Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Medical Therapies For Motor Symptoms In Parkinson’S Disease, Conrad Musey, Vikram Shivkumar

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Parkinson’s Disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder in the aging population. It is associated with progressive loss of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons. Parkinsonism is a clinical syndrome that consists of motor and non-motor symptoms. It has been well described that many if not all of these deficits are associated with abnormalities related to the neurotransmitter Dopamine. This review is intended for primary care physicians who often establish the diagnosis and initiate Parkinson’s treatments. One challenge faced by the primary care physician is to decide the appropriate medication and starting dose. Often medications are used at very low doses or …

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 …

Recognition And Treatment Of Atrial Fibrillation Caused By Accessory Pathway In A Middle Age Patient., Abdelrahman M. Aljadi, Esam Baryun

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Atrial fibrillation (AF) management is every day healthcare practice at the emergency department, in-patient setting, and out-patient setting. It is a priority to identify and treat reversible causes of AF before committing the patient to an unnecessary lifelong medical regimen that may include antiarrhythmics and anticoagulants. We report a case of middle age patient with recurrent episodes of AF triggered by a concealed accessory pathway, he was on Rivaroxaban and Sotalol for years, then later successfully treated with catheter ablation of the accessory pathway. A 48 years old white Caucasian male with history of recurrent episodes of AF, he was …

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 …

Massive Inguinoscrotal Bladder Herniation With Calculi, And Bladder Outlet Obstruction, Stanley Zaslau

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Scrotal herniation of the bladder is a rare event and can be associated with bladder outlet obstruction, bladder infarction and renal impairment. This condition is also associated with a significant mortality rate. We present a case report of extensive scrotal cystocele involving 90% of the bladder in which the diagnosis was suggested by KUB, pelvic ultrasound, and pelvic CT imaging showing distorted bladder anatomy and the presence of several large bladder calculi.

Opioid Epidemic-- Is There An End In Sight?, Sean Loudin, Mehiar El-Hamdani, Mohammed Ranavaya

Marshall Journal of Medicine

No abstract provided.

Two Years Of Triumph: Bringing Rural Healthcare To A Global Audience, Darshana T. Shah

Marshall Journal of Medicine

No abstract provided.

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 …

Anomalous Origin Of The Coronary Arteries-Review Article., Abdelrahman M. Aljadi, Shaheed Elhamdani, Majd Kanbour, Mehiar El-Hamdani

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Anomalous origin of the coronary arteries is rare in clinical practice. Different anomalies have different clinical or symptomatic manifestations depending on the patient’s age. However, the majority of coronary artery origin anomalies are silent and are only discovered incidentally during Left Heart Catheterization (LHC). Acute Myocardial Infarction (MI) or even sudden death may occur in patients with an anomalous origin of the Left Main (LM) coronary artery from the right coronary cusp with a subsequent course between the aorta and the pulmonary artery. Therefore, recognition of anomalous origin of the coronary arteries is essential for clinical practice to further classify …

Optimizing Heart Failure Outcomes Through Diet: A Review, Farley B. Neasman Iii

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Heart failure is a growing epidemic that will add significant monetary and human costs to an already overtaxed health-care system. Though promising new medications have recently been approved, this complex condition is largely preventable through aggressive risk factor modification, with diet being shown to have a greater effect than exercise. An underrated component of a healthy diet is the simple addition of nuts – the anti-inflammatory fatty acids, healthy proteins, and general availability have been shown to improve survival and reduce the primary risk factors contributing to heart failure, making the addition of nuts and legumes to the diet an …

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). …

Physician, Heal Thy Community, Clay B. Marsh Md

Marshall Journal of Medicine

What if the opioid epidemic and the chronic health problems we encounter in West Virginia and beyond are a symptom of a deeper problem? How can we create healthcare to address the root issues here, and then spread these solutions globally?

Open Access Publishing: Pros, Cons, And Current Threats, Darshana T. Shah

Marshall Journal of Medicine

No abstract provided.

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 …

How Safe Is Healthcare? Perceptions Within The Healthcare Community And The General Public., Rodhan A. Khthir, Shahed Elhamdani, Ibrahim Hatab, Felyn Espina, Gerry Asuncion, Sutoidem Akpanudo

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Objectives: Complexity of health care is progressively increasing and with that the number of medical errors and adverse events are increasing to an alarming level. The purpose of this study is to assess the perception of healthcare safety within the healthcare community and the general public and examine the association between the perception regarding healthcare safety and the prior exposure to medical errors.

Methods: The study is a cross-sectional online survey. The online survey included basic demographics and a series of questions related to the knowledge and perception about healthcare safety and personal healthcare experience.

Results: 504 respondent …

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 …

Promoting Reproductive Health Using Telemedicine: A Prospective Study Among Rural Appalachian High School Teens, Raj Singh, Mohit Harsh, Keegan Mullins, Brian Dunlap, Jennie L. Yoost

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Introduction:

Telemedicine allows rural underserved populations access to medical resources that may not be available in their communities. Following promising results with a telemedicine project aimed at educating female students in McDowell County, West Virginia on reproductive health (RH) in 2015, we conducted a follow-up study including both male and female high school students during the 2016 school year.

Materials and Methods:

Telemedicine sessions on RH were incorporated into existing afterschool programs at two rural high schools. Students’ knowledge on RH was assessed via pre-test, immediate post-test, and 6-month post-test evaluations. RH was taught by medical students and faculty at …

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 …

An Unusual Pulmonary Complication Of Statin Medication, Milliejoan Mongalo, Madhvi Shah, Lynne J. Goebel

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Statins or hydroxyl-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors have proven efficacy at decreasing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Although statins have been prescribed safely, there should be more awareness of the possible adverse effects. Recently, we encountered a patient who had unexplained dyspnea, weakness, and immobility. The patient’s symptoms were alleviated after discontinuing the statin medication. Although we have no concrete evidence that her symptoms were due to the medication, the temporal relationship of symptom improvement upon discontinuation of the statin, led us to the conclusion that it could potentially have been the cause. Unexplained dyspnea is not listed as an …