Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Racial And Socioeconomic Disparities In Healthcare- And Community-Associated Clostridium Difficile Infection: A Rapid Review, Rutvin Kyada, Amy Leader, Drph, Mph, Rosemary Frasso, Phd, Cph

Master of Public Health Capstone Presentations

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States and has been termed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an “urgent threat” in antimicrobial resistance. Traditionally a major healthcare-associated infection, CDIs have become increasingly common in community settings as well. As usage of healthcare services and certain medications are common risk factors for CDI, an individual’s access to such services can impact the CDI burden they experience. Identifying and addressing such disparities is crucial for an equitable healthcare system, but there is a general dearth of literature reviewing sociodemographic disparities …

A Silent Fatal Presentation Of Pulmonary Embolism: Reflection And Discussion., Qian Zhang, Zain U. Abideen, Khine S. Shan, Thomas Yoon, Muhammad Farooq

Abington Jefferson Health Papers

Acute pulmonary embolism is a common medical condition that clinicians face in practice. It is important to have a prompt diagnosis with proper management as it is associated with high morbidity and mortality. However, a timely diagnosis is often difficult to obtain especially when the presenting symptoms are atypical, but the consequence could be fatal. We present an 80-year-old gentleman who presented with a near-syncope episode who subsequently was found to have acute extensive bilateral pulmonary embolisms after a code blue event.

Mobilizing Toxins For Cancer Treatment: Historical Perspectives And Current Strategies., Jessica Kopenhaver, Robert D Carlson, Adam E Snook

Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Faculty Papers

The level of complexity in a disease like cancer presents a number of challenges for effective treatment development, which require significant innovation to overcome [...].

Vitamin A And Fish Oils For Preventing The Progression Of Retinitis Pigmentosa., Stephen G. Schwartz, Xue Wang, Pamela Chavis, Ajay E. Kuriyan, Samuel A. Abariga

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

BACKGROUND: Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) comprises a group of hereditary eye diseases characterized by progressive degeneration of retinal photoreceptors. It results in severe visual loss that may lead to blindness. Symptoms may become manifest during childhood or adulthood which include poor night vision (nyctalopia) and constriction of peripheral vision (visual field loss). Visual field loss is progressive and affects central vision later in the disease course. The worldwide prevalence of RP is approximately 1 in 4000, with 100,000 individuals affected in the USA. At this time, there is no proven therapy for RP.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review was to …

Acute Opioid Withdrawal Mimicking Postoperative Joint Infection Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament (Acl) Reconstruction: A Case Report., Qingwu Kong, Martin Griffis, Brandon J Shallop, Amrit S Khalsa, Kyle Brougham, Paul A Marchetto

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND A short course of opioid narcotics is often prescribed for postoperative anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction pain management. Unfortunately, there is a well-documented incidence of opioid withdrawal syndrome (OWS) following short-term use of these medications. OWS can present with symptoms such as influenza-like illness. It is important to differentiate OWS from infectious illnesses, especially after surgery. CASE REPORT We present a case of OWS in a patient who underwent ACL reconstruction 7 days prior. The patient's OWS symptoms were similar to symptoms of a postoperative infection. The knee was aspirated, and the analysis of the aspirate was not concerning …

A Mysterious Paratracheal Mass: Pulmonary Agenesis., Qian Zhang, Khine S. Shan

Abington Jefferson Health Papers

A 35-year-old lady with a history of possible tuberculosis infection 15 years ago presented to the clinic with the chief complaint of cough. Incidental chest CT showed a right paratracheal and medial right apical heterogeneous soft tissue mass with central areas of calcification that warranted further investigation. A routine endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) discovered isolated lobar pulmonary agenesis as the underlying cause of the mass without findings of malignancy on pathology reports.

The Effect Of Critical Shoulder Angle On Functional Compensation In The Setting Of Cuff Tear Arthropathy., Jeffrey Lu, Manan Patel, Joseph A. Abboud, John G. Horneff

Rothman Institute Papers

Introduction: Critical shoulder angle (CSA) has been shown to influence rates of rotator cuff tears and glenohumeral arthritis with a larger CSA associated with rotator cuff tears and a smaller CSA associated with glenohumeral arthritis. There has been no study to determine whether such radiographic measurement influences the function of patients with demonstrated cuff tear arthropathy (CTA). The purpose of this study was to examine whether smaller CSAs were associated with greater range of motion (ROM) in patients diagnosed with CTA.

Materials and methods: Ninety-three patients with a diagnosis of CTA with adequate anteroposterior shoulder radiographs were included in the …

Cost-Effectiveness And Diagnostic Accuracy Of Telemedicine In Macular Disease And Diabetic Retinopathy: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis., Waqas Ullah, Sana Khan Pathan, Ankur Panchal, Swapna Anandan, Kaiser Saleem, Yasar Sattar, Ejaz Ahmad, Maryam Mukhtar, Haq Nawaz

Abington Jefferson Health Papers

OBJECTIVE: To determine cost-effectiveness and the diagnostic accuracy of teleophthalmology (TO) in the detection of macular edema (ME) and various grades of diabetic retinopathy (DR).

METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases were searched for TO, ME, and DR on May 25, 2016. The search was updated on April 2, 2019. Pooled sensitivity and specificity for ME and various grades of DR were determined using Meta-Disc software. A systematic review of the articles discussing the cost-effectiveness of TO screening was also performed.

RESULTS: Thirty-three articles on the diagnostic accuracy and 28 articles on the cost-effectiveness were selected.

CONCLUSIONS: Telescreening is moderately …

Black Patients Referred To A Lung Cancer Screening Program Experience Lower Rates Of Screening And Longer Time To Follow-Up., Michael Lake, Md, Christine S Shusted, Hee-Soon Juon, Russell K Mcintire, Charnita Zeigler-Johnson, Nathaniel R Evans, Gregory C Kane, Julie A Barta

Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Racial disparities are well-documented in preventive cancer care, but they have not been fully explored in the context of lung cancer screening. We sought to explore racial differences in lung cancer screening outcomes within a lung cancer screening program (LCSP) at our urban academic medical center including differences in baseline low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) results, time to follow-up, adherence, as well as return to annual screening after additional imaging, loss to follow-up, and cancer diagnoses in patients with positive baseline scans.

METHODS: A historical cohort study of patients referred to our LCSP was conducted to extract demographic and clinical …

Covid-19 Medical Papers Have Fewer Women First Authors Than Expected., Jens Peter Andersen, Mathias Wullum Nielsen, Nicole L Simone, Resa E Lewiss, Reshma Jagsi

Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty Papers

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in school closures and distancing requirements that have disrupted both work and family life for many. Concerns exist that these disruptions caused by the pandemic may not have influenced men and women researchers equally. Many medical journals have published papers on the pandemic, which were generated by researchers facing the challenges of these disruptions. Here we report the results of an analysis that compared the gender distribution of authors on 1893 medical papers related to the pandemic with that on papers published in the same journals in 2019, for papers with first authors and last …

Brugada Syndrome Unmasked By Fever: A Comprehensive Review Of Literature, Sohaib S. Roomi, Waqas Ullah, Hassan Abbas, Hafez Abdullah, Usama Talib, Vincent Figueredod

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

Background: The Brugada pattern is identified on the EKG by a coved ST-segment elevation accompanied by a negative T wave in the early precordial leads in the absence of a cardiac structural abnormality. Brugada pattern and Brugada syndrome should be differentiated, as the latter is associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death.

Methods: The literature was searched using multiple databases to identify all the articles on Brugada pattern. Data were screened and analyzed by independent authors.

Results: Sixty articles, comprising 71 patients, were included in the study. The mean age of patients was 42.6 years, with a higher …

Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy: A Rare Complication Of Acute Viral Gastroenteritis, Ammar Ashfaq, Waqas Ullah, Shristi Khanal, Muhammad Abdullah Zain, Nishanth Thalambedua, Faisal Inayat, Muhammad Umair Atiq

Division of Internal Medicine Faculty Papers & Presentations

Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy (TCM) is characterized by a transient but reversible ventricular dysfunction in post-menopausal females following, but not always, a recent emotional or physical stress. Typically, chest pain is reported as a presenting symptom in the majority of patients. The severe diarrheal illness secondary to acute viral gastroenteritis is not commonly reported as the stressor event prior to TCM. We report a unique case of a middle-aged male presented with syncope shortly after loose bowel movements. He was diagnosed with TCM and was successfully managed with supportive care. The purpose of this case is to make clinicians aware of this …

The Rice Pentatricopeptide Repeat Protein Ppr756 Is Involved In Pollen Development By Affecting Multiple Rna Editing In Mitochondria., Qiannan Zhang, Yanghong Xu, Jishuai Huang, Kai Zhang, Haijun Xiao, Xiaojian Qin, Linlin Zhu, Yingguo Zhu, Jun Hu

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

In land plants, the pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins form a large family involved in post-transcriptional processing of RNA in mitochondria and chloroplasts, which is critical for plant development and evolutionary adaption. Although studies showed a number of PPR proteins generally influence the editing of organellar genes, few of them were characterized in detail in rice. Here, we report a PLS-E subclass PPR protein in rice, PPR756, loss of function of which led to the abolishment of RNA editing events among three mitochondrial genes including

Natural Disasters In The Americas, Dialysis Patients, And Implications For Emergency Planning: A Systematic Review, Rashida Smith, Mph, Robert Zucker, Rosemary Frasso, Phd, Cph

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

INTRODUCTION: Natural hazards are elements of the physical environment caused by forces extraneous to human intervention and may be harmful to human beings. Natural hazards, such as weather events, can lead to natural disasters, which are serious societal disruptions that can disrupt dialysis provision, a life-threatening event for dialysis-dependent people. The adverse outcomes associated with missed dialysis sessions are likely exacerbated in island settings, where health care resources and emergency procedures are limited. The effect of natural disasters on dialysis patients living in geographically vulnerable areas such as the Cayman Islands is largely understudied. To inform predisaster interventions, we systematically …

An Exceedingly Rare Presentation Of Severe Folate Deficiency-Induced Non-Immune Hemolytic Anemia., Qian Zhang, Khine S. Shan, Babatunde A. Ogunnaike, Atsoufi Amewuame-Kpehor, Travis Nace

Abington Jefferson Health Papers

Macrocytic anemia is usually associated with vitamin B12 or folate deficiency. However, folate deficiency was rarely reported as a cause of hemolytic anemia. We present a case of a young man with a history of alcohol abuse who initially presented with an acute on chronic abdominal pain and was found to have jaundice and scleral icterus. His liver enzymes were unremarkable, and his abdominal imaging did not reveal any acute pathology. However, he was found to have a severe non-immune hemolytic anemia secondary to folate deficiency.

Today's Cigarette And E-Cigarette Landscape, Richard C. Wender, Md

Department of Family & Community Medicine Presentations and Grand Rounds

E-cigarettes are one of the most difficult and complex public health issues most of us have confronted.

Most anti-tobacco experts and advocates line up on a spectrum from embracing e-cigarettes as a promising way to reduce the harm of tobacco products all the way to being the greatest threat to progress in our 60 year war on big tobacco.

Journal Club, Zeynep Uzumcu, Md

Department of Family & Community Medicine Presentations and Grand Rounds

Outline

• Review coronavirus life-cycle
• Review mechanism of action of remdesivir
• Review previous research on remdesivir
• Close reading of article - Methods - Results - Discussion
• Future research
• Implications for our practice

Breast Cancer Treatment: Basics For The Primary Care Provider, Sarah Hirsh, Md

Department of Family & Community Medicine Presentations and Grand Rounds

Learning Objectives

1. To review the prevalence of breast cancer and the mortality rate of breast cancer in the United States.
2. To understand breast cancer staging and its role in prognostication.
3. To understand the therapies offered for the treatment of non-metastatic, invasive breast cancer and their side effects.
4. To review the role of the PCP in caring for patients undergoing treatment for breast cancer and those in remission.

Pneumocephalus And Facial Droop On An Airplane: A Case Report, Irina Sanjeevan-Cabeza, Morgan Oakland

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

Introduction: Pneumocephalus (PNC) is most commonly associated with trauma or intracranial surgery, less commonly secondary to an infectious source, and is rarely caused by barotrauma.

Case report: A 32-year-old woman presented to the emergency department with complaint of resolved left-sided facial droop and a lingering paresthesia of her left upper extremity after a cross-country flight. Computed tomography demonstrated several foci of air in the subdural space consistent with PNC.

Conclusion: For PNC to occur there must be a persistent negative intracranial pressure gradient, with or without an extracranial pressure change. In this case the pressure change occurred due to cabin …

Innervation: The Missing Link For Biofabricated Tissues And Organs, Suradip Das, Wisberty J. Gordián-Vélez, Harry C. Ledebur, Foteini Mourkiot, Panteleimon Rompolas, H. . Isaac Chen, Mijail D. Serruya, D. Kacy Cullen

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

Innervation plays a pivotal role as a driver of tissue and organ development as well as a means for their functional control and modulation. Therefore, innervation should be carefully considered throughout the process of biofabrication of engineered tissues and organs. Unfortunately, innervation has generally been overlooked in most non-neural tissue engineering applications, in part due to the intrinsic complexity of building organs containing heterogeneous native cell types and structures. To achieve proper innervation of engineered tissues and organs, specific host axon populations typically need to be precisely driven to appropriate location(s) within the construct, often over long distances. As such, …

Zooming-Out Covid-19: Virtual Clinical Experiences In An Emergency Medicine Clerkship., Shruti Chandra, Chaiya Laoteppitaks, Nina Mingioni, Dimitrios Papanagnou

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

In the setting of the novel 2019 coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic, it has been challenging to provide medical students in the Emergency Medicine (EM) clerkship meaningful clinical experiences that would meet clinical course goals and objectives, as well as satisfy Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME) requirements. During the EM clerkship, students play an integral role in interviewing patients, formulating treatment plans, facilitating patient discharges, and counseling patients. Immediately available direct and indirect supervision are paramount to ensure student learning and safe patient care. The authors present a novel clinical educational experience for senior medical students in an EM clerkship that …

Differences In Brain Activity Patterns During Creative Idea Generation Between Eminent And Non-Eminent Thinkers, Evangelia G Chrysikou, Constanza Jacial, David B Yaden, Wessel Van Dam, Scott Barry Kaufman, Chris Conklin, Nancy Wintering, Rebecca E Abraham, Rex E Jung, Andrew B. Newberg

Marcus Institute of Integrative Health Faculty Papers

An influential model of the neural mechanisms of creative thought suggests that creativity is manifested in the joint contributions of the Default Mode Network (DMN; a set of regions in the medial PFC, lateral and medial parietal cortex, and the medial temporal lobes) and the executive networks within the dorsolateral PFC. Several empirical reports have offered support for this model by showing that complex interactions between these brain systems account for individual differences in creative performance. The present study examined whether the engagement of these regions in idea generation is modulated by one's eminence in a creativity-related field. Twenty (n …

Efficacy Of Allopurinol In Cardiovascular Diseases: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Waqas Ullah, Shristi Khanal, Rozi Khan, Bikash Basyal, Samavia Munir, Artem Minalyan, M. Chadi Alraies, David L. Fischman

Abington Jefferson Health Papers

Background: Given current evidence, the use of allopurinol for the prevention of major cardiovascular events (acute cardiovascular syn-drome (ACS) or cardiovascular mortality) in patients undergoing cor-onary artery bypass graft (CABG), after index ACS or heart failure remains unknown.

Methods: Multiple databases were queried to identify studies com-paring the efficacy of allopurinol in patients undergoing CABG, after ACS or heart failure. The unadjusted odds ratio (OR) was calculated using a random effect model.

Results: A total of nine studies comprising 850 patients (allopurinol 480, control 370) were identified. The pooled OR of periprocedural ACS (OR: 0.25, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.06 …

Posterior Cortical Atrophy: Characteristics From A Clinical Data Registry., Jennifer J Olds, William L Hills, Judith Warner, Julie Falardeau, Lori Haase Alasantro, Mark L Moster, Robert A Egan, Wayne T Cornblath, Andrew G Lee, Benjamin M Frishberg, Roger E Turbin, David M Katz, John A Charley, Victoria S Pelak

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Telemedicine For The Spine Surgeon In The Age Of Covid-19: Multicenter Experiences Of Feasibility And Implementation Strategies., Daniel Franco, Thiago Montenegro, Glenn A Gonzalez, Kevin Hines, Aria Mahtabfar, Melvin D Helgeson, Rakesh Patel, James Harrop

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

STUDY DESIGN: Multicenter study.

OBJECTIVES: The COVID-19 pandemic has obligated physicians to recur to additional resources and make drastic changes regarding the standard physician-patient encounter. In the last century, there has been a substantial improvement in technology, which over the years has opened the door to a new form of medical practicing known as telemedicine.

METHODS: Healthcare workers from three hospitals involved in the care for COVID-19 patients in the united states were invited to share their experience using telemedicine to deliver clinical care to their patients.

RESULTS: Since the appearance of this worldwide outbreak, social distancing has been a …

Does Empathy Decline In The Clinical Phase Of Medical Education? A Nationwide, Multi-Institutional, Cross-Sectional Study Of Students At Do-Granting Medical Schools, Mohammadreza Hojat, Stephen C. Shannon, Jennifer Desantis, Mark R. Speicher, Lynn Bragan, Leonard H. Calabrese

CRMEHC Faculty Papers

PURPOSE: To examine differences in students' empathy in different years of medical school in a nationwide study of students of U.S. DO-granting medical schools.

METHOD: Participants in this cross-sectional study included 10,751 students enrolled in 41 of 48 campuses of DO-granting medical schools in the United States (3,616 first-year, 2,764 second-year, 2,413 third-year, and 1,958 fourth-year students). They completed a web-based survey at the end of the 2017-2018 academic year that included the Jefferson Scale of Empathy and the Infrequency Scale of the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire for measuring "good impression" response bias. Comparisons were made on empathy scores among students …

Artificial Intelligence-Powered Search Tools And Resources In The Fight Against Covid-19., Larry J Kricka, Sergei Polevikov, Jason Y Park, Paolo Fortina, Sergio Bernardini, Daniel Satchkov, Valentin Kolesov, Maxim Grishkov

Department of Cancer Biology Faculty Papers

Emerging technologies are set to play an important role in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper explores three prominent initiatives: COVID-19 focused datasets (e.g., CORD-19); Artificial intelligence-powered search tools (e.g., WellAI, SciSight); and contact tracing based on mobile communication technology. We believe that increasing awareness of these tools will be important in future research into the disease, COVID-19, and the virus, SARS-CoV-2.

Efficacy Of Social Cognitive Interventions On Improving Social Participation In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, T. Book, A. Ching, A. Pirilli, J. Salem, C. Taylor, S. Valverde, M. Ferraro, M. C. Potvin

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

Social cognitive training programs, developed primarily by mental health and educational professionals to teach social skills to children with ASD, may have the potential for implementation in the field of occupational therapy to support social participation among this population.

This current systematic review was conducted to examine the efficacy of social cognitive interventions to improve social participation in children with ASD

A Systematic Review Of The Efficacy Of Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (Cst) On Quality Of Life In Persons With Dementia, R. Babiarz, B. Haden, S. Karlin, J. Mark, A. Williams, M. Ferraro, M. C. Potvin

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

Quality of life (QoL) is an established outcome measure of patients with dementia and is strongly influenced by an individual's environment and mood. While there are many outcomes that can be examined with Cognitive stimulation therapy (CST) interventions, this systematic review focused on quality of life.

Efficacy Of Cognitive And Metacognitive Interventions On Executive Functioning Post Traumatic Brain Injury To Enhance Occupational Performance, C. Blaker, A. Curry, S. Dickerson, K. Johnson, M. Santangelo, A. Thomas Tasman, M. Ferraro, Marie-Christine Potvin

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

Cognitive rehabilitation (CR) is proposed as an effective intervention for individuals post Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), by addressing cognitive function through remediating skills and practicing new compensatory skills. While there is considerable research, including systematic reviews that explore cognitive interventions post TBI, more research is needed in which occupational performance is the primary outcome of cognitive intervention. This current systematic review aims to synthesize the current body of evidence available on how using CR techniques to address executive functioning impact occupational performance in individuals who sustained a mild or moderate TBI.