Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Acute Schistosomiasis In A Traveler Returning From St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands: A Case Report., John Weis, Mackenzie Caruthers, Megan Buller

Ambulatory and Primary Care Articles

In this case report, we describe a patient who presented to their primary care provider with abdominal pain after returning from travel to the Caribbean island of St. Croix. The patient reported two weeks of epigastric abdominal pain, dyspepsia, nausea, and night sweats. Following an initial evaluation that revealed eosinophilia with unclear etiology, they were referred to an infectious disease clinic. Through a targeted infectious evaluation and workup, the patient was diagnosed with acute schistosomiasis syndrome and was treated with praziquantel. Treatment resulted in the complete resolution of her symptoms, and follow-up laboratory evaluation showed complete resolution of her eosinophilia. …

Astrocyte-Specific Deletion Of Lrrc8a Causes Neurological Dysfunction But Not Chronic White Matter Edema, Sven Kerst, Leoni Hoogterp, Marjolein Breur, Gemma M Van Rooijen-Van Leeuwen, Marianna Bugiani, Rajan Sah, Huibert D Mansvelder, Marjo S Van Der Knaap, Rogier Min

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Volume-regulated anion channels (VRACs) are central to cell volume homeostasis. They mediate swelling-induced efflux of chloride and organic osmolytes to drive regulatory volume decrease. In the brain, VRACs have been proposed to play a key role in astrocytic volume regulation. Genetic defects in astrocytic VRAC modulating proteins (MLC1, GlialCAM, Aquaporin-4, GPRC5B) cause the leukodystrophy Megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts (MLC), characterized by chronic white matter edema and myelin vacuolization. Disrupted VRAC activity in MLC-patient-derived lymphoblasts and primary astrocytes from MLC mice further supports a pathogenic link between defective VRAC activity and MLC. Here, we studied the physiological and pathological consequences …

Prevalence And Risk Factors For Non-Hacek Gram-Negative Bacillus Endocarditis: A Retrospective Analysis, Jason H Park, Edwin Chen, Divyia E Joseph, Audrey Wanger, J Alex Viehman, Simi Padival

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Infective endocarditis (IE) caused by non-HACEK gram-negative bacilli (GNB) is challenging to diagnose and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. There is growing literature highlighting the differences in IE prevalence amongst various GNB; therefore, there is an impetus to characterize these traditionally "atypical" organisms to accurately risk stratify this complex infectious diagnosis.

Methods: This investigation was a retrospective cohort study conducted at 2 health care institutions in the USA. All hospitalized adult patients with bloodstream infection with a prespecified GNB (Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella aerogenes, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Klebsiella oxytoca, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Serratia marcescens) between January 1, …

Foot And Ankle Biomaterials: A Comprehensive Review Of Current Applications, Challenges, And Future Directions, Peter Elvin, Amayrani Sanchez, Anthony Allen Reyes, Hagner L. Andrade, Meelad Karami, Hooman Mir, Javier La Fontaine, Danieli Rodrigues, Claudia Biguetti

School of Podiatric Medicine Publications

Metallic biomaterials enable successful reconstruction and fixation of skeletal tissues by supporting repair, load-bearing function, and anatomical alignment in foot and ankle surgery. However, the unique anatomic and biomechanical demands of this region, combined with challenging pathologies such as flatfoot and Charcot neuroarthropathy, present distinct challenges, with effective intervention requiring targeted biomaterial solutions and precise indications. Furthermore, metallic biomaterials currently represent the most predominant and clinically validated fixation systems in foot and ankle surgical reconstructions, while also generating the largest body of outcome-based evidence. This review summarizes and discusses their contemporary applications, outcomes, limitations, unmeet needs, and future directions based …

Physical And Occupational Therapist Evaluations For Fall Prevention In The Emergency Department: A Geriatric Ed Guidelines 2.0 Systematic Review, Lauren T Southerland, Pedro K Curiati, Richard D Shih, Alexander X Lo, Kristie Harper, Ian Tarnovsky, Alexis Brengartner, Luna Ragsdale, Neha Raukar, Suzanne Ryer, Katherine M Hunold, Fabrice Mowbray, Charles L Maddow, Christopher R Carpenter, Shan W Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Older adults are at high risk for severe injuries and death from falls. Physical therapist (PT) and occupational therapist (OT) evaluations have been introduced into Emergency Department (ED) care to assist with fall risk evaluation and fall prevention care. An evaluation of current evidence was undertaken to inform the Geriatric ED Guidelines 2.0.

Methods: Systematic review of physical and/or occupational therapy evaluation for fall prevention in the ED. The intervention was evaluation by a rehabilitation therapist (PT, OT, or both) for fall prevention, fall assessment, or mitigation of fall risk factors. Studies that did not perform the evaluation during …

March 2026, Swosu Rural Health Center

RURAL ROCKS

• Understanding the PREVENT Calculator in the 2025 AHA Hypertension Guidelines
• CMS Releases Medicaid and CHIP Beneficiary Profile and Infographic
• FDA Requests Removal of Suicidal Behavior and Ideation Warning from Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist (GLP-1 RA) Medications
• Walgreens: Flu reaches highest level in U.S. in 25 years
• Walmart boosts pay potential for pharmacy technicians, elevates 3,000 roles
• FDA Launches PreCheck Pilot Program to Strengthen Domestic Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
• Pharmacy undergoes a tech takeover
• President Trump signs landmark PBM reforms into law
• Pharmacy through generations

E3 Ubiquitin Ligases And Asthma Relief, Ajay P. Nayak

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement In Systemic Sclerosis: A Case Series And Review Of Short- And Long-Term Outcomes, Chris T. Derk, Ahmadreza Badali, Esra Mehmetoglu, Anvitha Mummadisetty, Amit Syal, Konstantinos Parperis

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

Objectives: A higher frequency of valvular heart disease is seen among Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) patients. Advanced aortic valve stenosis leads to significant morbidity in these patients with multiple other comorbidities. In this study, we aim to define the short- and long-term outcomes of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures in SSc patients. Methods: We undertook a retrospective chart review of all patients with SSc who underwent a TAVR procedure at our institution over a defined 11-year period. Demographics as well as short- and long-term outcomes were identified. Results: Fourteen SSc patients underwent a TAVR procedure between 2012 and 2023. They …

Perceived Stress And Subjective Happiness In Medical Students Before And After A Wellness Speaker Session, Smaran Marupudi, Jared Hensley, Sriya Gullapalli, David Sta. Maria, Nikhilesh Anand

School of Medicine Publications

Background: Medical students experience psychological stress due to academic workload, thereby leading to a reduction in overall well-being. In response, medical schools are incorporating wellness activities into the curriculum. However, single-session events have not been rigorously evaluated. This pilot study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of a single-session speaker event and examined pre- versus post-event differences in mean stress and happiness scores among survey respondents.

Methods: This study used anonymous, unlinked, pre- and post-event cross-sectional surveys to compare group-level perceived stress and subjective happiness among medical students attending a single-session wellness speaker event. First- and second-year medical students completed validated …

Global, Regional, And National Burden Of Breast Cancer Among Females, 1990–2023, With Forecasts To 2050: A Systematic Analysis For The Global Burden Of Disease Study 2023, Gbd 2023 Breast Cancer Collaborators Breast Cancer Collaborators, Kathryn H. Jacobsen

Health Studies Faculty Publications

Summary

Background

Methods

Detection Of Adaptive Immune Receptor Cdr3s In Tumor Proteomes And Correlations With Survival Probabilities, Arpan Sahoo, Eddie Fung, Taha Huda, Brosi Chobrutskiy, Veda Naga Priya Vangala, George Blanck

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Point-Of-Care Vision Correction: A Pilot Study Of Mobile Refractive Screening And Same Day Glasses Distribution In A Street Medicine Program, Tejasvi Paturu, Veena Jajoo, Emily Coughlin, Rebecca Lipscomb, Seth A. Campbell Pa-C

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

“Winning Vision, Winning Health:” Enhancing Diabetic Eye Exam Access For Vulnerable Patients, Chloe Von Hoffmann, Orlando J. Penaloza Md, Facp

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Association Between Infection With Multidrug Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus And Patient Risk Factors, Ariana Virgillio, Emily A. Felton, Josh Alvior, Abigail Eglinton, Deanna N. Becker, Amorce Lima, E Cella, T Azarian, Suzane Silbert, Lindsey N. Shaw, Kami Kim

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Correlation Between Prior Influenza A Exposure And Survival Rate Of Patients With Squamous Cell Carcinoma Of The Lung, Schuyler Van Den Nieuwenhuizen, George Blanck

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

A Retrospective Cohort Study Exploring Predictive Factors Of 30-Day Mortality In Intracerebral Hemorrhage Patients, Alan R Spicer, Veena Jajoo, Rahul Mhaskar, Marla Hairston, Crystal Dixon, W Scott Burgin

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Characterization Of Transgender Men Undergoing Hysterectomy At The Lehigh Valley Health Network, Christine Peng, Shae Duka Mph, Patricia L. Mara Md

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

A Case Series Of Hypokalemia And Hypertension In Pregnancy, Pooja Neerumalla, Sharon E. Maynard Md, Sejal Lakhani Do

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Sexually Transmitted Infections At A Health Clinic Serving Older Adolescents And Young Adults: An Analysis Of Demographics, Health Care Access, And Positivity Rates, Shaliz Aflatooni, Margaret Van Cleve, Anna Sizemore, Sarah A Commaroto, Emily Coughlin, Rahul Mhaskar, Carina A. Rodriguez, Lisa J. Sanders

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Enhancing Prenatal Detection Of Fetal Cardiac Pathologies Using Fetoly-Heart Software: A Performance Study, Alexander Behzadi, Sean Daneshmand, Arij Faksh, Mishella Perez

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Examining Psychosocial And Demographic Correlates Of Sleep Disturbances At A Home For Youth Experiencing Housing Instability, Elizabeth G Chiu, Alisa Vidwans, Amy B. Smith Phd

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Perspectives Of African American Mothers On Breastfeeding Support During Newborn Hospitalization: Addressing Disparities In Breastfeeding Exclusivity, Melissa Chow, Sarah A Commaroto, Kaen Fugate, Karyn Gerstle

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Peediatrics: Streamlining Uti Diagnosis And Treatment, Margaret B Cornwall, Hina Zaidi Md, Stanley Toyberman Md, Olga Schleyfer Do, Emily Coughlin

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Preoperative Neighborhood Socioeconomic Deprivation And Patient Reported Quality Of Life In Bladder Cancer Patients Undergoing Radical Cystectomy, Anosh Dadabhoy, Farshad S. Moghaddam, Siamak Daneshmand

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Identifying Underserved Locations For Strategic Expansion Of Access To Urologic Care In The Lehigh Valley, Grace Hollis, Angelo A. Baccala Md

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Ulcerative Colitis Predominates, Yet Hepatic Progression Mirrors Crohn’S In Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis–Inflammatory Bowel Disease Overlap: A Tertiary Cohort Study, Sunny Kahlon, Megan Pearce, Donna Ortiz, Jennifer Seminerio

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Validation Of Longitudinal Biomarker Screening Algorithms For Hcc Detection In Patients With Cirrhosis, Amit G Singal, Qingchun Jin, Jorge Marrero, Neehar D Parikh, Anna S Lok, Camden Lopez, Stephanie Page-Lester, Lewis R Roberts, Rajender Reddy, Michelle Luster, Saira Khaderi, Sumeet K Asrani, Hashem B El-Serag, Fasiha Kanwal, Ziding Feng, Nabihah Tayob

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Blood-based biomarker panels, including GALAD, have been proposed as an alternative to abdominal ultrasound for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) surveillance. Studies suggest longitudinal evaluation of biomarkers can improve test performance; however, no large studies have validated these findings.

Methods: We leveraged the HCC Early Detection Strategy (HEDS) study (n=1019 patients with cirrhosis; 99 incident HCC) and Texas HCC Consortium (THCCC) (n=2345 patients with cirrhosis; 126 incident HCC) to compare the performance of fixed-threshold GALAD (cutoff of -1.36), and 4 longitudinal algorithms: longitudinal GALAD, PALAD, mFB-ALAD, and mPEB-ALAD. The HEDS cohort was used to derive longitudinal algorithms, and external validation was …

Development Of Retrieval-Augmented Generation-Based Large Language Model For Drug-Induced Liver Injury Using Livertox Data, Ashwin Rao, George Cholankeril, Avegail Flores, Gagan Sood, Terrence E White, Fasiha Kanwal, Hashem B El-Serag

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Idiosyncratic DILI is a complex clinical challenge requiring timely and accurate decision support. LiverTox, curated by the National Institute of Health (NIH), offers a comprehensive DILI evidence base, but its encyclopedia-like format hinders point-of-care use. Health care providers increasingly use general large language models (LLMs) for clinical care, raising safety concerns due to LLM hallucinations or misinformation. We hypothesize that retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) integration-grounding LLM responses in LiverTox content-would enable accurate DILI decision support.

Methods: We processed 1343 LiverTox drug monographs into 8759 indexed segments using BioBERT embeddings. We developed a RAG pipeline that employs drug-specific prioritization, section-aware weighting, …

Sex Differences In Hospitalizations In The 6 Months Before A Diagnosis Of Transthyretin Amyloid Cardiomyopathy, Chun Shing Kwok, Adnan I Qureshi, Richard P Steeds, Gregg C Fonarow, Biykem Bozkurt, Marianna Fontana, Julian D Gillmore, William E Moody

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: The influence of sex on the extent of missed opportunities for early diagnosis of transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) has not been characterized.

Objectives: The objective of the study was to determine the rate and causes of hospitalization preceding the index admission with ATTR-CM, stratifying analyses according to sex.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of the National Readmissions Database to evaluate the 6-month hospitalizations preceding an index admission with a diagnosis of ATTR-CM.

Results: Between 2018 and 2020, there were 10,975 patients hospitalized with ATTR-CM of whom 4,545 (41.1%) had 1 or more hospital admission within the preceding …

Concurrent Vulvar Vitiligo And Lichen Sclerosus: The Importance Of Melanocyte-Specific Immunostains In Resolving Diagnostic Ambiguity, Nabor S Mireles, Kaitlyn Levett, Annie Dai, Abdul Hafeez Diwan, Omid Jalali

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Vitiligo and lichen sclerosus (LS) are autoimmune dermatoses that may share overlapping clinical and histopathologic features, posing diagnostic challenges when they occur concurrently. We report a biopsy-confirmed case of vulvar vitiligo and LS in a 61-year-old woman presenting with pruritic, depigmented patches on the labia majora and minora. Histopathologic examination showed epidermal thinning with papillary dermal hyalinization and a dense, band-like lymphocytic infiltrate consistent with LS. Melan-A immunostaining demonstrated a complete absence of epidermal melanocytes, confirming concurrent vitiligo rather than LS-related post-inflammatory hypopigmentation. This case underscores the importance of correlating subtle clinical clues with melanocyte-specific immunostains to distinguish coexistent vitiligo …