Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Driving Impairment In Movement Disorders, Karim Makhoul, Joseph Jankovic

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Driving may be adversely affected by any movement disorder, but has been mostly studied in Parkinson's disease (PD). Few studies have addressed driving impairment in patients with Huntington's disease (HD); driving in other movement disorders such as dystonia, blepharospasm and Tourette syndrome (TS) has not been adequately evaluated.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this review is to summarize the findings of driving impairment in movement disorders and evaluate the usefulness of clinical tools in guiding clinicians whether to refer patients for driving assessment.

METHODS: A review of literature was performed on PubMed and articles on driving and movement disorders were …

Glioma Epileptiform Activity And Progression Are Driven By Igsf3-Mediated Potassium Dysregulation, Rachel Naomi Curry, Isamu Aiba, Jochen Meyer, Brittney Lozzi, Yeunjung Ko, Malcolm Ford Mcdonald, Anna Rosenbaum, Alexis Cervantes, Emmet Huang-Hobbs, Carolina Cocito, Jeffrey Peter Greenfield, Ali Jalali, Jay Gavvala, Carrie Mohila, Akdes Serin Harmanci, Jeffrey Noebels, Ganesh Rao, Benjamin Deneen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Seizures are a frequent pathophysiological feature of malignant glioma. Recent studies implicate peritumoral synaptic dysregulation as a driver of brain hyperactivity and tumor progression; however, the molecular mechanisms that govern these phenomena remain elusive. Using scRNA-seq and intraoperative patient ECoG recordings, we show that tumors from seizure patients are enriched for gene signatures regulating synapse formation. Employing a human-to-mouse in vivo functionalization pipeline to screen these genes, we identify IGSF3 as a mediator of glioma progression and dysregulated neural circuitry that manifests as spreading depolarization (SD). Mechanistically, we discover that IGSF3 interacts with Kir4.1 to suppress potassium buffering and found …

A Tripartite View Of The Posterior Cingulate Cortex, Brett L Foster, Seth R Koslov, Lyndsey Aponik-Gremillion, Megan E Monko, Benjamin Y Hayden, Sarah R Heilbronner

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) is one of the least understood regions of the cerebral cortex. By contrast, the anterior cingulate cortex has been the subject of intensive investigation in humans and model animal systems, leading to detailed behavioural and computational theoretical accounts of its function. The time is right for similar progress to be made in the PCC given its unique anatomical and physiological properties and demonstrably important contributions to higher cognitive functions and brain diseases. Here, we describe recent progress in understanding the PCC, with a focus on convergent findings across species and techniques that lay a foundation …

Anterior Spinal Artery Syndrome Following Splanchnic Nerve Cryoablation For Oncological Pain: A Case Report, Marissa Catalanatto, Christian Vangeison, Joseph Roys, Dominic Salvatore Iii, Emanuel Narcis Husu, Donna Huang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Anterior spinal artery syndrome is a diagnosis associated with high morbidity, mortality, and long-term disability. It is a known complication following conventional celiac plexus and splanchnic nerve blocks. The popularity of minimally invasive pain procedures is growing, especially in the domain of oncology, and the interventions are being performed by specialists with varying backgrounds. Complications such as anterior spinal artery syndrome need to be at the forefront of specialists' minds whenever there is manipulation of the celiac plexus or splanchnic nerves. These structures play an integral role in maintaining circulatory perfusion. The earlier hypoperfusion is suspected or confirmed, the …

Sinus Node Dysfunction: Current Understanding And Future Directions, Pavan Manoj, Jitae A Kim, Stephanie Kim, Tingting Li, Maham Sewani, Mihail G Chelu, Na Li

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The sinoatrial node (SAN) is the primary pacemaker of the heart. Normal SAN function is crucial in maintaining proper cardiac rhythm and contraction. Sinus node dysfunction (SND) is due to abnormalities within the SAN, which can affect the heartbeat frequency, regularity, and the propagation of electrical pulses through the cardiac conduction system. As a result, SND often increases the risk of cardiac arrhythmias. SND is most commonly seen as a disease of the elderly given the role of degenerative fibrosis as well as other age-dependent changes in its pathogenesis. Despite the prevalence of SND, current treatment is limited to pacemaker …

Identification And Management Of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk In South Asian Populations In The Us, Anandita Agarwala, Priyanka Satish, Mahmoud Al Rifai, Anurag Mehta, Miguel Cainzos-Achirica, Nilay S Shah, Alka M Kanaya, Garima V Sharma, Dave L Dixon, Roger S Blumenthal, Pradeep Natarajan, Khurram Nasir, Salim S Virani, Jaideep Patel

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

South Asians (SAs, individuals with ancestry from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) are among the fastest growing ethnic subgroups in the United States. SAs typically experience a high prevalence of diabetes, abdominal obesity, and hypertension, among other cardiovascular disease risk factors, which are often under recognized and undermanaged. The excess coronary heart disease risk in this growing population must be critically assessed and managed with culturally appropriate preventive services. Accordingly, this scientific document prepared by a multidisciplinary group of clinicians and investigators in cardiology, internal medicine, pharmacy, and SA-centric researchers describes key characteristics of traditional and …

Aspirin With Or Without Statin In Individuals Without Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Across Risk Categories, Safi U Khan, Ahmad N Lone, Neal S Kleiman, Adeel Arshad, Vardhmaan Jain, Mahmoud Al Rifai, Hassaan B Arshad, Sourbha S Dani, Amit Khera, Pamela B Morris, Vera Bittner, Khurram Nasir, Salim S Virani

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: The effects of aspirin in adults without atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), stratified by statin use across different ASCVD risks, remain uncertain.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of aspirin in adults without ASCVD, stratified by statin use across different ASCVD risks.

Methods: We searched databases through March 2022 and selected randomized controlled trials of aspirin without ASCVD and follow-up of ≥1 year. We used random-effects models and estimated relative and absolute risks for cardiovascular outcomes, major bleeding, and mortality over 5 years. We calculated absolute risk differences assuming constant relative risks (RRs) across statin …

B-Complex Vitamins For Patients With Tango2-Deficiency Disorder, Sarah E Sandkuhler, Lilei Zhang, Joshua K Meisner, Lina Ghaloul-Gonzalez, Cheyenne M Beach, David Harris, Pascale De Lonlay, Seema R Lalani, Christina Y Miyake, Samuel J Mackenzie

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Access To Clinically Indicated Genetic Tests For Pediatric Patients With Medicaid: Evidence From Outpatient Genetics Clinics In Texas, Haley Streff, Crescenda L Uhles, Heather Fisher, Rachel Franciskovich, Rebecca O Littlejohn, Amanda Gerard, Julianna Hudnall, Hadley Stevens Smith

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Purpose: Little is known about how Medicaid coverage policies affect access to genetic tests for pediatric patients. Building upon and extending a previous analysis of prior authorization requests (PARs), we describe expected coverage of genetic tests submitted to Texas Medicaid and the PAR and diagnostic outcomes of those tests.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed genetic tests ordered at 3 pediatric outpatient genetics clinics in Texas. We compared Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes with the Texas Medicaid fee-for-service schedule (FFSS) to determine whether tests were expected to be covered by Medicaid. We assessed completion and diagnostic yield of commonly ordered tests.

Results: …

Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Acute Care Utilization Among Patients With Glomerular Disease, Jill R Krissberg, Michelle M O'Shaughnessy, Abigail R Smith, Margaret E Helmuth, Salem Almaani, Diego H Aviles, Kaye E Brathwaite, Yi Cai, Daniel Cattran, Rasheed Gbadegesin, Dorey A Glenn, Larry A Greenbaum, Sandra Iragorri, Koyal Jain, Myda Khalid, Jason Kidd, Jeffrey Kopp, Richard Lafayette, Jerome C Lane, Francesca Lugani, Jordan G Nestor, Rulan S Parekh, Kimberly Reidy, David T Selewski, Christine B Sethna, C John Sperati, Katherine Tuttle, Katherine Twombley, Tetyana L Vasylyeva, Donald J Weaver, Scott E Wenderfer, Keisha Gibson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE: The effects of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), and disease severity on acute care utilization in patients with glomerular disease are unknown.

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort study.

SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: 1,456 adults and 768 children with biopsy-proven glomerular disease enrolled in the Cure Glomerulonephropathy (CureGN) cohort.

EXPOSURE: Race and ethnicity as a participant-reported social factor.

OUTCOME: Acute care utilization defined as hospitalizations or emergency department visits.

ANALYTICAL APPROACH: Multivariable recurrent event proportional rate models were used to estimate associations between race and ethnicity and acute care utilization.

RESULTS: Black or Hispanic participants had lower SES and more …

Association Of Rare Protein-Truncating Dna Variants In Apob Or Pcsk9 With Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Level And Risk Of Coronary Heart Disease, Jacqueline S Dron, Aniruddh P Patel, Yiyi Zhang, Sean J Jurgens, Dimitri J Maamari, Minxian Wang, Eric Boerwinkle, Alanna C Morrison, Paul S De Vries, Myriam Fornage, Lifang Hou, Donald M Lloyd-Jones, Bruce M Psaty, Russell P Tracy, Joshua C Bis, Ramachandran S Vasan, Daniel Levy, Nancy Heard-Costa, Stephen S Rich, Xiuqing Guo, Kent D Taylor, Richard A Gibbs, Jerome I Rotter, Cristen J Willer, Elizabeth C Oelsner, Andrew E Moran, Gina M Peloso, Pradeep Natarajan, Amit V Khera

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

IMPORTANCE: Protein-truncating variants (PTVs) in apolipoprotein B (APOB) and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) are associated with significantly lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentrations. The association of these PTVs with coronary heart disease (CHD) warrants further characterization in large, multiracial prospective cohort studies.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of PTVs in APOB and PCSK9 with LDL cholesterol concentrations and CHD risk.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This studied included participants from 5 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) studies and the UK Biobank. NHLBI study participants aged 5 to 84 years were recruited between 1971 and 2002 across the …

Developing A Parsimonious Frailty Index For Older, Multimorbid Adults With Heart Failure Using Machine Learning, Javad Razjouyan, Molly J Horstman, Ariela R Orkaby, Salim S Virani, Orna Intrator, Parag Goyal, Christopher I Amos, Aanand D Naik

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Frailty is associated with adverse outcomes in heart failure (HF). A parsimonious frailty index (FI) that predicts outcomes of older, multimorbid patients with HF could be a useful resource for clinicians. A retrospective study of veterans hospitalized from October 2015 to October 2018 with HF, aged ≥50 years, and discharged home developed a 10-item parsimonious FI using machine learning from diagnostic codes, laboratory results, vital signs, and ejection fraction (EF) from outpatient encounters. An unsupervised clustering technique identified 5 FI strata: severely frail, moderately frail, mildly frail, prefrail, and robust. We report hazard ratios (HRs) of mortality, adjusting for age, …

Trends In Up-To-Date Colorectal Cancer Screening Among Us Adults Aged 50-75 Years And Variations By Race/Ethnicity And Us Census Bureau Divisions, Itunu O Sokale, Omar Rosales, Jane R Montealegre, Abiodun O Oluyomi, Aaron P Thrift

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: Mortality rates from colorectal cancer have declined over the past decades owing to population-based life-saving screening interventions. However, screening inequalities continue among racial and ethnic minorities despite having a higher disease burden. In this study, we assessed the patterns of up-to-date colorectal cancer screening rates among racial/ethnic groups across the U.S. Census Bureau Divisions.

METHODS: This population-based cross-sectional study used weighted data from 4 cycles of the Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System (2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020) of adults aged 50‒75 years without a previous diagnosis of colorectal cancer. The primary outcome was guideline-recommended up-to-date colorectal cancer screening. We …

Prevalence And Predictors Of Using Antibiotics Without A Prescription In A Pediatric Population In The United States, Kiara Olmeda, Barbara W Trautner, Lindsey Laytner, Juanita Salinas, Stephanie Marton, Larissa Grigoryan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Non-prescription antibiotic use (using antibiotics without clinical guidance) increases the risk of the development of antibiotic resistance, adverse drug reactions, and other potential patient harm. Few studies have explored non-prescription use in children in the U.S. From January 2021 to April 2022, a diverse sample of caregivers of children under 18 years were surveyed in English and Spanish at two safety net clinics in Texas. We assessed the prevalence of antibiotic use in children in the previous 12 months, storage of antimicrobials, and intended use of non-prescription antibiotics (professed intention for future non-prescription antibiotic use). We also measured sociodemographic factors, …

Classifying Severe And Enduring Anorexia Nervosa: A Literature Review, Phoenix Black

University Honors Theses

Little focus is placed on the subsection of the eating disorder patient population who struggle chronically with their illness. This review synthesizes research on the topic to identify gaps in knowledge and reflect on implications for diagnosis and classification of severe and enduring anorexia nervosa. There was some variability between both clinicians and researchers who focused on this patient population, which is discussed based on different classifying criteria used to include or exclude an individual into the study. This review considers traditional methods used for classifying psychiatric diagnoses in relation to this disorder.

Sleep Duration, Hypnotic Drug Use, And Risk Factors: Cross- Sectional Study, Nazanin Jalali, Parvin Khalili, Zahra Jamali, Zahra Jalali, Amir Moghadam-Ahmadi, Alireza Vakilian, Fatemeh Ayoobi

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

Both short sleep duration (SSD) and long sleep duration (LSD) are associated with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Here, we aimed to assess the prevalence of sleep duration disturbances among adults in association with demographic, medication use, personal habits, and chronic diseases, while also considering the impact of hypnotic drug use. We performed a cross-sectional study of 9991 adult participants of the Rafsanjan Cohort Study (RCS), as part of the Prospective epidemiological research studies in Iran (PERSIAN). Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between short (< 6 h) and long (> 9 h) sleep duration with demographic and lifestyle …

Targeted Deletion Of Fgf9 In Tendon Disrupts Mineralization Of The Developing Enthesis, Elahe Ganji, Connor Leek, William Duncan, Debabrata Patra, David M Ornitz, Megan L Killian

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The enthesis is a transitional tissue between tendon and bone that matures postnatally. The development and maturation of the enthesis involve cellular processes likened to an arrested growth plate. In this study, we explored the role of fibroblast growth factor 9 (Fgf9), a known regulator of chondrogenesis and vascularization during bone development, on the structure and function of the postnatal enthesis. First, we confirmed spatial expression of Fgf9 in the tendon and enthesis using in situ hybridization. We then used Cre-lox recombinase to conditionally knockout Fgf9 in mouse tendon and enthesis (Scx-Cre) and characterized enthesis morphology as well as mechanical …

Case Report: Malignant Hypertension Associated With Catecholamine Excess In A Patient With Leigh Syndrome, Ana Solis, Joshua Shimony, Marwan Shinawi, Kevin T Barton

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Leigh syndrome is a progressive neurodegenerative mitochondrial disorder caused by multiple genetic etiologies with multisystemic involvement that mostly affecting the central nervous system with high rate of premature mortality.

CASE PRESENTATION: We present a 3-year, 10 month-old female patient with Leigh syndrome complicated by renal tubular acidosis, hypertension, gross motor delay, who presented with hypertensive emergency, persistent tachycardia, insomnia and irritability. Her previous genetic workup revealed a pathogenic variant in the MT-ND5 gene designated as m.13513G > A;p.Asp393Asn with a heteroplasmy of 69%. She presented acutely with malignant hypertension requiring intensive care unit admission. Her acute evaluation revealed elevated serum …

Aging And Obesity Prime The Methylome And Transcriptome Of Adipose Stem Cells For Disease And Dysfunction, Shaojun Xie, Sulbha Choudhari, Chia-Lung Wu, Karen Abramson, David Corcoran, Simon G Gregory, Jyothi Thimmapuram, Farshid Guilak, Dianne Little

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The epigenome of stem cells occupies a critical interface between genes and environment, serving to regulate expression through modification by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. We hypothesized that aging and obesity, which represent major risk factors for a variety of diseases, synergistically modify the epigenome of adult adipose stem cells (ASCs). Using integrated RNA- and targeted bisulfite-sequencing in murine ASCs from lean and obese mice at 5- and 12-months of age, we identified global DNA hypomethylation with either aging or obesity, and a synergistic effect of aging combined with obesity. The transcriptome of ASCs in lean mice was relatively stable to …

Effect Of Fecal Microbial Transplantation On Clostridioides Difficile Infection: Dysbiosis, Metabolites And Health Related Quality Of Life, Kevin W Garey, Paul Feuerstadt, Erik R Dubberke, Amy Guo, Glenn S Tillotson

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

Association Of Hospital Resource Utilization With Neurodevelopmental Outcomes In Neonates With Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy, Vilmaris Quinones Cardona, Rakesh Rao, Amy Distler, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Intercenter variation exists in the management of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). It is unclear whether increased resource utilization translates into improved neurodevelopmental outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if higher resource utilization during the first 4 days of age, quantified by hospital costs, is associated with survival without neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI) among infants with HIE.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Retrospective cohort analysis of neonates with HIE who underwent therapeutic hypothermia (TH) at US children's hospitals participating in the Children's Hospitals Neonatal Database between 2010 and 2016. Data were analyzed from December 2021 to December 2022.

EXPOSURES: Infants who survived to 4 days …

Aberrant Right Gastric Vein Mimicking Hepatic Spread Of Prostate Cancer On Psma-Pet/Ct, Genevieve C Muñoz, Tyler J Fraum

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Hepatic vasculature can exhibit a wide variety of variants, some of which may resemble pathologic findings. In this case, a 53-year-old man presenting for staging of biochemically recurrent prostatic adenocarcinoma was found to have focally increased prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) tracer uptake on positron emission tomography (PET) imaging in hepatic segment IV. This finding was initially concerning for hepatic metastasis of the patient's primary prostate adenocarcinoma. However, the area of radiotracer uptake was not associated with a discrete lesion on CT, and the geographic morphology of the uptake raised the possibility of a vascular etiology. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of …

Harmonization And Standardization Of Nucleus Pulposus Cell Extraction And Culture Methods, Shaghayegh Basatvat, Liufang Jing, Lori Setton, Xiaohong Tan, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: In vitro studies using nucleus pulposus (NP) cells are commonly used to investigate disc cell biology and pathogenesis, or to aid in the development of new therapies. However, lab-to-lab variability jeopardizes the much-needed progress in the field. Here, an international group of spine scientists collaborated to standardize extraction and expansion techniques for NP cells to reduce variability, improve comparability between labs and improve utilization of funding and resources.

METHODS: The most commonly applied methods for NP cell extraction, expansion, and re-differentiation were identified using a questionnaire to research groups worldwide. NP cell extraction methods from rat, rabbit, pig, dog, …

Clinical Outcomes After Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty In Patients 60 Years Old And Younger; Medium-Term Results, Aaron M Chamberlain, Alexander W Aleem, Julianne A Sefko, Karen Steger-May, Jay D Keener

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA) has been well-described as a surgical solution to manage rotator cuff tear arthropathy in elderly, low demand paitents. As experience has increased along with improvements in technique and implant design, RTSA has become increasingly used to manage more varied pathologic conditions of the shoulder in younger, more active patients. This study evaluates outcomes in a consecutive series of patients aged 60 years old and younger after undergoing RTSA.

METHODS: There were 94 shoulders in 89 patients enrolled. Mean age of the cohort was 54.8 (range 18-60 years). Surgical indications included rotator cuff tear arthropathy, …

Apolipoprotein M Attenuates Anthracycline Cardiotoxicity And Lysosomal Injury, Zhen Guo, Carla Valenzuela Ripoll, Antonino Picataggi, David R Rawnsley, Mualla Ozcan, Ezhilarasi Chendamarai, Amanda Girardi, Terrence Riehl, Hosannah Evie, Ahmed Diab, Attila Kovacs, Krzysztof Hyrc, Xiucui Ma, Lauren N Pedersen, Carmen Bergom, Nathan O Stitziel, Michael P Rettig, John F Dipersio, Abhinav Diwan, Ali Javaheri, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Apolipoprotein M (ApoM) binds sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) and is inversely associated with mortality in human heart failure (HF). Here, we show that anthracyclines such as doxorubicin (Dox) reduce circulating ApoM in mice and humans, that ApoM is inversely associated with mortality in patients with anthracycline-induced heart failure, and ApoM heterozygosity in mice increases Dox-induced mortality. In the setting of Dox stress, our studies suggest ApoM can help sustain myocardial autophagic flux in a post-transcriptional manner, attenuate Dox cardiotoxicity, and prevent lysosomal injury.

Computational Modeling Of The N-Back Task In The Abcd Study: Associations Of Drift Diffusion Model Parameters To Polygenic Scores Of Mental Disorders And Cardiometabolic Diseases, Mads L Pedersen, Dag Alnæs, Dennis Van Der Meer, Sara Fernandez-Cabello, Pierre Berthet, Andreas Dahl, Rikka Kjelkenes, Emanuel Schwarz, Wesley K Thompson, Deanna M Barch, Ole A Andreassen, Lars T Westlye

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Cognitive dysfunction is common in mental disorders and represents a potential risk factor in childhood. The nature and extent of associations between childhood cognitive function and polygenic risk for mental disorders is unclear. We applied computational modeling to gain insight into mechanistic processes underlying decision making and working memory in childhood and their associations with polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for mental disorders and comorbid cardiometabolic diseases.

METHODS: We used the drift diffusion model to infer latent computational processes underlying decision making and working memory during the n-back task in 3707 children ages 9 to 10 years from the Adolescent …

Definitive Treatment And Risk Of Death Among Men Diagnosed With Metastatic Prostate Cancer At The Veterans Health Administration, Bettina F Drake, Saira Khan, Mei Wang, Veronica Hicks, Kate Nichols, Meghan Taylor, Eric H Kim, Su-Hsin Chang

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: To assess the potential survival benefit associated with receipt of definitive treatment (radical prostatectomy or radiation), compared to non-definitive treatment (hormonal therapy or chemotherapy) among men with metastatic prostate cancer.

METHODS: A cohort of men diagnosed with metastatic (T4/M1/N1 or T4/M1) prostate cancer from 1999 to 2013 in the Veterans Health Administration were identified and followed to December 28, 2014. All-cause and prostate cancer-specific mortality were evaluated at 10 years for the T4/M1/N1 cohort and 8 years for the T4/M1/ cohort. The association of definitive treatment (radical prostatectomy or radiation), compared to non-definitive (hormonal therapy or chemotherapy) with both …

Clinical Application Of A Template-Guided Automated Planning Routine, Matthew C Schmidt, Christopher D Abraham, Jiayi Huang, Clifford G Robinson, Geoffrey Hugo, Nels C Knutson, Baozhou Sun, Chipo Raranje, Erno Sajo, Piotr Zygmanski, Marian Jandel, Peter Szentivanyi, Jessica Hilliard, Jessica Hamilton, Francisco J Reynoso

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: Determine the dosimetric quality and the planning time reduction when utilizing a template-based automated planning application.

METHODS: A software application integrated through the treatment planning system application programing interface, QuickPlan, was developed to facilitate automated planning using configurable templates for contouring, knowledge-based planning structure matching, field design, and algorithm settings. Validations are performed at various levels of the planning procedure and assist in the evaluation of readiness of the CT image, structure set, and plan layout for automated planning. QuickPlan is evaluated dosimetrically against 22 hippocampal-avoidance whole brain radiotherapy patients. The required times to treatment plan generation are compared …

Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Breast, Colorectal, Lung, And Prostate Cancer Stage At Diagnosis According To Race, Jennifer Berrian, Ying Liu, Nkiruka Ezenwajiaku, Alvaro Moreno-Aspitia, Sara J Holton, Adetunji T Toriola, Graham A Colditz, Ashley J Housten, Lannis Hall, Mark A Fiala, Foluso O Ademuyiwa

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: To determine if the COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated racial disparities in late-stage presentation of breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers.

METHODS: We conducted a registry-based retrospective study of patients with newly reported diagnoses of breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers between March 2019-June 2019 (pre-COVID-19) and March 2020-June 2020 (early-COVID-19). We compared the volume of new diagnoses and stage at presentation according to race between both periods.

RESULTS: During the study period, a total of 3528 patients had newly diagnosed cancer; 3304 of which had known disease stages and were included in the formal analyses. 467 (14.1%) were …

Frequent First-Trimester Pregnancy Loss In Rhesus Macaques Infected With African-Lineage Zika Virus, Jenna R. Rosinski, Kevin K. Noguchi, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

In the 2016 Zika virus (ZIKV) pandemic, a previously unrecognized risk of birth defects surfaced in babies whose mothers were infected with Asian-lineage ZIKV during pregnancy. Less is known about the impacts of gestational African-lineage ZIKV infections. Given high human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) burdens in regions where African-lineage ZIKV circulates, we evaluated whether pregnant rhesus macaques infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) have a higher risk of African-lineage ZIKV-associated birth defects. Remarkably, in both SIV+ and SIV- animals, ZIKV infection early in the first trimester caused a high incidence (78%) of spontaneous pregnancy loss within 20 days. These findings suggest …