Feasibility of Super-thin Anterolateral Thigh Free Flap for Oral and Pharyngeal Reconstruction.

Objectives: To highlight the feasibility of employing super-thin ALT free flaps for reconstruction of complex oral cavity and oropharyngeal defects.

Methods: Retrospective chart review.

Results: Sixteen super-thin ALT free flaps were performed in 15 patients between 2020 and 2023 for reconstruction of oral cavity defects (seven oral tongue, three floor of mouth, three buccal, two oropharynx, one lower lip).

Risk of Intestinal Complications, Extraintestinal Morbidity, and Mortality in Patients with Crohn's Disease and Ocular Involvement.

Purpose: Patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and subsequent ocular manifestations may have worse outcomes when compared to matched patients with CD without ocular disease.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, an aggregated electronic health records research network, TriNetX (Cambridge, MA, USA), was used to identify patients diagnosed with CD stratified by the presence or absence of ocular involvement with at least 1 year of follow-up. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to control for baseline demographics and medical comorbidities.

1- and 2-year outcomes and predictors of weight loss after gastric sleeve to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass conversion: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Sleeve gastrectomy to Roux-en-Y bypass conversion is a commonly performed procedure, yet data are limited on outcomes and their predictors. The purpose of this study is to characterize the long-term outcomes of patients after sleeve-to-bypass conversion and identify predictors of post-conversion outcomes.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent sleeve-to-bypass conversion for obesity across four hospitals from 06/2017 to 04/2023.

Supporting left-handed trainees in sinus and skull base surgery: A call for inclusive ergonomics.

The surgeon's hand dominance impacts ergonomics in endoscopic endonasal surgery. Left-handed trainees experience difficulty learning certain surgical techniques. OR adjustments optimize ergonomics for left-handed trainees without compromising others.

Health Care Usage During the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Adoption of Telemedicine: Retrospective Study of Chronic Disease Cohorts.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated telehealth adoption across disease cohorts of patients. For many patients, routine medical care was no longer an option, and others chose not to visit medical offices in order to minimize COVID-19 exposure. In this study, we take a comprehensive multidisease approach in studying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care usage and the adoption of telemedicine through the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Evaluation of rimegepant utilization patterns and patient characteristics among new users: a United States administrative claims-based study.

Objective: To assess tablet utilization patterns and describe pre-treatment characteristics among new users of rimegepant.

Background: Rimegepant is the only oral calcitonin gene-related peptide antagonist approved in the United States for both the acute and preventive treatment of migraine.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of people with migraine who initiated treatment with rimegepant using two US commercial claims databases (MarketScan and Optum).

Minimally Invasive Therapies for Knee Osteoarthritis.

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a musculoskeletal disorder characterized by articular cartilage degeneration and chronic inflammation, affecting one in five people over 40 years old. The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of traditional and novel minimally invasive treatment options and role of artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline the diagnostic process of KOA. This literature review provides insights into the mechanisms of action, efficacy, complications, technical approaches, and recommendations to intra-articular injections (corticosteroids, hyaluronic acid, and plate rich plasma), genicular artery embolization (GAE), and genicular nerve ablation (GNA).

An open-source fine-tuned large language model for radiological impression generation: a multi-reader performance study.

Background: The impression section integrates key findings of a radiology report but can be subjective and variable. We sought to fine-tune and evaluate an open-source Large Language Model (LLM) in automatically generating impressions from the remainder of a radiology report across different imaging modalities and hospitals.

Methods: In this institutional review board-approved retrospective study, we collated a dataset of CT, US, and MRI radiology reports from the University of California San Francisco Medical Center (UCSFMC) (n = 372,716) and the Zuckerberg San Francisco General (ZSFG) Hospital and Trauma Center (n = 60,049), both under a single institution.

A Comparative Analysis of Patient-Reported Outcomes Following Free Tissue Transfer, Partial Foot Amputation, and Below-Knee Amputation in High-Risk Limb Salvage Patients.

Background: The surgical decision for limb-salvage with free tissue transfer (FTT), partial foot amputation (PFA), or below-knee amputation (BKA) for complex lower extremity (LE) wounds hinges on several factors, including patient choice and baseline function. However, patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) on LE function, pain, and QoL for chronic LE wound interventions are limited. Thus, the study aim was to compare PROMs in patients who underwent FTT, PFA, or BKA for chronic LE wounds.

Endovascular thrombectomy versus medical management for patients with large vessel stroke and infective endocarditis.

Background: The safety and efficacy of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) for large vessel occlusion (LVO) strokes associated with infective endocarditis (IE) compared with medical management (MM) is unclear.

Methods: In this nationwide analysis of hospitalizations in the United States, we assessed the outcomes of EVT versus medical management (MM) for patients with LVO and IE. Primary outcome was routine home discharge with self-care.

Utility of Reticulocyte Hemoglobin Equivalent in Screening for Iron Deficiency in Pregnancy.

Objective:  Ferritin, commonly used for diagnosing iron deficiency (ID) in pregnancy, is limited by high cost and false elevations during inflammation. Reticulocyte hemoglobin equivalent (Ret-He), an alternative marker for ID, is unaffected by inflammation and analyzed on the same collection tube as the standard complete blood count (CBC). We aimed to determine the accuracy of Ret-He in detecting ID in pregnancy compared to ferritin in a U.

ArtiSential laparoscopic cholecystectomy versus single-fulcrum laparoscopic cholecystectomy: Which minimally invasive surgery is better?

Backgrounds/aims: In recent years, many minimally invasive techniques have been introduced to reduce the number of ports in laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), offering benefits such as reduced postoperative pain and improved cosmetic outcomes. ArtiSential is a new multi-degree-of-freedom articulating laparoscopic instrument that incorporates the ergonomic features of robotic surgery, potentially overcoming the spatial limitations of laparoscopic surgery. ArtiSential LC can be performed using only two ports.