Neural changes following equine-assisted therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder: A longitudinal multimodal imaging study.

Background: While effective treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) exist, many individuals, including military personnel and veterans fail to respond to them. Equine-assisted therapy (EAT), a novel PTSD treatment, may complement existing PTSD interventions. This study employs longitudinal neuro-imaging, including structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI), resting state-fMRI (rs-fMRI), and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), to determine mechanisms and predictors of EAT outcomes for PTSD.

Unattended Sleep Studies in a VA Population: Initial Evaluation by Chart Review Versus Clinic Visit by a Midlevel Provider.

Objectives: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a prevalent disorder that is associated with multiple medical consequences. Although in-laboratory polysomnography is the gold standard for the diagnosis of OSA, portable monitors have been developed and studied to help increase efficiency and ease of diagnosis. We aimed to assess the adequacy of a midlevel provider specializing in sleep medicine to risk-stratify patients for OSA based on a chart review versus a comprehensive clinic evaluation before scheduling an unattended sleep study.

Numerical analysis of in vivo platelet consumption data from ITP patients.

Background: Numerical methods have recently allowed quantitative interpretation of in vivo murine platelet consumption data in terms of values for the random destruction rate constant (RD), intrinsic lifespan (LS), and the standard deviation of ln LS (SD), as well as the platelet production rate (PR) and age distribution (AD). But application of these methods to data obtained in thrombocytopenic patients is problematic for two reasons. First, such data has in all cases been obtained with radiolabeled platelets, and uptake of the radio-isotope by long lived cells complicates the analysis.

Increased uptake by splenic red pulp macrophages contributes to rapid platelet turnover in WASP(-) mice.

Thrombocytopenia caused by rapid platelet consumption contributes to the severe thrombocytopenia of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) and to the milder thrombocytopenia seen in murine WAS. We show that rapid clearance of ¹¹¹In-labeled murine WASP(-) platelets correlates with enhanced splenic uptake. Using platelets labeled with a pH-sensitive fluorescent marker (pHrodo), we quantify normal platelet uptake by red pulp macrophages (RPMs), and demonstrate its enhancement after in vivo opsonization of platelets.

A numerical analysis model for the interpretation of in vivo platelet consumption data.

Unlike anemias, most thrombocytopenias cannot be separated into those due to impaired production and those due to accelerated consumption. While rapid clearance of labeled platelets from the bloodstream can be followed in thrombocytopenic individuals, no model exists for quantitatively inferring from autologous or allogeneic platelet consumption data what changes in random consumption, lifespan dependent consumption, and platelet production rate may have caused the thrombocytopenia. Here we describe a numerical analysis model which resolves these issues.

Attachment and mental health symptoms among U.S. Afghanistan and Iraq veterans seeking health care services.

Attachment theory has become a primary framework for understanding adjustment to traumas. In a convenience sample of 157 U.S.

Meaning made following deployment in Iraq or Afghanistan: examining unique associations with posttraumatic stress and clinical outcomes.

Crises in personal meaning may be a critical aspect of psychological maladjustment following combat. Using the newly developed Integration of Stressful Life Events Scale (ISLES), this study examined the role of meaning made of a salient stressor following a combat deployment in Iraq or Afghanistan. In a sample of 169 returning service members, findings supported the distinctiveness of meaning made of a stressor (as assessed by the ISLES), factor analytically and as a correlate of several relevant clinical outcomes.

Rapid platelet turnover in WASP(-) mice correlates with increased ex vivo phagocytosis of opsonized WASP(-) platelets.

Objective: Our objective was to determine a mechanism for the thrombocytopenia of murine Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS).

Materials And Methods: Consumption rates of WAS protein (WASP)(-) and wild-type (WT) platelets were measured by injection of 5-chloromethylfluorescein diacetate (CMFDA)-labeled platelets into WT or WASP(-) recipients, and by in vivo biotinylation. Platelet and reticulated platelet counts were performed using quantitative flow cytometry.

Reversible nephrotic range proteinuria and renal failure in atheroembolic renal disease.

A case is described in which atheroembolic renal disease was associated with nephrotic range proteinuria, sub-acute renal failure, severe hypertension and microhematuria, in the absence of typical peripheral stigmata of atheroemboli. Nephrotic range proteinuria has not been previously reported in atheroembolic renal disease. With sustained aggressive treatment of hypertension there was diminution and eventual clearing of the proteinuria accompanied by marked improvement in renal function.

Development and implementation of the Veterans Administration's multihospital radiology information system.

Unknown to most radiology professionals, the Veterans Administration (VA) is implementing an automated radiology information system as an integrated component of its Decentralized Hospital Computer Program. The basic design has been evaluated and refined over the past 5 years. It is now becoming available in all 172 VA medical facilities.

Pacemaker therapy for academic medicine.

Both the clinical practice and the administrative environments of academic medicine have become progressively more complex. Although management methods for dealing with the administrative intricacies are commonly not part of academic training, guidelines may be derived from medical practice. The authors identify specific parallels and analogies between recent developments in the design of pacemakers and the requirements of organizations that implant them.

Efficacy of pentoxifylline in patients with stable angina pectoris.

Pentoxifylline, a methyl xanthine derivative, improves symptoms of peripheral vascular disease probably by reducing whole blood viscosity. The authors assessed the value of this agent in treating myocardial ischemia in 11 patients with angiographically documented coronary artery disease and stable angina pectoris. Maximal, symptom limited treadmill exercise stress tests were performed before and after six weeks of therapy with 1200 mg of pentoxifylline per day.

Comparative electrocardiographic and myocardial blood flow effects of rapid atrial pacing and dipyridamole infusion in dogs with chronic coronary artery occlusion.

Altering regional myocardial flow by the use of potent vasodilators as well as increasing oxygen demand by exercise have been employed as diagnostic methods for detecting coronary arterial obstruction. We sought to define the relative capabilities of these two methods to produce abnormal ECG patterns and to alter myocardial blood flow after Ameroid constriction of the left circumflex coronary artery. Atrial pacing to rates of 210 beats/min was performed, followed by intravenous administration of 0.