Outcomes of Suction Debulking and Surgery in Patients With Isolated Tricuspid Valve Endocarditis.

Objective: Percutaneous vegetation debulking has been reported to treat tricuspid valve infective endocarditis (TVIE), but data on feasibility compared with conventional surgical strategies are limited. We aimed to compare short-term outcomes of suction debulking with partial venovenous bypass to conventional open surgery in this population.

Methods: This was a single-center, retrospective study that included all patients with isolated TVIE who underwent suction debulking with partial venovenous bypass or tricuspid valve surgery between January 2010 and December 2022.

The Early Steps to Transplant Access Registry (E-STAR) dashboard: center-specific reporting on prewaitlisting data to improve access to kidney transplantation.

Purpose Of Review: The 2022 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report highlighted inequities in access to kidney transplantation and called for a comprehensive dashboard highlighting early transplant steps, yet data on steps such as referral and evaluation start are limited. Addressing this gap is crucial for improving equity in access to transplantation.

Recent Findings: The Early Steps to Transplant Access Registry (E-STAR) provides a model for how prewaitlisting data can be used to inform quality improvement to drive equity in access to transplantation.

Synthesizing the Evidence Base to Enhance Coordination between Humanitarian Mine Action and Emergency Care for Casualties of Explosive Ordnance and Explosive Weapons: A Scoping Review.

Background: Humanitarian mine action (HMA) stakeholders have an organized presence with well-resourced medical capability in many conflict and post-conflict settings. Humanitarian mine action has the potential to positively augment local trauma care capacity for civilian casualties of explosive ordnance (EO) and explosive weapons (EWs). Yet at present, few strategies exist for coordinated engagement between HMA and the health sector to support emergency care system strengthening to improve outcomes among EO/EW casualties.

A longitudinal, multimodal palliative care curriculum for obstetrics and gynecology residents.

Objectives: To incorporate a longitudinal palliative care curriculum into obstetrics and gynecology (Ob-Gyn) residency that could become standardized to ensure competencies in providing end of life (EOL) care.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study conducted among 23 Ob-Gyn residents at a tertiary training hospital from 2021 to 2022. A curriculum intervention was provided via lecture and simulation.

Acceptability and Efficacy of an Adapted School-Based Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Skills Group for Adolescents: A Qualitative Perspective.

Adolescence is characterized by heightened emotion dysregulation, impulsivity, and engagement in high-risk behaviors, such as substance use, violence, and unprotected sexual activity. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A) is an evidence-based intervention that targets emotion regulation and impulsivity among adolescents, proven effective at decreasing high-risk behaviors. However, limited research exists on adolescents' perceptions of DBT-A, particularly in schools.

Relationship between ZHX2 Expression and VHL Gene Alteration in VHL-associated and Sporadic Hemangioblastomas of the Central Nervous System.

Central nervous system hemangioblastoma (CNS-HB) is the most common manifestation of von Hippel-Lindau disease (VHL). The main axis of the CNS-HB pathway is the VHL-HIF signaling pathway. Recently, we proposed an alternative VHL-JAK-STAT pathway in CNS-HB.

The prevalence of hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome at a gender-affirming primary care clinic.

Objective: This study utilized a sample of trangender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse (TGD) patients to build on emerging literature that suggests that hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome may be overrepresented in TGD populations. The objective of this retrospective chart review was to determine the prevalence of hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome syndrome at a gender-affirming primary care clinic.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of medical records was conducted with records between May 2021 and June 2024.

Temporal Trends of Fungal Infections in Cirrhotic Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Study 2016-2020.

Background: Patients with cirrhosis are susceptible to infections due to abnormalities in humoral and cell-mediated immunity. Fungal infections are associated with delayed diagnosis and high mortality rates, emphasizing the importance of performing fungal cultures and maintaining elevated levels of suspicion in this patient population.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzes cirrhotic patients readmitted with bacterial and fungal infections and investigates outcomes, including in-hospital mortality and hospital resource utilization.

Subtype-specific human endogenous retrovirus K102 envelope protein is a novel serum immunosuppressive biomarker of cancer.

Immune dysfunction is one of the hallmarks of cancer and plays critical roles in immunotherapy resistance, but there is no serum biomarker that can be used to evaluate immune-dysfunction status of cancer patients. Here, we identified subtype-specific human endogenous retrovirus K102 envelope (HERV-K102-Env) with immunosuppressive activity in circulating blood as a novel serum immunosuppressive biomarker of cancer. We first generated monoclonal antibodies against K102-Env with high sensitivity and specificity, and we developed an ELISA assay to detect serum K102-Env.

Extracellular matrix shapes cancer stem cell behavior in breast cancer: a mini review.

Today, cancer has become one of the leading global tragedies. It occurs when a small number of cells in the body mutate, causing some of them to evade the body's immune system and proliferate uncontrollably. Even more irritating is the fact that patients with cancers frequently relapse after conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy, leading to additional suffering.

Advancing precision cancer immunotherapy drug development, administration, and response prediction with AI-enabled Raman spectroscopy.

Molecular characterization of tumors is essential to identify predictive biomarkers that inform treatment decisions and improve precision immunotherapy development and administration. However, challenges such as the heterogeneity of tumors and patient responses, limited efficacy of current biomarkers, and the predominant reliance on single-omics data, have hindered advances in accurately predicting treatment outcomes. Standard therapy generally applies a "one size fits all" approach, which not only provides ineffective or limited responses, but also an increased risk of off-target toxicities and acceleration of resistance mechanisms or adverse effects.

Transcription factor specificity protein (SP) family in renal physiology and diseases.

Dysregulated specificity proteins (SPs), members of the C2H2 zinc-finger family, are crucial transcription factors (TFs) with implications for renal physiology and diseases. This comprehensive review focuses on the role of SP family members, particularly SP1 and SP3, in renal physiology and pathology. A detailed analysis of their expression and cellular localization in the healthy human kidney is presented, highlighting their involvement in fatty acid metabolism, electrolyte regulation, and the synthesis of important molecules.

Acute therapeutic effects and pathophysiology of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis neuropathy.

Objective: This study investigated the effects of early treatment and pathophysiology on eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis neuropathy (EGPA-N).

Methods: Twenty-six consecutive patients with EGPA-N were diagnosed and treated within a day of admission and underwent clinical analysis. Peripheral nerve recovery rates were evaluated after early treatment by identifying the damaged peripheral nerve through detailed neurological findings.

Acrocyanosis: The Least Known Acrosyndrome Revisited With a Dermatologic Perspective.

Acrocyanosis is a functional peripheral vascular disorder, currently categorized under the canopy of acrosyndromes, i.e., a group of clinically similar and significantly overlapping vascular disorders involving the acral skin.

Clinical outcomes of COVID-19 infection in liver transplant recipients based on vaccination status.

Background: COVID-19 disease burden has been mitigated by vaccination; however, concerns persist regarding weakened immune responses in liver transplant (LT) recipients. This study investigates COVID-19 outcomes in LT recipients based on vaccination status.

Methods: This single-center retrospective study identified LT recipients with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 infection from 03/01/2020 to 07/31/2023.

Effects of vitamin D supplementation on cardiac biomarkers: Results from the STURDY trial.

Objectives: In observational studies, older adults with low serum vitamin D levels are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), but randomized trials have failed to demonstrate reduction in CVD risk from vitamin D supplementation, possibly because the doses of vitamin D supplements tested were too low. Our objective was to determine if higher doses of vitamin D supplementation reduce high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTnI) and N-terminal pro-b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), markers of subclinical CVD.

Methods: The Study to Understand Fall Reduction and Vitamin D in You (STURDY) was a double-blind, randomized, response-adaptive trial that tested the effects of 4 doses of vitamin D3 supplementation (200, 1000, 2000, 4000 IU/day) on fall risk among older adults with low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations (10-29 ng/mL).

Prediction of delirium occurrence using machine learning in acute stroke patients in intensive care unit.

Introduction: Delirium, frequently experienced by ischemic stroke patients, is one of the most common neuropsychiatric syndromes reported in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Stroke patients with delirium have a high mortality rate and lengthy hospitalization. For these reasons, early diagnosis of delirium in the ICU is critical for better patient prognosis.

Association of early aspirin use with 90-day mortality in patients with sepsis: an PSM analysis of the MIMIC-IV database.

Objective: In addition to its antiplatelet and anti-inflammatory properties, aspirin inhibits bacterial proliferation directly. The potential benefits of aspirin may enhance the prognosis for sepsis patients. However, little is known about the effects of early aspirin administration.

The impact of solute carrier proteins on disrupting substance regulation in metabolic disorders: insights and clinical applications.

Carbohydrates, lipids, bile acids, various inorganic salt ions and organic acids are the main nutrients or indispensable components of the human body. Dysregulation in the processes of absorption, transport, metabolism, and excretion of these metabolites can lead to the onset of severe metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, gout and hyperbilirubinemia. As the second largest membrane receptor supergroup, several major families in the solute carrier (SLC) supergroup have been found to play key roles in the transport of substances such as carbohydrates, lipids, urate, bile acids, monocarboxylates and zinc ions.

Utilization of Interphalangeal Joint Arthroplasty and Arthrodesis in the United States From 2010 to 2019.

Background: Interphalangeal joint (IPJ) arthrodesis and arthroplasty are mainstay treatments for IPJ arthritis with conflicting evidence about the most efficacious choice. Our study describes case volume and incidence over the last decade (2010-2019).

Methods: The IBM MarketScan database was queried using Current Procedural Terminology codes for IPJ arthrodesis and arthroplasty from January 2010 to December 2019.

Activity-Regulated Cytoskeleton-Associated Protein Gene Expression Is Associated With High Infiltration of Stromal Cells and Immune Cells, but With Less Cancer Cell Proliferation and Better Overall Survival in Estrogen Receptor-Positive/Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Negative Breast Cancers.

Background: Peritumoral lidocaine infiltration prior to excision is associated with better survival in breast cancer (BC), which led us to hypothesize that innervation to the tumor affects its biology and patient survival. Activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (ARC) gene expression is known to be regulated by neuronal activity. Therefore, we studied the clinical relevance of ARC gene expression as a surrogate of neuronal activity in BC.