Dietary Inflammatory Score and Incident Heart Failure in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study.

Background: Inflammation plays a key role in the development of heart failure (HF), and diet is a known modifiable factor that modulates systemic inflammation. The dietary inflammatory score (DIS) is a tool to quantify the inflammatory components of diet. We sought to determine whether the DIS is associated with incident HF events.

A Novel Preoperative Scoring System to Accurately Predict Cord-Level Intraoperative Neuromonitoring Data Loss During Spinal Deformity Surgery: A Machine-Learning Approach.

Background: An accurate knowledge of a patient's risk of cord-level intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) data loss is important for an informed decision-making process prior to deformity correction, but no prediction tool currently exists.

Methods: A total of 1,106 patients with spinal deformity and 205 perioperative variables were included. A stepwise machine-learning (ML) approach using random forest (RF) analysis and multivariable logistic regression was performed.

Promoting Health Equity for Children With Special Health Care Needs and Child Welfare Involvement.

Noah, an 18-month-old infant with trisomy 21, was brought to the emergency department for adenovirus bronchiolitis. He was found to meet criteria for severe malnutrition, and his medical team called Child Protective Services (CPS) with concern for neglect. He remained hospitalized for 1 month while a safe discharge was coordinated by the medical and CPS teams.

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease associated optic neuropathy in an adolescent.

Purpose: We present a case of Kikuchi-Fujimoto Disease (KFD) associated with bilateral optic neuropathy progressing to vision loss.

Observations: A 17-year-old male was referred for bilateral optic nerve pallor. Eight years prior, he was diagnosed with KFD after workup for lymphadenopathy and treated with prednisolone acutely followed by long-term Plaquenil.

The Efficacy of Prophylactic Vancomycin in Decreasing Surgical Site Infections in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Patients: A Large Multicenter Cohort Study.

Background: The use of vancomycin powder in spine surgery has been supported in adult populations, however, its efficacy in preventing postoperative surgical site infections in AIS patients is yet to be determined.

Methods: A multi-center review was conducted from June 2010 to February 2019, using ICD and CPT codes to identify AIS patients who underwent primary PSF. The patients were divided into two groups: the vancomycin cohort (receiving local vancomycin powder prior to wound closure) and the non-vancomycin cohort.

Six-Month Outcomes in the Long-Term Outcomes After the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children Study.

Importance: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a life-threatening complication of COVID-19 infection. Data on midterm outcomes are limited.

Objective: To characterize the frequency and time course of cardiac dysfunction (left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] <55%), coronary artery aneurysms (z score ≥2.

The change of alanine aminotransferase distributions among US youths, NHANES 1988-2020.

Objectives: The trend of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), a biomarker of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD, formerly known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease), remains poorly described for the pediatric population because no widely accepted cutoffs are available to categorize ALT value. We described the nuanced changes in the distribution of ALT continuous values.

Study Design: We analyzed the data from 15,702 adolescents aged 12-19 who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys between 1988 and 2020.

2024 HRS perspective on advancing workflows for CIED remote monitoring.

Cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) generate substantial data, often stored in image or PDF formats. Remote monitoring, now an integral component of patient care, places considerable administrative burdens on clinicians and staff, in large part due to the challenge of integrating these data seamlessly into electronic health records. Since 2006, the Heart Rhythm Society, in collaboration with the CIED industry, has led an initiative to establish a unified standard nomenclature.

Dietary Interventions in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction: A Scoping Review.

Patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) are burdened by multiple diet-sensitive comorbidities, including obesity and malnutrition. Despite this, a low percentage of patients with HFpEF have been enrolled in dietary intervention trials in heart failure and few dietary interventions have been conducted in HFpEF exclusively. This scoping review will examine available evidence regarding dietary interventions in patients with HFpEF, highlight existing gaps in knowledge, and discuss emerging dietary therapies in this population.

Adult-Onset Myoclonus in a Large Urban Inpatient Setting: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Myoclonus is a hyperkinetic movement with various attributable etiologies, semiologies, and treatment outcomes. To our knowledge, few studies investigated adult-onset myoclonus in an inpatient setting.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed charts of adult inpatients with myoclonus at New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital between 2011 and 2021.

Cardiovascular patches applied in congenital cardiac surgery: Current materials and prospects.

Congenital Heart Defects (CHDs) are the most common congenital anomalies, affecting between 4 and 75 per 1000 live births. Cardiovascular patches (CVPs) are frequently used as part of the surgical armamentarium to reconstruct cardiovascular structures to correct CHDs in pediatric patients. This review aims to evaluate the history of cardiovascular patches, currently available options, clinical applications, and important features of these patches.

Comparison of Clinical and Radiological Outcomes of Three-Column Lumbar Osteotomies with and without Interbody Cages for Adult Spinal Deformity.

Background Context: Correcting sagittal malalignment in adult spinal deformity (ASD) is a challenging task, often requiring complex surgical interventions like pedicle subtraction osteotomies (PSOs). Different types of three-column osteotomies (3COs), including Schwab 3, Schwab 4, Schwab 4 with interbody cages, and the "sandwich" technique, aim to optimize alignment and fusion outcomes. The role of interbody cages in enhancing fusion and segmental correction remains unclear.

1-year patency of a novel biorestorative polymeric coronary artery bypass conduit.

Coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) remains the gold standard in the treatment of complex coronary artery disease (CAD). Saphenous vein grafts (SVG) are commonly used for the non-left anterior descending artery (LAD). However, SVG failure rates in CABG surgery have been reported to be as high as 30% at 1 year and ∼50% at 10 years.

Percutaneous hallux fusion with calcaneus bone autograft: a retrospective cohort study of clinical and radiographic outcomes.

Background: In the case of end-stage hallux rigidus, first metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint arthrodesis is the gold-standard and is traditionally performed via an open approach. However, complications such as nonunion have been reported to be as high as 30%. Recently, there have been reports demonstrating a percutaneous approach to be effective and safe.

State of the Art in Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion.

Left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) has become an important therapeutic target for stroke prevention in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. Over the past 2 decades, several advancements in LAAO devices (percutaneous and surgical) have been made for stroke prevention and arrhythmia therapy. However, there are several unanswered questions regarding optimal patient selection, the preferred LAAO approach and device, the management of periprocedural and postprocedural complications, including pericardial effusion, device-related thrombus, and device leaks.

Variations in Revascularization Strategies for Chronic Limb-Threatening Ischemia: A Nationwide Analysis of Medicare Beneficiaries.

Background: Recent data support both surgical-first and endovascular-first revascularization approaches for chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI), but hospital-based practices are poorly described.

Objectives: This aim of this study was to characterize contemporary variations and outcomes associated with each strategy among U.S.

Improving the Robustness of Deep-Learning Models in Predicting Hematoma Expansion from Admission Head CT.

Background And Purpose: Robustness against input data perturbations is essential for deploying deep-learning models in clinical practice. Adversarial attacks involve subtle, voxel-level manipulations of scans to increase deep-learning models' prediction errors. Testing deep-learning model performance on examples of adversarial images provides a measure of robustness, and including adversarial images in the training set can improve the model's robustness.

Estimating Visual Acuity With Spectacle Correction From Fundus Photos Using Artificial Intelligence.

Importance: Determining spectacle-corrected visual acuity (VA) is essential when managing many ophthalmic diseases. If artificial intelligence (AI) evaluations of macular images estimated this VA from a fundus image, AI might provide spectacle-corrected VA without technician costs, reduce visit time, or facilitate home monitoring of VA from fundus images obtained outside of the clinic.

Objective: To estimate spectacle-corrected VA measured on a standard eye chart among patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) in clinical practice settings using previously validated AI algorithms evaluating best-corrected VA from fundus photographs in eyes with DME.

Abdominal myosteatosis measured with computed tomography predicts poor outcomes in patients with glioblastoma.

Background: Alterations in cellular metabolism affect cancer survival and can manifest in metrics of body composition. We investigated the effects of various body composition metrics on survival in patients with glioblastoma (GBM).

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients who had an abdominal and pelvic computed tomography (CT) scan performed within 1 month of diagnosis of GBM (178 participants, 102 males, 76 females, median age: 62.

Facilitating a More Diverse Workforce: The Value of Mentorship in Cardiothoracic Surgery.

Background: Cardiothoracic surgery (CTS) is one of the least diverse surgical specialties in both gender and race. Aside from the inherent benefits of a diverse working environment, mitigating this diversity gap improves patient care. Mentorship is important for creating a diverse, nurturing environment for trainees.

Neuroactive steroid exposure impacts neurodevelopment: Comparison of human and rodent placental contribution.

The placenta is a fetal endocrine organ that secretes many neuroactive factors, including steroids, that play critical roles in brain development. The study of the placenta-brain axis and the links between placental function and brain development represents an emerging research area dubbed "neuroplacentology." The placenta drives many circulating fetal steroids to very high levels during gestation.

FAP-Targeted SPECT/CT and PET/CT Imaging for Breast Cancer Patients.

Breast cancer presents a significant global health challenge, necessitating continued innovation in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Recent advances have led to the identification of cancer-associated fibroblasts, which are highly prevalent in breast cancers and express fibroblast activation proteins (FAPs), as critical targets. FAP-specific radiotracers, when used with PET/CT and SPECT/CT, have significant potential for improving early breast cancer detection, staging, treatment response monitoring, and therapeutic intervention.

The Resident Scholars Program for Workforce Diversity: A Qualitative Study About Supporting Family Medicine Abortion Providers.

Background And Objectives: While workforce diversity helps mitigate health inequities, few initiatives support prospective abortion providers who are underrepresented in medicine (URiM). To address this issue, Reproductive Health Education in Family Medicine established the Resident Scholars Program for Workforce Diversity (RSPWD), a year-long program for URiM and other Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) residents committed to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) provision. Program elements include: (a) mentorship by BIPOC family physicians; (b) virtual didactic sessions about SRH integration into primary care, advocacy, leadership, reproductive justice, and patient-centered care; (3) conference sponsorship; and (4) community-building among residents and mentors.

Pediatric Snowboarding-Related Concussions and Musculoskeletal Injuries Decreased From 2012 to 2022.

Purpose: To analyze mechanisms, diagnoses, and incidence of youth snowboarding-related injuries presenting to US emergency departments.

Methods: Data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System were analyzed for pediatric snowboarding injuries (≤18 years old) from 2012 to 2022. Data were collected for mechanism of injury, diagnosis, location of injury, and disposition.