Long-term outcomes of catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation in octogenarians.

Background And Aims: Catheter ablation is superior to pharmacological therapy in controlling atrial fibrillation (AF). There are few data on the long-term outcome of AF ablation in octogenarian patients. This analysis aims to evaluate the outcome of AF ablation in octogenarians vs.

Basilar artery occlusion management: An international survey of gender influence on management.

Background: The superiority of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) over medical management was not established in two early basilar artery occlusion (BAO) randomized controlled trials. Despite this, many clinicians recommended EVT for acute BAO under certain circumstances. This paper aims to compare physicians' diagnostic and management strategies of BAO according to gender.

The critical dynamics of hippocampal seizures.

Epilepsy is defined by the abrupt emergence of harmful seizures, but the nature of these regime shifts remains enigmatic. From the perspective of dynamical systems theory, such critical transitions occur upon inconspicuous perturbations in highly interconnected systems and can be modeled as mathematical bifurcations between alternative regimes. The predictability of critical transitions represents a major challenge, but the theory predicts the appearance of subtle dynamical signatures on the verge of instability.

Sex-specific association of cardiovascular drug doses with adverse outcomes in atrial fibrillation.

Objectives: Sex differences occur in atrial fibrillation (AF), including age at first manifestation, pathophysiology, treatment allocation, complication rates and quality of life. However, optimal doses of cardiovascular pharmacotherapy used in women with AF with or without heart failure (HF) are unclear. We investigated sex-specific associations of beta-blocker and renin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitor doses with cardiovascular outcomes in patients with AF or AF with concomitant HF.

KCNQ1 suppression-replacement gene therapy in transgenic rabbits with type 1 long QT syndrome.

Background And Aims: Type 1 long QT syndrome (LQT1) is caused by pathogenic variants in the KCNQ1-encoded Kv7.1 potassium channels, which pathologically prolong ventricular action potential duration (APD). Herein, the pathologic phenotype in transgenic LQT1 rabbits is rescued using a novel KCNQ1 suppression-replacement (SupRep) gene therapy.

From impact to recovery: tracking mild traumatic brain injury with MRI-a pilot study and case series.

Background: Diagnosis and recovery tracking of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is often challenging due to the lack of clear findings on routine imaging techniques. This also complicates defining safe points for returning to activities.

Hypothesis/purpose: Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) can provide information about cerebral venous oxygen saturation (CSvO) in the context of brain injury.

Experimental vaccination by single dose sporozoite injection of blood-stage attenuated malaria parasites.

Malaria vaccination approaches using live Plasmodium parasites are currently explored, with either attenuated mosquito-derived sporozoites or attenuated blood-stage parasites. Both approaches would profit from the availability of attenuated and avirulent parasites with a reduced blood-stage multiplication rate. Here we screened gene-deletion mutants of the rodent parasite P.

Atezolizumab and chemotherapy for advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer (AtTEnd): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial.

Background: At the time of AtTEnd trial design, standard treatment for advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer included carboplatin and paclitaxel chemotherapy. This trial assessed whether combining atezolizumab with chemotherapy might improve outcomes in this population.

Methods: AtTEnd was a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial done in 89 hospitals in 11 countries across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.

Spontaneous duodenocutaneous fistula: a rare presentation of perforated duodenal ulcer.

Objectives: Fistula formation between the duodenum and the skin of the anterior abdominal wall is a rare complication and reported most often following surgery. To the best of our knowledge, the development of a spontaneous duodenocutaneous fistula in association with duodenal ulcer has only been reported once.

Case Presentation: A 52-year-old female patient presented at the emergency department with a painful ulcer and erythema on the right abdominal wall.

Prediction of plasma sodium changes in the acutely ill patients: the potential role of tissue sodium content.

Background: Rapid correction of dysnatremias can result in neurological complications. Therefore, various formulas are available to predict changes in plasma sodium concentration ([Na]) after treatment, but these have been shown to be inaccurate. This could be explained by sodium acumulation in skin and muscle tissue, which is not explicitly considered in these formulas.

Ultrasound in bone fracture diagnosis - a comparative meta-analysis and systematic review.

Aim: This meta-analysis evaluates the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound (US) for bone fractures over the past 47 years, comparing it to established imaging standards.

Material And Methods: We adhered to PRISMA 2020 guidelines to search Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library using tailored search strategies. The primary outcome, US diagnostic performance, was analyzed across various subgroups including clinical relevance, patient age, and anatomical considerations.

Effect of the COPE Program on Self-Efficacy in Mothers of Preterm Infants: A Pretest-Posttest Quasi-Experimental Study.

The birth of a premature infant and its subsequent hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit are stressful experiences for mothers. Because of uncertainty concerning interactions with a premature baby, mothers often feel helpless and only hesitantly assume their maternal role. This may have a negative impact on the mother-child interaction and prevents mothers from taking an active part in E46www.

Segmentation-Free Outcome Prediction from Head and Neck Cancer PET/CT Images: Deep Learning-Based Feature Extraction from Multi-Angle Maximum Intensity Projections (MA-MIPs).

We introduce an innovative, simple, effective segmentation-free approach for survival analysis of head and neck cancer (HNC) patients from PET/CT images. By harnessing deep learning-based feature extraction techniques and multi-angle maximum intensity projections (MA-MIPs) applied to Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography (FDG-PET) images, our proposed method eliminates the need for manual segmentations of regions-of-interest (ROIs) such as primary tumors and involved lymph nodes. Instead, a state-of-the-art object detection model is trained utilizing the CT images to perform automatic cropping of the head and neck anatomical area, instead of only the lesions or involved lymph nodes on the PET volumes.

Sentinel Lymph Node Detection in Cutaneous Melanoma Using Indocyanine Green-Based Near-Infrared Fluorescence Imaging: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The standard of care approach to identify sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) in clinically non-metastatic cutaneous melanoma patients is technetium (Tc)-based lymphoscintigraphy. This technique is associated with radiation exposure, a long intervention time, high costs, and limited availability. Indocyanine green (ICG)-based near-infrared fluorescence imaging offers a potential alternative if proven to be of comparable diagnostic accuracy.

Analysis of the fastest backstroke age group swimmers competing in the World Masters Championships 1986-2024.

Backstroke has been thoroughly investigated in the context of sports science. However, we have no knowledge about the nationalities of the fastest age group backstroke swimmers. Therefore, the present study intended to investigate the nationalities of the fastest backstroke swimmers.

Endovascular therapy in patients with a large ischemic volume at presentation: An aggregate patient-level analysis.

Introduction: Recently, four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have demonstrated the benefits of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) caused by anterior large vessel occlusion (LVO) and a large ischemic core at baseline (LIC). The purpose of this study was to investigate the features influencing the clinical outcome and the benefits of mechanical thrombectomy in this subgroup.

Methods: We conducted a multicenter retrospective aggregate cohort study of patients with AIS-LVO and a LIC, assessed with quantitative core volume measures, treated with MT between 2012 and 2019.

BDNF-TrkB signaling orchestrates the buildup process of local sleep.

Sleep debt accumulates during wakefulness, leading to increased slow wave activity (SWA) during sleep, an encephalographic marker for sleep need. The use-dependent demands of prior wakefulness increase sleep SWA locally. However, the circuitry and molecular identity of this "local sleep" remain unclear.