳s prospectively collected patient-reported severity score (MS Rating Scale, MSRS).

Blockade of MMP14 activity in murine breast carcinomas: implications for macrophages, vessels, and radiotherapy.

Background: Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 14 may mediate tumor progression through vascular and immune-modulatory effects.

Methods: Orthotopic murine breast tumors (4T1 and E0771 with high and low MMP14 expression, respectively; n = 5-10 per group) were treated with an anti-MMP14 inhibitory antibody (DX-2400), IgG control, fractionated radiation therapy, or their combination. We assessed primary tumor growth, transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression, macrophage phenotype, and vascular parameters.

Driving pressure and survival in the acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Background: Mechanical-ventilation strategies that use lower end-inspiratory (plateau) airway pressures, lower tidal volumes (VT), and higher positive end-expiratory pressures (PEEPs) can improve survival in patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), but the relative importance of each of these components is uncertain. Because respiratory-system compliance (CRS) is strongly related to the volume of aerated remaining functional lung during disease (termed functional lung size), we hypothesized that driving pressure (ΔP=VT/CRS), in which VT is intrinsically normalized to functional lung size (instead of predicted lung size in healthy persons), would be an index more strongly associated with survival than VT or PEEP in patients who are not actively breathing.

Methods: Using a statistical tool known as multilevel mediation analysis to analyze individual data from 3562 patients with ARDS enrolled in nine previously reported randomized trials, we examined ΔP as an independent variable associated with survival.

Phase II study of monthly pasireotide LAR (SOM230C) for recurrent or progressive meningioma.

Objective: A subset of meningiomas recur after surgery and radiation therapy, but no medical therapy for recurrent meningioma has proven effective.

Methods: Pasireotide LAR is a long-acting somatostatin analog that may inhibit meningioma growth. This was a phase II trial in patients with histologically confirmed recurrent or progressive meningioma designed to evaluate whether pasireotide LAR prolongs progression-free survival at 6 months (PFS6).

Steroid exposure, acute coronary syndrome, and inflammatory bowel disease: insights into the inflammatory milieu.

Background: Steroids are anti-inflammatory agents commonly used to treat inflammatory bowel disease. Inflammation plays a critical role in the pathophysiology of both inflammatory bowel disease and acute coronary syndrome. We examined the relationship between steroid use in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and acute coronary syndrome.

Sulforaphane treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), characterized by both impaired communication and social interaction, and by stereotypic behavior, affects about 1 in 68, predominantly males. The medico-economic burdens of ASD are enormous, and no recognized treatment targets the core features of ASD. In a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized trial, young men (aged 13-27) with moderate to severe ASD received the phytochemical sulforaphane (n = 29)--derived from broccoli sprout extracts--or indistinguishable placebo (n = 15).

Coronary sinus biomarker sampling compared to peripheral venous blood for predicting outcomes in patients with severe heart failure undergoing cardiac resynchronization therapy: the BIOCRT study.

Background: A significant minority of patients receiving cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) remain nonresponsive to this intervention.

Objective: This study aimed to determine whether coronary sinus (CS) or baseline peripheral venous (PV) levels of established and emerging heart failure (HF) biomarkers are predictive of CRT outcomes.

Methods: In 73 patients (aged 68 ± 12 years; 83% men; ejection fraction 27% ± 7%) with CS and PV blood samples drawn simultaneously at the time of CRT device implantation, we measured amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), galectin-3 (gal-3), and soluble ST2 (sST2) levels.

A randomized trial to increase colonoscopy screening in members of high-risk families in the colorectal cancer family registry and cancer genetics network.

Background: Individuals with a strong family history of colorectal cancer have significant risk for colorectal cancer, although adherence to colonoscopy screening in these groups remains low. This study assessed whether a tailored telephone counseling intervention can increase adherence to colonoscopy in members of high-risk families in a randomized, controlled trial.

Methods: Eligible participants were recruited from two national cancer registries if they had a first-degree relative with colorectal cancer under age 60 or multiple affected family members, which included families that met the Amsterdam criteria for hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer (HNPCC), and if they were due for colonoscopy within 24 months.

The echo score revisited: Impact of incorporating commissural morphology and leaflet displacement to the prediction of outcome for patients undergoing percutaneous mitral valvuloplasty.

Background: Current echocardiographic scoring systems for percutaneous mitral valvuloplasty (PMV) have limitations. This study examined new, more quantitative methods for assessing valvular involvement and the combination of parameters that best predicts immediate and long-term outcome after PMV.

Methods And Results: Two cohorts (derivation n=204 and validation n=121) of patients with symptomatic mitral stenosis undergoing PMV were studied.

Potassium abnormalities in a pediatric intensive care unit: frequency and severity.

Background: Potassium abnormalities are common in critically ill patients. We describe the spectrum of potassium abnormalities in our tertiary-level pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).

Methods: Retrospective observational cohort of all the patients admitted to a single-center tertiary PICU over a 1-year period.

Analysis of co-aggregation of cancer based on registry data.

Objective: An exploratory analysis of co-aggregation of cancers using registry-based data.

Methods: We utilized sibships from over 18,000 families who had been recruited to the NCI-sponsored multi-institutional Cancer Genetics Network. The analysis assesses co-aggregation at the individual and family level and adjusts for ascertainment.

Survival methods, including those using competing risk analysis, are not appropriate for intensive care unit outcome studies.

The preferred analysis for studies of mortality among patients treated in an intensive care unit should compare the proportions of patients who died during hospitalization. Studies that look for prognostic covariates should use logistic regression. Survival methods, such as the proportional hazards model, or methods based on competing risk analysis are not appropriate because prolonged survival among patients that die during their hospitalization does not benefit the patient and, therefore, should not be measured in the statistical analysis.