Digital Commons Network^™

Neurofilament Light Chain In Serum Of Cancer Patients With Acute Neurological Complications, Amulya Gottiparthy, Keng Lam, Suprateek Kundu, Zixi Yang, Ivo Tremont-Lukats, Sudhakar Tummala

Student and Faculty Publications

Aim: Neurofilament light chain (NfL) is a nonspecific sensitive biomarker of axonal damage.

Methods: This case series identified cancer patients with neurological complications who had serum NfL measurements and paired these results to outcomes.

Results: NfL serum levels were available in 15 patients with hematological malignancies or solid tumors. The neurological complications studied were immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome, immune checkpoint inhibitor-related encephalopathy, anoxic brain injury, Guillain-Barre syndrome, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, transverse myelitis, paraneoplastic syndrome, central nervous system demyelinating disorder and chronic lymphocytic inflammation with pontine perivascular enhancement responsive to steroids. All patients but one with serum NfL >900 pg/ml died …

Utilization Of A Novel Scoring System In Predicting 30-Day Mortality In Acute Pulmonary Embolism, The Clot-5 Pilot Study, Alexandru Marginean, Punit Arora, Kevin Walsh, Elizabeth Bruno, Cathryn Sawalski, Riya Gupta, Frances Greathouse, Jacob Clarke, Quinn Mallery, Myoung Hyun Choi, Waddah Malas, Parth Shah, David Sutherland, Amudha Kumar, Igor Wroblewski, Ahmed Elkaryoni, Parth Desai, Yevgeniy Brailovsky, Amir Darki

Division of Cardiology Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVES: To construct a new scoring system utilizing biomarkers, vitals, and imaging data to predict 30-day mortality in acute pulmonary embolism (PE).

BACKGROUND: Acute PE, a well-known manifestation of venous thromboembolic disease, is responsible for over 100,000 deaths worldwide yearly. Contemporary management algorithms rely on a multidisciplinary approach to care via PE response teams (PERT) in the identification of low, intermediate, and high-risk patients. The PESI and sPESI scores have been used as cornerstones of the triage process in assigning risk of 30-day mortality for patients presenting with acute PE; however, the specificity of these scoring systems has often come …

Vitamin D And Metabolic Bone Disease In Prolonged Continuous Kidney Replacement Therapy: A Prospective Observational Study., Peace Dorothy Imani, Molly Vega, Naile Tufan Pekkucuksen, Poyyapakkam Srivaths, Ayse Akcan Arikan

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Complications of prolonged continuous kidney replacement therapy (CKRT) have not been well described. Our objective was to describe mineral metabolism and bone findings in children who required prolonged CKRT.

METHODS: In this single center prospective observational study, we enrolled 37 patients who required CKRT for ≥ 28 days with regional citrate anticoagulation. Exposure was duration on CKRT and outcomes were 25-hydroxy vitamin D and osteopenia and/or fractures.

RESULTS: The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency was 17.2% and 69.0%, respectively. 29.7% of patients had radiographic findings of osteopenia and/or fractures. There was no association between vitamin D deficiency …

Prospective Analysis Of Stratafix™ Symmetric Pds Plus Suture For Fascial Closure In Spinal Surgery: A Pilot Study, Steven R. Glener, Pious D. Patel, Stephanie N. Serva, Dwight Mitchell Self, Joshua E. Heller

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Wound closure is an integral part of every spinal procedure. Effective and secure wound closure is paramount in the prevention of infection, wound dehiscence and the preservation of cosmesis. Barbed suture technologies such as STRATAFIX™ Symmetric have been studied and are used in a variety of specialties, including obstetrics and orthopedic surgery, but is underutilized in neurosurgery. This study aims to assess the time and rate of closure using STRATAFIX™ Symmetric technology for fascial closure and compare this method to the more traditionally used method of fascial closure using braided absorbable sutures below the epidermis. 20 patients were recruited for …

A Social Media Game To Increase Physical Activity Among Older Adult Women: Protocol Of A Randomized Controlled Trial To Evaluate Challenge, Michael C Robertson, Maria Chang Swartz, Karen M Basen-Engquist, Yisheng Li, Kristofer Jennings, Debbe Thompson, Tom Baranowski, Elena Volpi, Elizabeth J Lyons

Student and Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Older adult women often do not engage in sufficient physical activity (PA) and can encounter biological changes that exacerbate the negative effects of inadequate activity. Wearable activity monitors can facilitate PA initiation, but evidence of sustained behavior change is lacking. Supplementing wearable technologies with intervention content that evokes enjoyment, interest, meaning, and personal values associated with PA may support long term adherence. In this paper, we present the protocol of an NIA-funded study designed to evaluate the efficacy of CHALLENGE for increasing step count and motivation for PA in insufficiently active older women (Challenges for Healthy Aging: Leveraging Limits …

Disability In Cluster Headache Is More Than Attack Frequency – Results From And Validation Of The English Version Of The Cluster Headache Impact Questionnaire (Chiq), Katharina Kamm, Andreas Straube, Mark Burish, Ruth Ruscheweyh

Student and Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Cluster headache (CH) is associated with high disability. The Cluster Headache Impact Questionnaire (CHIQ) is a short, disease-specific disability questionnaire first developed and validated in German. Here, we validated the English version of this questionnaire.

METHODS: The CHIQ was assessed together with nonspecific headache-related disability questionnaires in CH patients from a tertiary headache center and an American self-help group.

RESULTS: 155 active episodic and chronic CH patients were included. The CHIQ showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.91) and test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.93, n = 44). Factor analysis identified a single factor. Convergent validity was shown by …

Institution-Wide Retreats Foster Organizational Learning And Action At A Comprehensive Cancer Center, Benjamin R Schrank, John A Fuller, Colleen M Gallagher, Van K Morris, Emma B Holliday, Kelly Merriman, Lynne Nguyen, Lou Weaver, Kelly Nelson, Elizabeth Chiao, Albert C Koong, Ernest Hawk, Shine Chang

Student and Faculty Publications

Providing safe and informed healthcare for sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals with cancer is stymied by the lack of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data reliably available in health records and by insufficient training for staff. Approaches that support institutional learning, especially around sensitive topics, are essential for hospitals seeking to improve practices impacting patient safety and research. We engineered annual institutional retreats to identify and unify stakeholders, promote awareness of gaps and needs, identify initiatives, minimize redundant projects, and coordinate efforts that promote improvements in SGM cancer care, education, and research. The 2022 and 2023 retreats employed …

4d Dynamic Spatial Brain Networks At Rest Linked To Cognition Show Atypical Variability And Coupling In Schizophrenia, Krishna Pusuluri, Zening Fu, Robyn Miller, Godfrey Pearlson, Peter Kochunov, Theo G M Van Erp, Armin Iraji, Vince D Calhoun

Student and Faculty Publications

Despite increasing interest in the dynamics of functional brain networks, most studies focus on the changing relationships over time between spatially static networks or regions. Here we propose an approach to study dynamic spatial brain networks in human resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) data and evaluate the temporal changes in the volumes of these 4D networks. Our results show significant volumetric coupling (i.e., synchronized shrinkage and growth) between networks during the scan, that we refer to as dynamic spatial network connectivity (dSNC). We find that several features of such dynamic spatial brain networks are associated with cognition, with …

Transformer-Based Deep Learning Prediction Of 10-Degree Humphrey Visual Field Tests From 24-Degree Data, Min Shi, Anagha Lokhande, Yu Tian, Yan Luo, Mohammad Eslami, Saber Kazeminasab, Tobias Elze, Lucy Shen, Louis Pasquale, Sarah Wellik, Carlos Gustavo De Moraes, Jonathan Myers, Nazlee Zebardast, David Friedman, Michael Boland, Mengyu Wang

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

PURPOSE: To predict 10-2 Humphrey visual fields (VFs) from 24-2 VFs and associated non-total deviation features using deep learning.

METHODS: We included 5189 reliable 24-2 and 10-2 VF pairs from 2236 patients, and 28,409 reliable pairs of macular OCT scans and 24-2 VF from 19,527 eyes of 11,560 patients. We developed a transformer-based deep learning model using 52 total deviation values and nine VF test features to predict 68 10-2 total deviation values. The mean absolute error, root mean square error, and the R2 were evaluation metrics. We further evaluated whether the predicted 10-2 VFs can improve the structure-function relationship …

Treatment Of Large Intracranial Aneurysms Using The Woven Endobridge (Web): A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis, Basel Musmar, Hamza Salim, Nimer Adeeb, Assala Aslan, Bahaa Aljeradat, Jose Diestro, Rachel Mclellan, Oktay Algin, Sherief Ghozy, Mahmoud Dibas, Sovann Lay, Adrien Guenego, Leonardo Renieri, Nicole Cancelliere, Joseph Carnevale, Guillaume Saliou, Panagiotis Mastorakos, Kareem El Naamani, Eimad Shotar, Kevin Premat, Markus Möhlenbruch, Michael Kral, Justin Vranic, Charlotte Chung, Mohamed Salem, Ivan Lylyk, Paul Foreman, Jay Vachhani, Hamza Shaikh, Vedran Župančić, Muhammad Hafeez, Joshua Catapano, Muhammad Waqas, Vincent Tutino, Mohamed Ibrahim, Marwa Mohammed, M. Ozgur Ozates, Giyas Ayberk, James Rabinov, Yifan Ren, Clemens Schirmer, Mariangela Piano, Anna Kühn, Caterina Michelozzi, Stéphanie Elens, Robert Starke, Ameer Hassan, Mark Ogilvie, Anh Nguyen, Jesse Jones, Waleed Brinjikji, Marie Nawka, Marios Psychogios, Christian Ulfert, Julian Spears, Brian Jankowitz, Jan-Karl Burkhardt, Ricardo Domingo, Thien Huynh, Juan Carlos Martinez-Gutierrez, Muhammed Essibayi, Sunil Sheth, Gary Spiegel, Rabih Tawk, Boris Lubicz, Pietro Panni, Ajit Puri, Guglielmo Pero, Erez Nossek, Eytan Raz, Monika Killer-Oberfalzer, Christoph Griessenauer, Hamed Asadi, Adnan Siddiqui, Allan Brook, David Altschul, Andrew Ducruet, Felipe Albuquerque, Robert Regenhardt, Christopher Stapleton, Peter Kan, Vladimir Kalousek, Pedro Lylyk, Srikanth Boddu, Jared Knopman, Mohammad A Aziz-Sultan, Stavropoula Tjoumakaris, Frédéric Clarençon, Nicola Limbucci, Hugo Cuellar-Saenz, Pascal Jabbour, Vitor Pereira, Aman Patel, Adam Dmytriw

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

The Woven EndoBridge (WEB) device is primarily used for treating wide-neck intracranial bifurcation aneurysms under 10 mm. Limited data exists on its efficacy for large aneurysms. We aim to assess angiographic and clinical outcomes of the WEB device in treating large versus small aneurysms. We conducted a retrospective review of the WorldWide WEB Consortium database, from 2011 to 2022, across 30 academic institutions globally. Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to compare small and large aneurysms on baseline characteristics. A total of 898 patients were included. There was no significant difference observed in clinical presentations, smoking status, pretreatment mRS, presence …

The Association Between Prolonged Sars-Cov-2 Symptoms And Work Outcomes, Arjun K Venkatesh, Huihui Yu, Caitlin Malicki, Michael Gottlieb, Joann G Elmore, Mandy J Hill, Ahamed H Idris, Juan Carlos C Montoy, Kelli N O'Laughlin, Kristin L. Rising, Kari A Stephens, Erica S Spatz, Robert A Weinstein

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

While the early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the United States labor market are well-established, less is known about the long-term impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection and Long COVID on employment. To address this gap, we analyzed self-reported data from a prospective, national cohort study to estimate the effects of SARS-CoV-2 symptoms at three months post-infection on missed workdays and return to work. The analysis included 2,939 adults in the Innovative Support for Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infections Registry (INSPIRE) study who tested positive for their initial SARS-CoV-2 infection at the time of enrollment, were employed before the pandemic, and completed …

School Knowledge Of Infectious Diseases In Schools: Conducting Surveillance And On-Demand, Symptomatic Respiratory Viral Testing In A Large Pre-Kindergarten-12th Grade School District., Jennifer E. Schuster, Tamoor T Chohdry, Chris T. Young, Brian R. Lee, Dithi Banerjee, Anjana Sasidharan, Olivia M Almendares, Hannah L Kirking, Janelle Porter, Anila Deliu, Shannon Tilsworth, Rangaraj Selvarangan, Jennifer Goldman

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Limited data about acute respiratory illness (ARI) and respiratory virus circulation are available in congregate community settings, specifically schools. To better characterize the epidemiology of ARI and respiratory viruses in schools, we developed School Knowledge of Infectious Diseases in Schools (School KIDS).

METHODS: School KIDS is a prospective, respiratory viral testing program in a large metropolitan school district (pre-kindergarten-12th grade) in Kansas City, Missouri. During the 2022-2023 school year, all students and staff were eligible to participate in surveillance respiratory viral testing at school by submitting observed self-administered nasal swabs monthly. Participants could also submit a nasal swab for …

Low Skeletal Muscle Mass Is Associated With Inferior Preoperative And Postoperative Shoulder Function In Elderly Rotator Cuff Tear Patients, Yang Yang, Binbin Zheng, Xiaofang Lin, Mengqin Zhang, Yongzhi Ye, Haixiao Chen, Xiaobo Zhou

Student and Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass is an important characteristic of sarcopenia, an increasingly recognized condition with systemic implications. However, its association with shoulder function in elderly patients with rotator cuff tears (RCT) remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between low skeletal muscle mass and shoulder function in elderly RCT patients.

METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on RCT patients who underwent chest computed tomography (CT) scans for clinical evaluation. Preoperative CT scan images of the chest were used to calculate the cross-sectional area (CSA) of thoracic muscle at the T4 level. The medical records …

Safety And Effectiveness Of Using Disposable Ultrasonic Shears To Coagulate 5–7 Mm Blood Vessels: Protocol For A Prospective, Multicenter, Randomized, Parallel Controlled, Non-Inferiority Clinical Trial, Xipeng Wang, Chengqiang Li, Junqiang Fan, Jian Hu, Mingsong Wang, Hecheng Li

Student and Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The ultrasonic scalpel is widely used during surgery. It is safe and effective to close the pulmonary artery branch vessels of 7 mm or below with an ultrasonic energy device as reported. However, there have been no multicenter randomized clinical trial to assess the safety and effectiveness of using ultrasonic scalpel to coagulate 5-7 mm blood vessels in thoracic surgery.

METHODS: This is a prospective, multicenter, randomized, parallel controlled, non-inferiority clinical trial. A total of 144 eligible patients planning to undergo lung or esophageal surgery will be randomly allocated to the experimental group and the control group. The investigational …

Tsg-6+ Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Modulate Myeloid Cell Responses And Impair Anti-Tumor Response To Immune Checkpoint Therapy In Pancreatic Cancer, Swetha Anandhan, Shelley Herbrich, Sangeeta Goswami, Baoxiang Guan, Yulong Chen, Marc Daniel Macaluso, Sonali Jindal, Seanu Meena Natarajan, Samuel W Andrewes, Liangwen Xiong, Ashwat Nagarajan, Sreyashi Basu, Derek Ng Tang, Jielin Liu, Jimin Min, Anirban Maitra, Padmanee Sharma

Student and Faculty Publications

Resistance to immune checkpoint therapy (ICT) presents a growing clinical challenge. The tumor microenvironment (TME) and its components, namely tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), play a pivotal role in ICT resistance; however, the underlying mechanisms remain under investigation. In this study, we identify expression of TNF-Stimulated Factor 6 (TSG-6) in ICT-resistant pancreatic tumors, compared to ICT-sensitive melanoma tumors, both in mouse and human. TSG-6 is expressed by CAFs within the TME, where suppressive macrophages expressing Arg1, Mafb, and Mrc1, along with TSG-6 ligand Cd44, predominate. Furthermore, TSG-6 expressing CAFs co-localize with the CD44 expressing macrophages in the TME. …

Contributions Of Brain Microstructures And Metabolism To Visual Field Loss Patterns In Glaucoma Using Archetypal And Information Gain Analyses, Yueyin Pang, Ji Won Bang, Anisha Kasi, Jeremy Li, Carlos Parra, Els Fieremans, Gadi Wollstein, Joel S. Schuman, Mengyu Wang, Kevin C Chan

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

PURPOSE: To investigate the contributions of the microstructural and metabolic brain environment to glaucoma and their association with visual field (VF) loss patterns by using advanced diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI), proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), and clinical ophthalmic measures.

METHODS: Sixty-nine glaucoma and healthy subjects underwent dMRI and/or MRS at 3 Tesla. Ophthalmic data were collected from VF perimetry and optical coherence tomography. dMRI parameters of microstructural integrity in the optic radiation and MRS-derived neurochemical levels in the visual cortex were compared among early glaucoma, advanced glaucoma, and healthy controls. Multivariate regression was used to correlate neuroimaging metrics with …

Reverse Phase Proteomic Array Profiling Of Asparagine Synthetase Expression In Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Nisha Narayanan, Jennifer Marvin-Peek, Mohamad K Abouelnaaj, Dhabya Majid, Bofei Wang, Brandon D Brown, Yihua Qiu, Steven M Kornblau, Hussein A Abbas

Student and Faculty Publications

Asparaginase-based therapy is a cornerstone in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treatment, capitalizing on the methylation status of the asparagine synthetase (ASNS) gene, which renders ALL cells reliant on extracellular asparagine. Contrastingly, ASNS expression in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has not been thoroughly investigated, despite studies suggesting that AML with chromosome 7/7q deletions might have reduced ASNS levels. Here, we leverage reverse phase protein arrays to measure ASNS expression in 810 AML patients and assess its impact on outcomes. We find that AML with inv(16) has the lowest overall ASNS expression. While AML with deletion 7/7q had ASNS levels slightly lower …

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome After Sars-Cov-2 Infection, Elizabeth R. Unger, Jin-Mann S. Lin, Lauren E. Wisk, Huihui Yu, Michelle L'Hommedieu, Helen Lavretsky, Juan Carlos C. Montoy, Michael A. Gottlieb, Kristin L. Rising, Nicole L. Gentile, Michelle Santangelo, Arjun K. Venkatesh, Robert M. Rodriguez, Mandy J. Hill, Rachel E. Geyer, Efrat R. Kean, Sharon Saydah, Samuel A. Mcdonald, Ryan Huebinger, Ahamed H. Idris, Jocelyn Dorney, Bala Hota, Erica S. Spatz, Kari A. Stephens, Robert A. Weinstein, Joann G. Elmore

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

IMPORTANCE: Chronic symptoms reported following an infection with SARS-CoV-2, such as cognitive problems, overlap with symptoms included in the definition of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of ME/CFS-like illness subsequent to acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, changes in ME/CFS symptoms through 12 months of follow-up, and the association of ME/CFS symptoms with SARS-CoV-2 test results at the acute infection-like index illness.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This prospective, multisite, longitudinal cohort study (Innovative Support for Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infections Registry [INSPIRE]) enrolled participants from December 11, 2020, to August 29, 2022. Participants were adults aged 18 to 64 …

Use Of Clearguard Hd Caps In Pediatric Hemodialysis Patients., Amy E. Nau, Troy Richardson, Diana Cardwell, Jennifer Ehrlich, Jyothsna Gattineni, Melisha Hanna, Mahima Keswani, Emily Neibauer, Kelly Nitz, Raymond Quigley, Michelle Rheault, Rebekah Sims, Mayna Woo, Bradley A. Warady

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Bloodstream infections (BSIs) are a leading cause of hospitalizations and mortality among patients receiving hemodialysis (HD) therapy, especially those with a central venous catheter (CVC) for dialysis access. The use of chlorhexidine impregnated catheter caps (ClearGuard) has been associated with a decrease in the rate of HD catheter-related BSIs (CA-BSIs) in adults; similar data have not been published for children.

METHODS: We compared CA-BSI data from participating centers within the Standardizing Care to Improve Outcomes in Pediatric Endstage Kidney Disease (SCOPE) collaborative based on the center's use of ClearGuard caps for patients with HD catheter access. Centers were characterized …

Preeclampsia, Fetal Growth Restriction, And 24-Month Neurodevelopment In Very Preterm Infants., Jennifer Check, Coral Shuster, Julie Hofheimer, Marie Camerota, Lynne M. Dansereau, Lynne M. Smith, Brian S. Carter, Sheri A. Dellagrotta, Jennifer Helderman, Howard Kilbride, Cynthia M. Loncar, Elisabeth Mcgowan, Charles R. Neal, T Michael O'Shea, Steven L. Pastyrnak, Stephen J. Sheinkopf, Barry M. Lester

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

IMPORTANCE: Preeclampsia has direct influences on a developing fetus and may impact postnatal health, and fetal growth restriction (FGR) is often seen co-occurring with preeclampsia. The development of children born very preterm after preeclampsia diagnosis with and without FGR is not well characterized.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations of preeclampsia and FGR with developmental and/or behavioral outcomes in a cohort of very preterm infants.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: In this cohort study, infants in the prospective Neonatal Neurobehavior and Outcomes in Very Preterm Infants study were enrolled between April 2014 and June 2016 from 9 US university-affiliated neonatal intensive care …

Remote Monitoring App For Endocrine Therapy Adherence Among Patients With Early-Stage Breast Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial, Ilana Graetz, Xin Hu, Mehmet Kocak, Rebecca A. Krukowski, Janeane N. Anderson, Teresa M. Waters, Andrea N. Curry, Andrew Robles, Andrew Paladino, Edward Stepanski, Gregory A. Vidal, Lee S. Schwartzberg

Kimmel Cancer Center Papers, Presentations, and Grand Rounds

IMPORTANCE: Adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) use among women with early-stage, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer reduces the risk of cancer recurrence, but its adverse symptoms contribute to lower adherence.

OBJECTIVE: To test whether remote monitoring of symptoms and treatment adherence with or without tailored text messages improves outcomes among women with breast cancer who are prescribed AET.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This nonblinded, randomized clinical trial (RCT) following intention-to-treat principles included English-speaking women with early-stage breast cancer prescribed AET at a large cancer center with 14 clinics across 3 states from November 15, 2018, to June 11, 2021. All participants had …

Tumor Biomechanical Stiffness By Magnetic Resonance Elastography Predicts Surgical Outcomes And Identifies Biomarkers In Vestibular Schwannoma And Meningioma, Bailey H Duhon, Kristin Thompson, Melanie Fisher, Vivian F Kaul, Han Tn Nguyen, Michael S Harris, Varun Varadarajan, Oliver F Adunka, Daniel M Prevedello, Arunark Kolipaka, Yin Ren

Student and Faculty Publications

Variations in the biomechanical stiffness of brain tumors can not only influence the difficulty of surgical resection but also impact postoperative outcomes. In a prospective, single-blinded study, we utilize pre-operative magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) to predict the stiffness of intracranial tumors intraoperatively and assess the impact of increased tumor stiffness on clinical outcomes following microsurgical resection of vestibular schwannomas (VS) and meningiomas. MRE measurements significantly correlated with intraoperative tumor stiffness and baseline hearing status of VS patients. Additionally, MRE stiffness was elevated in patients that underwent sub-total tumor resection compared to gross total resection and those with worse postoperative facial …

Association Between Obstructive Sleep Apnea And Risk Of Benign Vocal Fold Lesions: A Nationwide 9-Year Follow-Up Cohort Study, Yong Tae Hong, Min Gu Kang, Min Gyu Lee, Sang Woo Yeom, Jong Seung Kim

Student and Faculty Publications

Since obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects various parts of the body, there has been little interest about the effect of OSA on voice. The objective of this study was to evaluate the risk of benign vocal fold lesions (BVFL) in OSA patients. This study used data from the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) database. The study group was defined as the group diagnosed with OSA between 2008 and 2011. Non-OSA groups were selected based on propensity score (PS) matching. Incidence of BVFL among participants during the follow-up was analyzed. Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association …

Prevalence And Relevant Factors Of Nocturia And Its Impact On Sleep Quality In Chinese University Students, Yakai Liu, Zhenwei Zhang, Huijie Hu, Xiangfei He, Pengchao Xu, Qifeng Dou, Cuiping Song, Huiqing Zhang, Israel Franco, Konstantinos Kamperis, Søren Rittig, Jianguo Wen

Student and Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and relevant factors of nocturia and its impact on sleep quality in university students in Mainland China. A large-scale survey was conducted on 14,000 university students from 3 universities in Henan province, China by using an anonymous questionnaire. The questionnaire collected the information from the past six months. The relationships between the prevalence of nocturia and its relevant factors were evaluated. A total of 13,874 questionnaires were collected and 13,104 qualified for statistical analysis. A total of 659 students suffered from clinically relevant nocturia (CRN) (4.56% in male and 5.34% …

History Of Suicidal Behavior And Clozapine Prescribing Among People With Schizophrenia In China: A Cohort Study, Yi Yin, Chen Lin, Lijing Wei, Jinghui Tong, Junchao Huang, Baopeng Tian, Shuping Tan, Zhiren Wang, Fude Yang, Yongsheng Tong, Song Chen, L Elliot Hong, Yunlong Tan

Student and Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Clozapine is an off-label drug used in most countries to prevent suicide in individuals with schizophrenia. However, few studies have reported real-world prescription practices. This study aimed to explore the association between a history of suicidal behavior and clozapine prescribing during eight weeks of hospitalization for individuals with early-stage schizophrenia.

METHODS: This observational cohort study used routine health data collected from a mental health hospital in Beijing, China. The study included 1057 inpatients who had schizophrenia onset within 3 years. History of suicidal behavior was coded from reviewing medical notes according to the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale. Information …

Teen Pregnancy Involvement Among African, Caribbean And Black Adolescent Boys And Girls: A Scoping Review, Emmanuela Ojukwu, Eunice Bawafaa, Emily Mckay, Harsimran Grewal, Sara Afsah, Shivangi Singh, Elizabeth Saewyc

Student and Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate the incidence, associated factors and interventions to address teen pregnancy involvement (TPI) among African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) adolescents in North America.

DESIGN: We conducted a scoping review of the literature, guided by the social-ecological model.

DATA SOURCES: Studies were retrieved from databases such as Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase, CINAHL, CAB Direct and Google Scholar and imported into COVIDENCE for screening.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: The Joanna Briggs Institute scoping reviews protocol guided the establishment of eligibility criteria. Included studies focused on rates, associated factors and interventions related to TPI among ACB boys and girls aged …

Methylthioadenosine Phosphorylase Genomic Loss In Advanced Gastrointestinal Cancers, Natalie Y L Ngoi, Tin-Yun Tang, Catia F Gaspar, Dean C Pavlick, Gregory M Buchold, Emma L Scholefield, Vamsi Parimi, Richard S P Huang, Tyler Janovitz, Natalie Danziger, Mia A Levy, Shubham Pant, Anaemy Danner De Armas, David Kumpula, Jeffrey S Ross, Milind Javle, Jordi Rodon Ahnert

Student and Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: One of the most common sporadic homozygous deletions in cancers is 9p21 loss, which includes the genes methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP), CDKN2A, and CDKN2B, and has been correlated with worsened outcomes and immunotherapy resistance. MTAP-loss is a developing drug target through synthetic lethality with MAT2A and PMRT5 inhibitors. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence and genomic landscape of MTAP-loss in advanced gastrointestinal (GI) tumors and investigate its role as a prognostic biomarker.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed next-generation sequencing and comparative genomic and clinical analysis on an extensive cohort of 64 860 tumors comprising 5 GI …

Associations Between Radiation Oncologist Demographic Factors And Segmentation Similarity Benchmarks: Insights From A Crowd-Sourced Challenge Using Bayesian Estimation, Kareem A Wahid, Onur Sahin, Suprateek Kundu, Diana Lin, Anthony Alanis, Salik Tehami, Serageldin Kamel, Simon Duke, Michael V Sherer, Mathis Rasmussen, Stine Korreman, David Fuentes, Michael Cislo, Benjamin E Nelms, John P Christodouleas, James D Murphy, Abdallah S R Mohamed, Renjie He, Mohammed A Naser, Erin F Gillespie, Clifton D Fuller

Student and Faculty Publications

PURPOSE: The quality of radiotherapy auto-segmentation training data, primarily derived from clinician observers, is of utmost importance. However, the factors influencing the quality of clinician-derived segmentations are poorly understood; our study aims to quantify these factors.

METHODS: Organ at risk (OAR) and tumor-related segmentations provided by radiation oncologists from the Contouring Collaborative for Consensus in Radiation Oncology data set were used. Segmentations were derived from five disease sites: breast, sarcoma, head and neck (H&N), gynecologic (GYN), and GI. Segmentation quality was determined on a structure-by-structure basis by comparing the observer segmentations with an expert-derived consensus, which served as a reference …

Associations Between Longer Leukocyte Telomere Length And Increased Lung Cancer Risk Among Never Smokers In Urban China, Jason Y Y Wong, Xiao-Ou Shu, Wei Hu, Batel Blechter, Jianxin Shi, Kevin Wang, Richard Cawthon, Qiuyin Cai, Gong Yang, Mohammad L Rahman, Bu-Tian Ji, Yutang Gao, Wei Zheng, Nathaniel Rothman, Qing Lan

Student and Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The complex relationship between measured leukocyte telomere length (LTL), genetically predicted LTL (gTL), and carcinogenesis is exemplified by lung cancer. We previously reported associations between longer pre-diagnostic LTL, gTL, and increased lung cancer risk among European and East Asian populations. However, we had limited statistical power to examine the associations among never smokers by gender and histology.

METHODS: To investigate further, we conducted nested case-control analyses on an expanded sample of never smokers from the prospective Shanghai Women's Health Studies (798 cases and 792 controls) and Shanghai Men's Health Studies (161 cases and 162 controls). We broke the case-control …

Radiogenomics-Based Risk Prediction Of Glioblastoma Multiforme With Clinical Relevance, Xiaohua Qian, Hua Tan, Xiaona Liu, Weiling Zhao, Michael D Chan, Pora Kim, Xiaobo Zhou

Student and Faculty Publications

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM)is the most common and aggressive primary brain tumor. Although temozolomide (TMZ)-based radiochemotherapy improves overall GBM patients' survival, it also increases the frequency of false positive post-treatment magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) assessments for tumor progression. Pseudo-progression (PsP) is a treatment-related reaction with an increased contrast-enhancing lesion size at the tumor site or resection margins miming tumor recurrence on MRI. The accurate and reliable prognostication of GBM progression is urgently needed in the clinical management of GBM patients. Clinical data analysis indicates that the patients with PsP had superior overall and progression-free survival rates. In this study, we aimed …