Relationship between dysphagia, lower esophageal sphincter relaxation, and esophagogastric junction distensibility.

Background: It is debated whether high-resolution manometric (HRM) integrated relaxation pressure (IRP) or functional lumen imaging probe (FLIP) distensibility index (DI) is the superior measure of esophagogastric junction (EGJ) opening. We examined the relationship between the DI and IRP and assessed correlations with dysphagia symptoms in patients with achalasia and EGJ outflow obstruction (EGJOO).

Methods: Patients with achalasia and those with barium tablet retention at the EGJ were grouped as follows: Group 1:Achalasia (IRP ≥ 15 mmHg + complete absence of normal peristalsis); Group 2: Manometric +FLIP EGJOO (IRP ≥ 15 mmHg with some intact peristalsis + DI ≤ 2.

When national drug surveys "take too long": An examination of who is at risk for survey fatigue.

Background: National surveys are a leading method for estimating prevalence of substance use and other health-related behaviors. However, when a participant perceives a survey as too time-consuming, there is a higher probability of lower quality responses.

Methods: We examined data from the 2018 to 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a nationally representative sample of non-institutionalized individuals ages ≥12 in the U.

Quarterly trends in past-month cannabis use in the United States, 2015-2019.

Background: Prevalence of cannabis use has been increasing among select subgroups in the US; however, trend analyses typically examine prevalence of use across years. We sought to determine whether there is seasonal variation in use.

Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a repeated cross-sectional survey of nationally representative probability samples of noninstitutionalized populations age ≥12 in the US.

The Power of Family Engagement in Rounds: An Exemplar With Global Outcomes.

Family engagement in rounds has been recommended to improve communication, but its impact on patient outcomes is unknown. At the authors' institution, nurses encouraged family presence at rounds as part of a larger project to enhance communication during rounding. In the case reported here, family engagement resulted in a critical care patient's wife suggesting bacteriophage therapy, which led to her husband's survival.

The Role of Gender in the Health and Human Rights Practices of Police: The SHIELD Study in Tijuana, Mexico.

Globally, punitive drug law enforcement drives human rights violations. Drug control tactics, such as syringe confiscation and drug-related arrests, also cascade into health harms among people who use drugs. The role of police officer characteristics in shaping such enforcement and measures to reform police practices remains underexamined.

Biallelic Mismatch Repair Deficiency in an Adolescent Female.

Constitutional (Biallelic) Mismatch Repair Deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by numerous cancers presenting as early as the first decade of life. Biallelic germline variants in one of four mismatch repair genes ( or ) cause this devastating disease. Given the rarity of the syndrome, often-asymptomatic tumors, and overlap with neurofibromatosis-1, diagnosis is frequently unrecognized or delayed.

HIV incidence among people who inject drugs (PWIDs) in Ukraine: results from a clustered randomised trial.

Background: HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Ukraine is among the highest in the world. In this study, we aimed to assess whether a social network intervention was superior to HIV testing and counselling in affecting HIV incidence among PWID. Although this was not the primary aim of the study, it is associated with reducing drug and sex risk behaviours, which were primary aims.

Sex work and HIV incidence among people who inject drugs.

Objective: Although the global burden of HIV infection among sex workers (SW) has been well recognized, HIV-related risks among sex workers who inject drugs (SW-IDU) have received less attention. We investigated the relationship between sex work and HIV incidence among people who inject drugs (IDU) in a Canadian setting.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

The use of the Trellis-6 thrombectomy device in the management of acute limb ischemia due to native vessel occlusion: challenges, tips, and limitations.

The role of endovascular therapy is expanding in the treatment of acute limb ischemia (ALI). In addition to catheter-based thrombolysis, there are multiple devices which allow for clot disruption and aspiration. The Trellis catheter system provides mechanical agitation of thrombus coupled with chemical thrombolysis.

Aging, exercise, and limb vascular heterogeneity in humans.

Unlike quadrupeds, human limbs are exposed to differing homeostatic challenges and uses, which results in significant functional heterogeneity between the arms and legs. In these ACSM symposium proceedings, we report findings from three studies with the overall aim of investigating between-limb vascular differences through evaluation of arm (brachial artery) and leg (common, superficial, and deep femoral arteries) limb blood flow (ultrasound Doppler) during isolated-limb-specific exercise and after postcuff occlusion hyperemia. In a study of young, trained cyclists, a substantial conduit vessel vasodilation (deep femoral artery, approximately 9%) was observed during exercise, but responsiveness normalized to shear stimuli was still less than a conduit vessel in the arm.