Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Building Collaborative Research To Drive Improvement Of West Virginia Health Outcomes, Sally L. Hodder Md, Gary O. Rankin Phd

Pharmaceutical Science and Research

Mortality rates in Appalachia have not declined in recent years as they have for the remainder of the US. Appalachian mortality rates have actually increased. Most counties of southern West Virginia have mortality rates well in excess of the US average. West Virginia ranks at or near the bottom in most U.S. chronic disease categories, with the highest rate of drug overdose deaths and near the highest rates of cancer and cardiovascular mortality. And yet, West Virginia has many dedicated heath care providers, committed to the care of their patients. The West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute (WVCTSI) seeks …

Musical Hallucinations Treated With Atypical Antipsychotics In A Geriatric Population – A Case Series, Adam Schindzielorz Md, D. Scott Murphy Md, Suzanne Holroyd Md

Psychiatry

Musical hallucinations have been likened to the auditory equivalent of Charles Bonnet Syndrome, which involves complex visual hallucinations, most often in the context of visual impairment. Musical hallucination frequently take the form of hymns, carols, and show-tunes and are strongly associated with hearing loss, with some studies suggesting a prevalence of 2.5–3.6% in the hearing impaired. Musical hallucinations are typically treated with anticonvulsant and anticholinesterase medications, with some studies having evaluated the efficacy of sedative hypnotics, antipsychotics and antidepressants in various psychiatric and medical subpopulations suggesting a heterogeneous spectrum of causes for this disorder.

We present two cases of musical …

The Effects Of Obesity On Outcomes In Trauma Injury: Overview Of The Current Literature, Milad Modarresi, Brad Gillon, Javad Najjar Mojarrab, Rodrigo Aguilar, Zackary Dylan Hunter, Matthew Steven Schade, Jackie Sanabria, Rebecca Klug, Seth Adkins, Juan R. Sanabria

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions and is now considered a chronic disease by the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the West. Its impact on trauma outcomes is of particular interest with several studies presenting conflicting information. The present overview suggests a strong association between obesity and injury severity, hospital length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit (ICU) admission, pattern of injury, rate of complications and mortality. The nature of the observations may relate to an underlying physiological state of the obese patient and its associated comorbidities with a constant heightened inflammatory state aggravated by the second hit on an …

Reducing Postoperative Opioids After Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery With Multimodal Pain Control, Kevin D. White, William C. Wallace, Nadim Zgheib

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Introduction:

We evaluated the efficacy of a multimodal pain regimen that approaches pain control by utilizing different mechanisms of action. This novel protocol utilizing liposomal bupivacaine, acetaminophen, tramadol and oxycodone as needed in reducing the overall opioid use by patients after undergoing robotic-assisted total laparoscopic hysterectomy in an obese population that is heavily afflicted by the opioid epidemic.

Materials and Methods:

We conducted a retrospective study wherein a sample of 100 (50 multimodal group and 50 controls) were taken from 433 eligible cases conducted over a 1 year period. Patient medical records were evaluated for demographics, surgical characteristics, opioid type …

Predicting Adverse Outcomes In Chronic Kidney Disease Using Machine Learning Methods: Data From The Modification Of Diet In Renal Disease, Zeid Khitan, Anna P. Shapiro, Preeya T. Shah, Juan R. Sanabria, Prasanna Santhanam, Komal Sodhi, Nader G. Abraham, Joseph I. Shapiro

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Background: Understanding factors which predict progression of renal failure is of great interest to clinicians.

Objectives: We examined machine learning methods to predict the composite outcome of death, dialysis or doubling of serum creatinine using the modification of diet in renal disease (MDRD) data set.

Methods: We specifically evaluated a generalized linear model, a support vector machine, a decision tree, a feed-forward neural network and a random forest evaluated within the context of 10 fold validation using the CARET package available within the open source architecture R program.

Results: We found that using clinical parameters available at entry into the …

Contingency Management For Smoking Cessation In Pregnancy, Jacob Miller, Brady Reynolds, Courtney Crain, Hisham Keblawi, Lynne J. Goebel

Marshall Journal of Medicine

This pilot study examined the feasibility of applying Contingency Management (CM), where the woman receives financial compensation for abstinence from smoking. Eleven subjects were recruited from Marshall’s OB clinic for the program. CO levels were measured daily using online video recording. Quit rates were determined at the end of pregnancy. Birth outcomes were measured at delivery. 21 pregnant smokers from Marshall’s OB clinic were used as the control group. The results demonstrated a trend toward improved rates of smoking abstinence in CM participants as compared with the control group. Our study also showed a trend towards improved birth outcomes in …

Sheehan’S Syndrome: It Is Time To Become More Proactive In Identifying This Disease, Yara E. Tovar, Waseem Ahmed, Madhulika Urella, Ayman H. Elkadry, Rodhan A. Khthir

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Sheehan’s syndrome typically occurs as a result of ischemic pituitary necrosis due to severe postpartum hemorrhage and can present with varying degrees of pituitary insufficiency. It is more common in underdeveloped countries, and is frequently diagnosed years after delivery due to its nonspecific signs and symptoms. Failure to lactate is a common initial symptom, while many women also report amenorrhea or oligomenorrhea. This article presents a 26-year-old female with a history of hypertension, who presented to the hospital for diarrhea, vomiting, and dizziness. Her blood pressure was 80/40 mmHg, requiring aggressive fluid resuscitation, after which it remained borderline. Further testing …

A Coal Miner With Weakness, Fatigue, Nausea, Fever, Chills, Night Sweats And Dyspnea, Larry Nichols

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Delayed or missed diagnoses are a constant hazard in primary care. This is the case report of a 51-year-old coal miner, who presented as an ambulatory outpatient on a Friday with weakness, fatigue, nausea, fever, chills, night sweats and dyspnea. Chest x-ray on Saturday showed pneumonia and pleural effusion, while blood testing showed renal failure, but these results were not known by his physician until Monday, when he was hospitalized with severe sepsis due to fatal Austrian syndrome of pneumococcal pneumonia, endocarditis and meningitis. Analysis of the delay of diagnosis in this case suggests the possibility that a weekend effect …

Restoration Of Completely Transected Common Bile Duct Continuity Using Single Operator Cholangioscopy, Saad Emhmed Ali, Houssam Mardini, Mohsin Salih, Steven J. Krohmer, Wesam M. Frandah

Internal Medicine

Common bile duct (CBD) injury, ranging from a partial tear to a complete transection, is a major surgical complication of cholecystectomy with significant morbidity and mortality. Proper management of these complex injuries depends on the type and extent of injury and time of recognition. Identifying and repairing injuries during cholecystectomy can prevent development of complications, but this only occurs in about one-third of cases. We report a novel technique to reconnect a transected CBD with assistance of single-operator cholangioscopy.

Research Days At West Virginia’S Allopathic Medical Schools: Ten Year Publication Rates And Impact, Mohammad Halaibeh Md, Alexander H. Slocum Jr., Phd, Md, Yousif Mohammed Md, Zain N. Qazi Md, Franklin D. Shuler Md, Phd

Orthopaedics

Participation in research and scholarly activity is critical to successful medical student and resident matriculation and to faculty development. Both Marshall University and West Virginia University sponsor yearly peer-reviewed School of Medicine Research Days’ to support these missions. This article evaluates the successful publication of Research Day presentations for West Virginia’s Allopathic Medical Schools. Both Marshall University (MU) and West Virginia University’s (WVU) School of Medicine use a competitive review process for abstract selection ensuring high quality research is presented. Over a 10-year period, MU published 12% (74/616) of its abstracts while WVU published 22% (265/1185) of its abstracts. We …

Pneumonia Due To A Rare Pathogen: Achromobacter Xylosoxidans, Subspecies Denitrificans, Hesham Awadh, Munthir Mansour, Obadah Aqtash, Yousef Shweihat

Internal Medicine

Achromobacter xylosoxidans, subspecies denitrificans, is a gram-negative rod recently implicated as an emerging cause of infection in both immunosuppressed and immunocompetent populations. Few cases are reported in literature involvingmultiple body systems. Diagnosis depends on cultures of appropriate specimens, and management usually is by administration of appropriate antibiotics(usually agents with antipseudomonal activity).We report a rare case of pneumonia due to infection with this organism, in a patient with preexisting bronchiectasis secondary to chronic aspiration.

Improving The Pharmacologic Management Of Patients After Osteoporotic Hip Fractures, Joseph Klaus, Milad Modarresi, Rodrigo Aguilar, Nasreen Benhamed, Franklin D. Shuler

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Abstract

Background

Osteoporotic hip fractures have become an increasingly common healthcare burden with significant morbidity and mortality in the geriatric population. Pharmacological management of the underlying osteoporosis is critical. Our objective is to determine the percentage of patients older than 65 who receive pharmacologic treatment of osteoporosis within six months after a fragility fracture at Cabell Huntington Hospital.

Methods

Data was extracted from medical records for patients age 65 or older who sustained a hip fracture during June 2013 - March 2015. Patients who received any form of pharmacologic treatment within six months after their fractures were identified. All analyses …

Re-Excision Rates Following Breast Conserving Therapy: A Single Institutions Experience Over Ten Years, Kathryne J. Blair, Mary Legenza

Marshall Journal of Medicine

As breast conserving therapy has become the standard of care for patients with early stage breast cancer an area of debate within the surgical literature has been the rate of positive surgical margins requiring re-excision. Nationally re-excision rates are highly variable and have been reported as high as 40%. Any cancer diagnosis and treatment is stressful for patients and having to return to the operating room for a second surgery can greatly affect both patient satisfaction and cosmetic outcomes. Within our institution we wanted to examined our population over ten years undergoing breast conserving therapy to determine our re-excision rates …

The Impact Of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: The View From A Rural Kentucky Hospital, Sydni Fazenbaker Crowell, Allison M. Crump-Rogers, William Crump, Leann Langston

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Abstract

Introduction

Cases of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) increased 3-fold in the United States from 2000 to 2009, with some indication that the problem may be worse in rural areas. The purpose of our study was to report the incidence of NAS in a small rural community with a regional referral hospital and describe aspects of these infants’ NICU stay.

Methods

Using maternal prenatal positive urine drug screens (UDS) as our initial focus, deliveries at 35 weeks or beyond between March 2015 and May 2016 were included. NAS severity score, length of NICU stay, and hospital charges for each infant …

Trauma Team Activation For Geriatric Trauma At A Level Ii Trauma Center: Are The Elderly Under-Triaged?, Grant S. Buchanan, Daniel Scott Kahn, Harry Burke, Brian Czarkowski, Richard Boe, Milad Modarresi, Franklin D. Shuler

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Abstract

Geriatric patients often sustain life-threatening injuries from minor trauma. A growing body of research suggests that these patients are often under-triaged in the emergency setting.The purpose of this research was to evaluate whether or not geriatric trauma patients are under-triaged at a community based level II trauma center.

1434 trauma patients over the age of 65 presenting from 2010-2015 were retrospectively reviewed from the Cabell Huntington Hospital trauma registry and analyzed for age, gender, arrival type, ED response, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Injury Severity Score (ISS), injury cause, ICD-9 diagnosis codes, and mortality. Under-triage and over-triage rates were determined …

Purple Urine Bag Syndrome: An Educational Case Of A Colorful Condition In The Chronically Catheterized, Teshome Gebrmichael, Fikirte Feleke, Waseem Ahmed, Madhulika Urella, Samson Teka

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Purple Urine Bag Syndrome is a rare condition characterized by purple discoloration of the urinary drainage bag. It is typically seen in elderly patients with chronic indwelling urinary catheterization, and is associated with urinary tract infections with high bacterial load, female gender, severe disability, constipation, and alkaline urine. This phenomenon occurs when tryptophan metabolites in the urine are broken down by bacteria containing indoxyl sulphatase and phosphatase enzymes. This results in the production of indigo and indirubin, which combine to give a purple appearance. This article presents a 78-year-old male with chronic urinary retention requiring intermittent Foley catheterization for the …

Call For Vigilance – Red Flags In Systemic Lupus Erythematous, Badar Hasan, Talal Asif, Maryam Hasan, Amr Edrees

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Systemic Lupus Erythematous(SLE) is a multisystem autoimmune disease. It has been identified as the underlying cause for death for an average 1,034 deaths from 2000 and 2014. Our cases highlight two rare but life threatening complications of SLE; Catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome (CAPS) and Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) with mortality as high as 50-90%. Both cases presenting with respiratory symptoms, required meticulous monitoring in ICU and initially treated with broad spectrum antibiotics However, unlike pneumonia these patients required immunosuppressive and plasmapheresis leading to clinical improvement.

Case Report: An Undiagnosed Bladder Diverticulum Resulting In Foley Catheter Perforation During Cesarean Section, A. Allison Roy, Nadim Bou Zgheib, Joseph Assaley

Marshall Journal of Medicine

A bladder diverticulum is diagnosed when herniated bladder mucosa forms an outpouching from the bladder. Bladder diverticula are uncommon and are significantly more common in males. The following case presents a patient with an undiagnosed bladder diverticulum which was incidentally perforated during foley catheter placement for a repeat cesarean section. The diagnosis can be difficult in those who are asymptomatic and lack risk factors, such as the following patient.

Betel Nut Use And Hyperglycemia, Edward Nabrinsky, Badar Hasan, Talal Asif, Rebecca R. Pauly

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Betel nut chewing previously has not been common in North America, yet it is the fourth major source of addiction and abuse worldwide. Approximately 700 million individuals, or 10 % of the global population, chew beetle nut on regular basis. It is important for patient safety and improved quality to recognize its use in uncontrolled diabetes. Our case is of a 49 year-old Burmese female with PMH of DM2, HTN, and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) who presented with a complaint of dizziness. Patient denied alcohol or tobacco use, but reported a 20-year history of betel nut chewing (4-5 times/day). …

Bronchopleural Fistula Resolution With Endobronchial Valve Placement And Liberation From Mechanical Ventilation In Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A Case Series, Haris Kalatoudis, Nikhil Meena, Fuad Zeid, Yousef Shweihat

Internal Medicine

Patients who have acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) with persistent air leaks have worse outcomes. Endobronchial valves (EBV) are frequently deployed after pulmonary resection in noncritically ill patients to reduce and eliminate bronchopleural fistulas (BPFs) with persistent air leak (PAL). Information regarding EBV placement in mechanically ventilated patients with ARDS and high volume persistent air leaks is rare and limited to case reports. We describe three cases where EBV placement facilitated endotracheal extubation in patients with severe respiratory failure on prolonged mechanical ventilation with BPFs. In each case, EBV placement led to immediate resolution of PAL. We believe endobronchial valve …

Pembrolizumab Reactivates Pulmonary Granulomatosis, Majdi Al-Dliw, Mohammed Megri, Ibrahim M. Shahoub, Gaurav Sahay, Teresa I. Limjoco, Yousef Shweihat

Internal Medicine

Sarcoid like reaction is a well-known entity that occurs as a consequence to several malignancies or their therapies. Immunotherapy has gained a lot of interest in the past few years and has recently gained approval as first line therapy in multiple advanced stage malignancies. Pneumonitis has been described as complication of such therapy. Granulomatous inflammation has been only rarely reported subsequent to immunotherapy. We describe a case of granulomatous inflammation reactivation affecting the lungs in a patient previously exposed to Pembrolizumab and have evidence of a distant granulomatous infection. We discuss potential mechanisms of the inflammation and assert the importance …

Buspirone For The Treatment Of Dementia With Behavioral Disturbance, Maria R. Santa Cruz, Priscilla Hidalgo, Meredith Lee, Cornelius Thomas, Suzanne Holroyd

Psychiatry

Behavioral disturbances are common but serious symptoms in patients with dementia. Currently there are no FDA approved drugs for this purpose. There have been case reports and small case series of the use of buspirone. In this retrospective study, we review 179 patients prescribed buspirone for treatment of behavioral disturbance in dementia to better characterize the efficacy and potential side effects. All patients prescribed buspirone for behavioral disturbance due to dementia from a geropsychiatric outreach program were reviewed. Data was collected and analyzed using SPSS. One hundred-seventy-nine patients met criteria for the study with a mean age of 83.8 + …

Systematic Analysis Of Whole Exome Sequencing Determines Ret G691s Polymorphism As Germline Variant In Melanoma, Brent J. Smith Jr, Jennifer D. Hintzsche, Carol M. Amato, Aik-Choon Tan, Keith R. Wells, Allison J. Applegate, Rita T. Gonzalez, Jodie R. Barr, William A. Robinson

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Abstract

The RET proto-oncogene encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase that is activated by glial cell derived neutrotrophic factor (GDNF). Previous studies have found that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), RETp (G691S), in the juxtamembrane domain enhances the signaling pathway and promotes tumor growth by GDNF in pancreatic and thyroid cancer in addition to melanoma. It is uncertain however whether this SNP is a germline variant or somatic mutation. A prior study reported that the RETp variant was a germline SNP in desmoplastic and non-desmoplastic melanomas. In the present study, we examined both melanoma tissue samples and matching peripheral blood DNA …

Hpv Vaccination Among Females With Mental And Physical Limitation, Melissa Rowe, Audra L. Pritt, Amanda J. Stratton, Jennie L. Yoost

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Introduction

Adolescent HPV vaccination rates lag behind other vaccinations, partly due to missed opportunities for vaccination and lack of provider recommendation. This study evaluated the rates of HPV vaccination among adolescents with physical and mental limitation and controls, and evaluated differences in parental knowledge and reasons for nonvaccination between groups.

Materials and Methods

A retrospective chart review was performed on female patients age 12-18 presenting to pediatric or gynecology clinics in 2012. Those subjects with a diagnosis of mental or physical limitation were classified as “affected”. HPV vaccination rates were compared between affected and control groups. Parents of affected subjects …

Angiosarcoma Of The Lower Extremity Presenting As Bilateral Pneumothoraces, Mark H. Cooper

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Abstract

Spontaneous pneumothorax usually presents as unilateral disease. Bilateral spontaneous pneumothoraces are less common and are more likely to be secondary than primary. We describe a case of bilateral spontaneous pneumothoraces that were resistant to conventional treatment, and found ultimately to be secondary to angiosarcoma of the lower extremity. A previously well 49 year old white female was referred to our institution in London with bilateral pneumothoraces. A left video assisted thoracoscopic procedure was undertaken, and the wedge resection of the lung specimen contained an area of metastatic tumor. Talc was placed into the left pleural cavity; talc was also …

Dislodging Anchored Diagnoses: An Unusual Presentation Of Acute Appendicitis, Talal Asif, Ravali Gummi, Zara Wadood, Kristy E. Steigerwalt, Rebecca R. Pauly

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Cognitive errors are the most common cause of diagnostic errors in the process of clinical decision making. Recently, there has been an immense focus on the new science of error prevention in health care. Anchored thinking or heuristics is a form of cognitive error that portrays shortcuts or abbreviated thinking in the light of diagnostic uncertainty. The risk is of comfort in a typical scenario and not being able to adapt to a new situation. Here we present an intriguing case of acute appendicitis in a patient who was initially admitted and treated for hypothermia and alcohol withdrawal. As the …

Abms Board Certification: Improving Continuous Specialty Certification, Lois Margaret Nora

Marshall Journal of Medicine

For almost 100 years, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and its 24 Member Boards have been entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing the process by which physicians become Board Certified and continue their certification across their careers. Continuing certification provides a framework that helps physicians keep up to date with the myriad of medical advances, to continually improve, and to objectively demonstrate their commitment to maintaining knowledge and skills to the patients, families, and communities who depend upon them. A robust and rigorous certification system is important to the profession, to individual physicians, and to patients and other …

Cigarette Smoking And Cardio-Renal Events In Patients With Atherosclerotic Renal Artery Stenosis, Christopher A. Drummond, Pamela S. Brewster, Wencan He, Kaili Ren, Yanmei Xie, Katherine R. Tuttle, Steven T. Haller, Kenneth Jamerson, Lance D. Dworkin, Donald E. Cutlip, Timothy P. Murphy, Ralph B. D'Agostino Sr., William L. Henrich, Jiang Tian, Joseph I. Shapiro Md, Christopher J. Cooper

Biochemistry and Microbiology

Cigarette smoking causes cardiovascular disease and is associated with poor kidney function in individuals with diabetes mellitus and primary kidney diseases. However, the association of smoking on patients with atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis has not been studied. The current study utilized data from the Cardiovascular Outcomes in Renal Atherosclerotic Lesions (CORAL, NCT00081731) clinical trial to evaluate the effects of smoking on the risk of cardio-renal events and kidney function in this population. Baseline data showed that smokers (n = 277 out of 931) were significantly younger at enrollment than non-smokers (63.3±9.1 years vs 72.4±7.8 years; p<0.001). In addition, patients who smoke were also more likely to have bilateral renal artery stenoses and peripheral vascular disease (PVD). Longitudinal analysis showed that smokers experienced composite endpoint events (defined as first occurrence of: stroke; cardiovascular or renal death; myocardial infarction; hospitalization for congestive heart failure; permanent renal replacement; and progressive renal insufficiency defined as 30% reduction of GFR from baseline sustained for ≥ 60 days) at a substantially younger age compared to non-smokers (67.1±9.0 versus 76.1±7.9, p<0.001). Using linear regression and generalized linear modeling analysis controlled by age, sex, and ethnicity, smokers had significantly higher cystatin C levels (1.3±0.7 vs 1.2±0.9, p<0.01) whereas creatinine and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were not different from non-smokers. From these data we conclude that smoking has a significant association with deleterious cardio-renal outcomes in patients with renovascular hypertension.

Charles A. Hoffman, M.D.: Physician, Leader, Humanist, Lawrence M. Wyner M.D.

Surgery

Physician role models are as important for the seasoned practitioner as they are for the recent medical school graduate. To this end, the life and career of Charles "Carl" A. Hoffman, M.D. (Fig. 1), American Urological Association (AUA) President 1967-1968, are legion. Dr. Hoffman had humble origins in the southern Ohio industrial town of Ironton. Born in 1904, he lost both parents before the age of 10 years, and was taken in by relatives. To help support his extended family, he got an after-school job at a local pharmacy (Fig. 2a), running errands and delivering prescriptions. The sight of people …

Prospect Of The Use Of Checkpoint Inhibitors In Hepatocellular Cancer Treatments, Ali Raufi

Internal Medicine

Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is a very fatal disease due to limited therapeutic options as well as due to its association with underlying chronic liver disease in the majority of cases. The immune evasion in HCC signifies a major barrier to the delivery of effective immunotherapy. Sorafenib is the only Food and Drug Administration-approved drug available with an overall response rate of 2%–3% and overall survival of 2.8 months. Chemotherapy has not been used routinely because of the relative refractoriness of advanced HCC. The introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors (cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4, programmed death 1, and programmed death-ligand 1) has …