The effects of endoscope placement in the hypopharynx on swallowing-related measures in healthy adults.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether transnasal passage of a flexible endoscope results in changes in salivary flow rate (SFR), spontaneous swallow frequency (SSF), and masticatory efficiency (ME) in healthy adults.

Methods: Data were collected from 15 healthy adults, 20-63 years of age. SFR and SSF were measured at baseline, after endoscope insertion, and after endoscope removal.

Disparities in Guideline Concordant Statin Treatment in Individuals With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Rationale: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) affects the prognosis of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Black women with COPD have a disproportionate risk of CVD-related mortality, yet disparities in CVD prevention in COPD are unknown.

Objectives: We aimed to identify race-sex differences in the receipt of statin treatment for CVD prevention, and whether these differences were explained by factors influencing health care utilization in the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) COPD study sub-cohort.

Brief communication: global temporal trends in the efficacy of clarithromycin-based regimens for the treatment of infection.

Background: eradication rates achieved with clarithromycin-based triple therapies are declining due to antibiotic resistance, but data regarding temporal changes in efficacy with these eradication therapies are scarce.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of clarithromycin-based triple eradication regimens over time.

Design: A comprehensive literature review and time-trend analysis.

Cross-Validating the Executive Errors Scale of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status.

The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) was developed to briefly measure a broad range of cognitive abilities, but it initially lacked a scale to evaluate executive functioning. Robert Spencer and colleagues recently created an Executive Errors scale (RBANS-EE) that quantified executive functioning (EF) errors committed during four RBANS subtests: List Learning, Semantic Fluency, Coding, and List Recall. In the present paper we cross-validated the RBANS-EE with a sample of 234 U.

Enhancing Resident Education by Embedding Improvement Specialists Into a Quality and Safety Curriculum.

Background: Quality improvement and patient safety (QIPS) curricula are critical in graduate medical education, yet barriers limit the educational experience and project outcomes.

Objective: To explore the impact of QIPS curricular enhancements and integration of continuous improvement specialists (CIS) by examining the A3 document, the primary project product and surrogate for project quality.

Methods: Since 2009, University of Michigan internal medicine and medicine-pediatric residents participate in a QIPS curriculum, which includes a 4-week group project.

An ultrasound imaging and computational fluid dynamics protocol to assess hemodynamics in iliac vein compression syndrome.

Objective: Elevated shear rates are known to play a role in arterial thrombosis; however, shear rates have not been thoroughly investigated in patients with iliac vein compression syndrome (IVCS) owing to imaging limitations and assumptions on the low shear nature of venous flows. This study was undertaken to develop a standardized protocol that quantifies IVCS shear rates and can aid in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with moderate yet symptomatic compression.

Methods: Study patients with and without IVCS had their iliac vein hemodynamics measured via duplex ultrasound (US) at two of the following three vessel locations: infrarenal inferior vena cava (IVC), right common iliac vein, and left common iliac vein, in addition to acquiring data at the right and left external iliac veins.

Quantitative assessment of gastric ischemic preconditioning on conduit perfusion in esophagectomy: propensity score weighting study.

Background: Gastric ischemic preconditioning prior to esophagectomy has been studied as a method to improve gastric conduit perfusion and reduce anastomotic complications, without conclusive results. The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and safety of gastric ischemic preconditioning in terms of post-operative outcomes and quantitative gastric conduit perfusion.

Methods: Patients who underwent an esophagectomy with gastric conduit reconstruction between January 2015 and October 2022 at a single high-volume academic center were reviewed.

Postoperative acute kidney injury after thoracic endovascular aortic repair for acute type B aortic dissection.

Background: Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) has evolved as the standard for treating complicated acute type B aortic dissection (ATBAD). Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication in critically ill patients and is commonly observed in patients with ATBAD. The purpose of the study was to characterize AKI after TEVAR.

Juneteenth in STEMM and the barriers to equitable science.

We are 52 Black scientists. Here, we establish the context of Juneteenth in STEMM and discuss the barriers Black scientists face, the struggles they endure, and the lack of recognition they receive. We review racism's history in science and provide institutional-level solutions to reduce the burdens on Black scientists.

Transcatheter Left Atrial Appendage Exclusion: Preclinical and Early Clinical Results With the Laminar Device.

Background: The Laminar device rotates and closes the left atrial appendage (LAA) using an integrated ball and lock that excludes and eliminates the LAA pouch. There is a low device surface area, minimizing the risk of peridevice leak (PDL) and device-related thrombus (DRT) formation.

Objectives: This study evaluates the safety and efficacy of the Laminar LAA exclusion device in healthy animals and human subjects with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of ischemic stroke and systemic thromboembolism.

Glossectomy for the treatment of oral cavity carcinoma: Quantitative, functional and patient-reported quality of life outcomes differ by four glossectomy defects.

Objective: The goal was to characterize four clinically distinct glossectomy defects to establish significant quantitative cut points using functional metrics, the MD Anderson Dysphagia Index (MDADI) and speech intelligibility.

Methods: Population included 101 patients treated with surgery, adjuvant radiation per NCCN guidelines, and ≥ 12 months follow-up.

Results: Defect groups: subtotal hemiglossectomy (1), hemiglossectomy (2), extended hemiglossectomy (3) and oral glossectomy (4) were compared: All outcomes supported a four defect model.

Endoscopic ultrasound-directed transgastric ERCP (EDGE): A multicenter US study on long-term follow-up and fistula closure.

Endoscopic ultrasound-directed transgastric ERCP (EDGE) is a safe and efficacious procedure to treat pancreaticobiliary diseases in Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB). This multicenter study aimed to determine the long-term outcomes of EDGE focusing on fistula persistence rates and post-procedure weight change. Information about patients with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass anatomy who underwent EDGE between 2015 and 2021 from 10 institutions was captured in a registry.

ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Lung Cancer Screening: 2022 Update.

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related mortality for men and women in the United States. Screening for lung cancer with annual low-dose CT is saving lives, and the continued implementation of lung screening can save many more. In 2015, the CMS began covering annual lung screening for those who qualified based on the original United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) lung screening criteria, which included patients 55 to 77 year of age with a 30 pack-year history of smoking, who were either currently using tobacco or who had smoked within the previous 15 years.

ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Chronic Shoulder Pain: 2022 Update.

Chronic shoulder pain is an extremely common presenting complaint. Potential pain generators include the rotator cuff tendons, biceps tendon, labrum, glenohumeral articular cartilage, acromioclavicular joint, bones, suprascapular and axillary nerves, and the joint capsule/synovium. Radiographs are typically the initial imaging study obtained in patients with chronic shoulder pain.

Sexually Dimorphic Pattern of Pain Mitigation Following Prophylactic Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interface (RPNI) in a Rat Neuroma Model.

Background: Treating neuroma pain is a clinical challenge. Identification of sex-specific nociceptive pathways allows a more individualized pain management. The Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interface (RPNI) consists of a neurotized autologous free muscle using a severed peripheral nerve to provide physiological targets for the regenerating axons.

The role of area-level socioeconomic disadvantage in racial disparities in cancer incidence in metropolitan Detroit.

Background: Neighborhood deprivation is associated with both race and cancer incidence, but there is a need to better understand the effect of structural inequities on racial cancer disparities. The goal of this analysis was to evaluate the relationship between a comprehensive measure of neighborhood-level social disadvantage and cancer incidence within the racially diverse population of metropolitan Detroit.

Methods: We estimated breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer incidence rates using Metropolitan Detroit Cancer Surveillance System and US decennial census data.