Diseases Commons^™

Effect Of Quality Of Life On Radiation Adherence For Patients With Cervical Cancer In An Urban Safety Net Health System, Alison K Yoder, Elizabeth Dong, Xiaoman Yu, Alfredo Echeverria, Shelly Sharma, Jane Montealegre, Michelle S Ludwig

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE: Outcomes for patients undergoing chemoradiation for cervical cancer are dependent on adherence to radiation therapy (RT). In other diseases, quality of life (QoL) is associated with treatment adherence, but the association between QoL and RT adherence for patients with cervical cancer remains unclear.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: This prospective study included patients undergoing RT for cervical cancer from 2017 to 2021 at an urban safety net hospital. The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cervical Cancer Version 4 was used to assess QoL based on 5 subscales (physical, functional, social and emotional, and cervical-cancer specific). The survey was administered at radiation consult, …

Neighborhood-Level Factors Contribute To Disparities In Hepatocellular Carcinoma Incidence In Texas, Abiodun O Oluyomi, Hashem B El-Serag, Adegboyega Olayode, Aaron P Thrift

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Texas has the highest hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) incidence rates in the continental United States, but these rates vary by race-ethnicity. We examined racial-ethnic disparities through a geospatial analysis of the social determinants of health.

METHODS: Using data from the Texas Cancer Registry, we assembled 11,547 HCC cases diagnosed between 2011 and 2015 into Texas's census tracts geographic units. Twenty-nine neighborhood measures representing demographics and socioeconomic, and employment domains were retrieved from the U.S. Census Bureau. We performed a series of aspatial and spatially weighted regression models to identify neighborhood-level characteristics associated with HCC risk.

RESULTS: We found …

Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Prevalence And Disproportionate Cancer Burden Among Us Veterans, Smrithi Chidambaram, Su-Hsin Chang, Vlad C Sandulache, Angela L Mazul, Jose P Zevallos

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

This cross-sectional study examines the rate of HPV vaccination and the number eligible for this vaccination among younger veterans and civilians.

Effect Of Quality Of Life On Radiation Adherence For Patients With Cervical Cancer In An Urban Safety Net Health System, Alison K Yoder, Elizabeth Dong, Xiaoman Yu, Alfredo Echeverria, Shelly Sharma, Jane Montealegre, Michelle S Ludwig

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE: Outcomes for patients undergoing chemoradiation for cervical cancer are dependent on adherence to radiation therapy (RT). In other diseases, quality of life (QoL) is associated with treatment adherence, but the association between QoL and RT adherence for patients with cervical cancer remains unclear.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: This prospective study included patients undergoing RT for cervical cancer from 2017 to 2021 at an urban safety net hospital. The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cervical Cancer Version 4 was used to assess QoL based on 5 subscales (physical, functional, social and emotional, and cervical-cancer specific). The survey was administered at radiation consult, …

Adapting Elements Of Cleft Care Protocols In Low- And Middle-Income Countries During And After Covid-19: A Process-Driven Review With Recommendations, Matthew Fell, Michael Goldwasser, B S Jayanth, Rui Manuel Rodrigues Pereira, Christian Tshisuz Nawej, Rachel Winer, Neeti Daftari, Hugh Brewster, Karen Goldschmied, Collaborators Fernando Almas, Mekonen Eshete, George W Galiwango, Larry H Hollier, Akhter Hussain, Lun-Jou Lo, Paul Salins, Debbie Sell, Amanuel Tafase, Ronald M Zuker

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

A consortium of global cleft professionals, predominantly from low- and middle-income countries, identified adaptations to cleft care protocols during and after COVID-19 as a priority learning area of need. A multidisciplinary international working group met on a videoconferencing platform in a multi-staged process to make consensus recommendations for adaptations to cleft protocols within resource-constrained settings. Feedback was sought from a roundtable discussion forum and global organizations involved in comprehensive cleft care. Foundational principles were agreed to enable recommendations to be globally relevant and two areas of focus within the specified topic were identified. First the safety aspects of cleft surgery …

Pathway-Driven Rare Germline Variants Associated With Transplant-Associated Thrombotic Microangiopathy (Ta-Tma), Zhihui Zhang, Wei Hong, Qian Wu, Spiridon Tsavachidis, Jian-Rong Li, Christopher I Amos, Chao Cheng, Sarah E Sartain, Vahid Afshar-Kharghan, Jing-Fei Dong, Pavan Bhatraju, Paul J Martin, Robert S Makar, Pavan K Bendapudi, Ang Li

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The significance of rare germline mutations in transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (TA-TMA) is not well studied. We performed a genetic association study in 100 adult TA-TMA patients vs. 98 post-transplant controls after matching by race, sex, and year. We focused on 5 pathways in complement, von Willebrand factor (VWF) function and related proteins, VWF clearance, ADAMTS13 function and related proteins, and endothelial activation (3641variants in 52 genes). In the primary analysis focused on 189 functional rare variants, no differential variant enrichment was observed in any of the pathways; specifically, 29 % TA-TMA and 33 % controls had at least 1 rare …

The Role Of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation In Patients With Bicuspid Valves In 2023, Milad El Hajj, Zvonimir Krajcer

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

No abstract provided.

Associations Between Avocado Intake And Lower Rates Of Incident Type 2 Diabetes In Us Adults With Hispanic/Latino Ancestry, Alexis C Wood, Mackenzie K Senn, Jerome I Rotter

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Hispanic/Latinos in the US are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D). Data suggest that avocado intake is associated with better glycemic control, but whether this translates to protection from T2D has not been studied. The goal of the current analyses was to examine whether consuming avocados at baseline is associated with lower incident T2D over a six-year period, compared to not consuming avocados at baseline.

SUBJECTS/METHODS: Using data from a large population of US adults with Hispanic ancestry, without known or unknown T2D at baseline (N=6,159), participants were classified as avocado consumers (N=983) or non-consumers (N=5,176) based …

Reconstructive Surgery For The Neglected Tropical Diseases: Global Gaps And Future Directions, Kala T Pham, Peter J Hotez, Kristy L Hamilton

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Several neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are highly disfiguring, particularly those in resource-poor countries that lack access to basic surgery. There has been a push to integrate surgery into treatment programs for NTDs. In this article, we provide an overview of the major disfiguring NTDs and discuss the processes and barriers that impede access to reconstructive surgical treatments or their integration into health systems.

METHODS: A review of the literature was conducted using the online database PubMed, from 2008 to 2021 with the specific diseases listed as NTDs either on the World Health Organization or the

RESULT: Success in the …

Using Natural Language Processing To Automatically Identify Dysplasia In Pathology Reports For Patients With Barrett's Esophagus, Theresa Nguyen Wenker, Yamini Natarajan, Kadon Caskey, Francisco Novoa, Nabil Mansour, Huy Anh Pham, Jason K Hou, Hashem B El-Serag, Aaron P Thrift

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Identifying dysplasia of Barrett's esophagus (BE) in the electronic medical record (EMR) requires manual abstraction of unstructured data. Natural language processing (NLP) creates structure to unstructured free text. We aimed to develop and validate an NLP algorithm to identify dysplasia in BE patients on histopathology reports with varying report formats in a large integrated EMR system.

METHODS: We randomly selected 600 pathology reports for NLP development and 400 reports for validation from patients with suspected BE in the national Veterans Affairs databases. BE and dysplasia were verified by manual review of the pathology reports. We used NLP …

The Impact Of Initial Specimen Diversion Systems On Blood Culture Contamination, Mayar Al Mohajer, Todd Lasco

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Blood culture contamination is associated with increased antimicrobial use, length of stay, and hospital cost. To address this problem, blood culture diversion has been developed as an additional measure to reduce contamination to targeted goals. Three different versions were proposed, including an open technique and 2 commercially available devices. This study aims to review the existing literature and analyze evidence for these 3 techniques.

Endogenous Interleukin-10 Contributes To Wound Healing And Regulates Tissue Repair, Walker D Short, Meredith Rae, Thomas Lu, Benjamin Padon, Tanuj J Prajapati, Fayiz Faruk, Oluyinka O Olutoye, Ling Yu, Paul Bollyky, Sundeep G Keswani, Swathi Balaji

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is essential in fetal regenerative wound healing and likewise promotes a regenerative phenotype in adult dermal wounds. However, the role of endogenous IL-10 in postnatal dermal wound healing is not well-established. We sought to determine the function of endogenous IL-10 in murine full thickness excisional wounds that are splinted to prevent contracture and mimic human patterns of wound closure.

METHODS: Full-thickness excisional wounds were made in wildtype (WT) and IL-10

RESULTS: We observed no difference in wound healing rate between WT and IL-10

CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that endogenous IL-10 expression does not alter closure of full …

Evaluation Of Retinal Nerve Fibre Layer Thickness As A Possible Measure Of Diabetic Retinal Neurodegeneration In The Epic-Norfolk Eye Study, Sidra Zafar, Kristen A Staggers, Jie Gao, Yao Liu, Praveen J Patel, Paul J Foster, Benjamin J Frankfort, Michael Abramoff, Charles G Minard, Alasdair Warwick, Anthony P Khawaja, Roomasa Channa

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Markers to clinically evaluate structural changes from diabetic retinal neurodegeneration (DRN) have not yet been established. To study the potential role of peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (pRNFL) thickness as a marker for DRN, we evaluated the relationship between diabetes, as well as glycaemic control irrespective of diabetes status and pRNFL thickness.

METHODS: Leveraging data from a population-based cohort, we used general linear mixed models (GLMMs) with a random intercept for patient and eye to assess the association between pRNFL thickness (measured using GDx) and demographic, systemic and ocular parameters after adjusting for typical scan score. GLMMs were also …

Comparison Of Neurocognitive And Quality-Of-Life Outcomes In Pediatric Craniopharyngioma Patients Treated With Partial Resection And Radiotherapy Versus Gross-Total Resection Only, Guillermo Aldave, M Fatih Okcu, Murali Chintagumpala, Lucia Ruggieri, Charles G Minard, Fatema Malbari, Lisa E Mash, Arnold C Paulino, Susan Mcgovern, Uma Ramaswamy, William Whitehead, Lisa S Kahalley

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: The optimal management of pediatric craniopharyngioma patients remains controversial, shifting from radical resection (gross-total resection [GTR]) to a more conservative approach with partial resection/biopsy followed by radiotherapy (PR+RT). To the authors' knowledge, no previous studies have compared neurocognitive and quality-of-life (QOL) outcomes between the two main treatments. In this study, the authors compared changes in intellectual, adaptive, and QOL scores in children treated for craniopharyngioma with GTR and those treated with PR+RT.

METHODS: Patients underwent annual neurocognitive and QOL evaluations for up to 10 years posttreatment, including the Full-Scale IQ, Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI), Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI), Working …

Bladder Mucosal Cystitis Cystica Lesions Are Tertiary Lymphoid Tissues That Correlate With Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection Frequency In Postmenopausal Women, Marianne M Ligon, Brooke Liang, Stacy M Lenger, Priyanka Parameswaran, Siobhan Sutcliffe, Jerry L Lowder, Indira U Mysorekar

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE: We identify correlates and clinical outcomes of cystitis cystica, a poorly understood chronic inflammatory bladder change, in women with recurrent urinary tract infections.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective, observational cohort of women with recurrent urinary tract infections who underwent cystoscopy (n=138) from 2015 to 2018 were identified using electronic medical records. Cystitis cystica status was abstracted from cystoscopy reports and correlations were identified by logistic regression. Urinary tract infection-free survival time associated with cystitis cystica was evaluated by Cox proportional hazards regression. Exact logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with changes to cystitis cystica lesions on repeat …

Qt-Prolonging Antibiotics, Serum-To-Dialysate Potassium Gradient, And Risk Of Sudden Cardiac Death Among Patients Receiving Maintenance Hemodialysis, Patrick H Pun, Magdalene M Assimon, Lily Wang, Sana M Al-Khatib, M Alan Brookhart, David J Weber, Wolfgang C Winkelmayer, Jennifer E Flythe

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE: Treatment with certain QT interval-prolonging antibiotics is associated with a higher risk of sudden cardiac death among individuals with hemodialysis-dependent kidney failure. Concurrent exposure to large serum-to-dialysate potassium gradients, which promote large potassium shifts, may augment the proarrhythmic effects of these medications. The primary objective of this study was to examine whether the serum-to-dialysate gradient modifies the cardiac safety of azithromycin, and separately, levofloxacin/moxifloxacin.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective observational cohort study using a new-user study design.

SETTING & POPULATION: Adult in-center hemodialysis patients with Medicare coverage in the US Renal Data System (2007-2017).

EXPOSURE: Initiation of azithromycin (or …

The Prevalence And Determinants Of Nafld And Mafld And Their Severity In The Va Primary Care Setting, Aaron P Thrift, Theresa H Nguyen, Codey Pham, Maya Balakrishnan, Fasiha Kanwal, Rohit Loomba, Hao T Duong, David Ramsey, Hashem B El-Serag

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND & AIMS: A recent panel of international experts proposed the disease acronym metabolic (dysfunction)-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) in lieu of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We aimed to estimate the burden of and risk factors for NAFLD and MAFLD, and to examine the concordance between definitions in a Veterans population.

METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study among randomly selected patients within primary care at the Houston Veterans Affairs (VA) facility. Participants completed a survey, provided blood, and underwent Fibroscan. In the absence of heavy alcohol, hepatitis C virus and hepatitis B virus, a controlled attenuation parameter median ≥290 …

Practice Efficiency In Dermatology: Enhancing Quality Of Care And Physician Well-Being, Rajani Katta, Emily Strouphauer, Marina K Ibraheim, Jennifer Li-Wang, Harry Dao

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

A focus on improved efficiency can impact both patient care and physician well-being. Efficiency is one of the six domains of healthcare quality. It is also recognized as one of the three main pillars of professional fulfillment. Quality improvement measures in the area of efficiency are focused on reducing waste, specifically related to physicians' time, energy, and cognitive demands. Interventions and practices reported in the literature or communicated by dermatologists have documented efforts centered on patient care workflows, documentation, communication, and other areas. Team-based care models maximize the skill sets of other trained providers, while workflow changes encompassing process standardization, …

Imi-Management And Investigation Of High Myopia In Infants And Young Children, Ian Flitcroft, John Ainsworth, Audrey Chia, Susan Cotter, Elise Harb, Zi-Bing Jin, Caroline C W Klaver, Anthony T Moore, Ken K Nischal, Kyoko Ohno-Matsui, Evelyn A Paysse, Michael X Repka, Irina Y Smirnova, Martin Snead, Virginie J M Verhoeven, Pavan K Verkicharla

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the epidemiology, etiology, clinical assessment, investigation, management, and visual consequences of high myopia (≤-6 diopters [D]) in infants and young children.

Findings: High myopia is rare in pre-school children with a prevalence less than 1%. The etiology of myopia in such children is different than in older children, with a high rate of secondary myopia associated with prematurity or genetic causes. The priority following the diagnosis of high myopia in childhood is to determine whether there is an associated medical diagnosis that may be of greater overall importance to the health …

Why The Vonoprazan Helicobacter Pylori Therapies In The Us-European Trial Produced Unacceptable Cure Rates, David Y Graham

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: Helicobacter pylori infects a large percentage of the world's population and is etiologically related to gastric cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved two 14-day vonoprazan-containing regimens (vonoprazan-amoxicillin with or without clarithromycin) for H. pylori infections in the United States/Europe.

METHODS: We critically reviewed the trial methods to discover why the results were unacceptable low [i.e., no regimen achieved clinically acceptable (≥ 90%) or even conditionally acceptable cure rates (≥ 85%)]. Cure rates with antibiotic susceptible strains were 84.7 for vonoprazan triple therapy, 78.5 for vonoprazan-amoxicillin, and 78.7 for lansoprazole triple therapy, respectively. As was previously shown …

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Characteristics And Outcomes In Children And Adolescents With Covid-19 Or Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome Admitted To Us Icus, Melania M Bembea, Laura L Loftis, Ravi R Thiagarajan, Cameron C Young, Timothy P Mccadden, Margaret M Newhams, Suden Kucukak, Elizabeth H Mack, Julie C Fitzgerald, Courtney M Rowan, Aline B Maddux, Amanda R Kolmar, Katherine Irby, Sabrina Heidemann, Stephanie P Schwartz, Michele Kong, Hillary Crandall, Kevin M Havlin, Aalok R Singh, Jennifer E Schuster, Mark W Hall, Kari A Wellnitz, Mia Maamari, Mary G Gaspers, Ryan A Nofziger, Peter Paul C Lim, Ryan W Carroll, Alvaro Coronado Munoz, Tamara T Bradford, Melissa L Cullimore, Natasha B Halasa, Gwenn E Mclaughlin, Pia S Pannaraj, Natalie Z Cvijanovich, Matt S Zinter, Bria M Coates, Steven M Horwitz, Charlotte V Hobbs, Heda Dapul, Ana Lia Graciano, Andrew D Butler, Manish M Patel, Laura D Zambrano, Angela P Campbell, Adrienne G Randolph

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVES: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been used successfully to support adults with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-related cardiac or respiratory failure refractory to conventional therapies. Comprehensive reports of children and adolescents with SARS-CoV-2-related ECMO support for conditions, including multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and acute COVID-19, are needed.

DESIGN: Case series of patients from the Overcoming COVID-19 public health surveillance registry.

SETTING: Sixty-three hospitals in 32 U.S. states reporting to the registry between March 15, 2020, and December 31, 2021.

PATIENTS: Patients less than 21 years admitted to the ICU meeting Centers for Disease Control criteria …

Genetic Associations Between Modifiable Risk Factors And Alzheimer Disease, Jiao Luo, Jesper Qvist Thomassen, Céline Bellenguez, Benjamin Grenier-Boley, Itziar De Rojas, Atahualpa Castillo, Kayenat Parveen, Fahri Küçükali, Aude Nicolas, Oliver Peters, Anja Schneider, Martin Dichgans, Dan Rujescu, Norbert Scherbaum, Deckert Jürgen, Steffi Riedel-Heller, Lucrezia Hausner, Laura Molina Porcel, Emrah Düzel, Timo Grimmer, Jens Wiltfang, Stefanie Heilmann-Heimbach, Susanne Moebus, Thomas Tegos, Nikolaos Scarmeas, Jordi Clarimon, Fermin Moreno, Jordi Pérez-Tur, María J Bullido, Pau Pastor, Raquel Sánchez-Valle, Victoria Álvarez, Mercè Boada, Pablo García-González, Raquel Puerta, Pablo Mir, Luis M Real, Gerard Piñol-Ripoll, Jose María García-Alberca, Jose Luís Royo, Eloy Rodriguez-Rodriguez, Hilkka Soininen, Teemu Kuulasmaa, Alexandre De Mendonça, Shima Mehrabian, Jakub Hort, Martin Vyhnalek, Sven Van Der Lee, Caroline Graff, Goran Papenberg, Vilmantas Giedraitis, Anne Boland, Delphine Bacq-Daian, Jean-François Deleuze, Gael Nicolas, Carole Dufouil, Florence Pasquier, Olivier Hanon, Stéphanie Debette, Edna Grünblatt, Julius Popp, Luisa Benussi, Daniela Galimberti, Beatrice Arosio, Patrizia Mecocci, Vincenzo Solfrizzi, Lucilla Parnetti, Alessio Squassina, Lucio Tremolizzo, Barbara Borroni, Benedetta Nacmias, Sandro Sorbi, Paolo Caffarra, Davide Seripa, Innocenzo Rainero, Antonio Daniele, Carlo Masullo, Gianfranco Spalletta, Julie Williams, Philippe Amouyel, Frank Jessen, Patrick Kehoe, Magda Tsolaki, Giacomina Rossi, Pascual Sánchez-Juan, Kristel Sleegers, Martin Ingelsson, Ole A Andreassen, Mikko Hiltunen, Cornelia Van Duijn, Rebecca Sims, Wiesje Van Der Flier, Agustín Ruiz, Alfredo Ramirez, Jean-Charles Lambert, Ruth Frikke-Schmidt

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

IMPORTANCE: An estimated 40% of dementia is potentially preventable by modifying 12 risk factors throughout the life course. However, robust evidence for most of these risk factors is lacking. Effective interventions should target risk factors in the causal pathway to dementia.

OBJECTIVE: To comprehensively disentangle potentially causal aspects of modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer disease (AD) to inspire new drug targeting and improved prevention.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This genetic association study was conducted using 2-sample univariable and multivariable mendelian randomization. Independent genetic variants associated with modifiable risk factors were selected as instrumental variables from genomic consortia. Outcome data for …

Cognitive Function Following Diabetic Ketoacidosis In Young Children With Type 1 Diabetes, Simona Ghetti, Nathan Kuppermann, Arleta Rewers, Sage R Myers, Jeff E Schunk, Michael J Stoner, Aris Garro, Kimberly S Quayle, Kathleen M Brown, Jennifer L Trainor, Leah Tzimenatos, Andrew D Depiero, Julie K Mcmanemy, Lise E Nigrovic, Maria Y Kwok, Cody S Olsen, T Charles Casper, Nicole S Glaser, Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (Pecarn) Dka Fluid Study Group

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: Young children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) may be at particularly high risk of cognitive decline following diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). However, studies of cognitive functioning in T1D typically examine school-age children. The goal of this study was to examine whether a single experience of DKA is associated with lower cognitive functioning in young children. We found that recently diagnosed 3- to 5-year-olds who experienced one DKA episode, regardless of its severity, exhibited lower IQ scores than those with no DKA exposure.

METHODS: We prospectively enrolled 46 3- to 5-year-old children, who presented with DKA at the onset of T1D, …

Surgical Reconstruction Of Stage 3 And 4 Pressure Injuries: A Literature Review And Proposed Algorithm From An Interprofessional Working Group, Samir S Awad, James D Stern, Cathy T Milne, Shane G Dowling, Ron Sotomayor, Elizabeth A Ayello, Leandro J Feo Aguirre, Basil Z Khalaf, Lisa J Gould, Michael N Desvigne, Abigail E Chaffin

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: Stage 3 and 4 pressure injuries (PIs) present an enormous societal burden with no clearly defined interventions for surgical reconstruction. The authors sought to assess, via literature review and a reflection/evaluation of their own clinical practice experience (where applicable), the current limitations to the surgical intervention of stage 3 or 4 PIs and propose an algorithm for surgical reconstruction.

METHODS: An interprofessional working group convened to review and assess the scientific literature and propose an algorithm for clinical practice. Data compiled from the literature and a comparison of institutional management were used to develop an algorithm for the surgical …

Dietary Effects On Monocyte Phenotypes In Subjects With Hypertriglyceridemia And Metabolic Syndrome, Zeqin Lian, Xiao-Yuan Dai Perrard, Antu Kalathookunnel Antony, Xueying Peng, Lu Xu, Jing Ni, Bingqian Zhang, Veronica O'Brien, Anum Saeed, Xiaoming Jia, Aliza Hussain, Bing Yu, Scott I Simon, Frank M Sacks, Ron C Hoogeveen, Christie M Ballantyne, Huaizhu Wu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

In patients with hypertriglyceridemia, a short-term low–saturated fat vs high–saturated fat diet induced lower plasma lipids and improved monocyte phenotypes. These findings highlight the role of diet fat content and composition for monocyte phenotypes and possibly cardiovascular disease risk in these patients. (Effects of Dietary Interventions on Monocytes in Metabolic Syndrome; NCT03591588)

Closed Mitral Valvotomy: Celebrating 100 Years Of Surgical History, Uberto Bortolotti, Igor Vendramin, Aldo Domenico Milano, Ugolino Livi

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

The year 2023 marks the 100th anniversary of the first successful valvotomy for mitral valve stenosis by Elliott C. Cutler in 1923. Closed-chest mitral valve commissurotomy developed further before being replaced by an open procedure after the advent of the heart-lung machine. Currently, because of the almost complete disappearance of rheumatic disease in the Western World, mitral commissurotomies are infrequently performed in those countries, although the procedure-either closed or open-is still performed in developing countries and select patients. This review retraces the 100-year journey from a historic operation to the current era-a milestone in the treatment of patients with mitral …

The Validity And Reliability Of Self-Reported Adherence To Using Offloading Treatment In People With Diabetes-Related Foot Ulcers, Anas Ababneh, Kathleen Finlayson, Helen Edwards, David G Armstrong, Bijan Najafi, Jaap J Van Netten, Peter A Lazzarini

Center on Aging Staff Publications

Adherence to using offloading treatment is crucial to healing diabetes-related foot ulcers (DFUs). Offloading adherence is recommended to be measured using objective monitors. However, self-reported adherence is commonly used and has unknown validity and reliability. This study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of self-reported adherence to using removable cast walker (RCW) offloading treatment among people with DFUs. Fifty-three participants with DFUs using RCWs were included. Each participant self-reported their percentage adherence to using their RCW of total daily steps. Participants also had adherence objectively measured using dual activity monitors. After one week, a subset of 19 participants again …

The Predictive Impact Of Dual Somatostatin Receptor/Fluorodeoxyglucose (Fdg) Positron Emission Tomography (Pet) In Metastatic Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors (Gep-Nets): Review Of Literature And A Single Institution Experience, Amr Mohamed, Sylvia L Asa, Zhenghong Lee, Sree H Tirumani, Qiubai Li, Norbert Avril, David Bajor, Amit Mahipal, Sakti Chakrabarti, J Eva Selfridge, Arash Kardan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Treatment with radiolabelled somatostatin analogs, a form of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT), has changed the management of patients with advanced gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs). There is a subgroup of patients who have suboptimal benefit and rapidly progress on PRRT, indicating that accurate prognostic and predictive markers are urgently needed. Currently, most of the literature concentrate on the prognostic impact of the dual positron emission tomography (PET) scan with very few information regarding the predictive value. We report a case series and review the literature to summarizes the predictive value of combined somatostatin receptor (SSTR) and fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET in …

The Genetic Determinants Of Recurrent Somatic Mutations In 43,693 Blood Genomes, Joshua S Weinstock, Cecelia A Laurie, Jai G Broome, Kent D Taylor, Xiuqing Guo, Alan R Shuldiner, Jeffrey R O'Connell, Joshua P Lewis, Eric Boerwinkle, Kathleen C Barnes, Nathalie Chami, Eimear E Kenny, Ruth J F Loos, Myriam Fornage, Susan Redline, Brian E Cade, Frank D Gilliland, Zhanghua Chen, W James Gauderman, Rajesh Kumar, Leslie Grammer, Robert P Schleimer, Bruce M Psaty, Joshua C Bis, Jennifer A Brody, Edwin K Silverman, Jeong H Yun, Dandi Qiao, Scott T Weiss, Jessica Lasky-Su, Dawn L Demeo, Nicholette D Palmer, Barry I Freedman, Donald W Bowden, Michael H Cho, Ramachandran S Vasan, Andrew D Johnson, Lisa R Yanek, Lewis C Becker, Sharon Kardia, Jiang He, Robert Kaplan, Susan R Heckbert, Nicholas L Smith, Kerri L Wiggins, Donna K Arnett, Marguerite R Irvin, Hemant Tiwari, Adolfo Correa, Laura M Raffield, Yan Gao, Mariza De Andrade, Jerome I Rotter, Stephen S Rich, Ani W Manichaikul, Barbara A Konkle, Jill M Johnsen, Marsha M Wheeler, Brian S Custer, Ravindranath Duggirala, Joanne E Curran, John Blangero, Hongsheng Gui, Shujie Xiao, L Keoki Williams, Deborah A Meyers, Xingnan Li, Victor Ortega, Stephen Mcgarvey, C Charles Gu, Yii-Der Ida Chen, Wen-Jane Lee, M Benjamin Shoemaker, Dawood Darbar, Dan Roden, Christine Albert, Charles Kooperberg, Pinkal Desai, Thomas W Blackwell, Goncalo R Abecasis, Albert V Smith, Hyun M Kang, Rasika Mathias, Pradeep Natarajan, Siddhartha Jaiswal, Alexander P Reiner, Alexander G Bick, Nhlbi Trans-Omics For Precision Medicine (Topmed) Consortium

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Nononcogenic somatic mutations are thought to be uncommon and inconsequential. To test this, we analyzed 43,693 National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine blood whole genomes from 37 cohorts and identified 7131 non-missense somatic mutations that are recurrently mutated in at least 50 individuals. These recurrent non-missense somatic mutations (RNMSMs) are not clearly explained by other clonal phenomena such as clonal hematopoiesis. RNMSM prevalence increased with age, with an average 50-year-old having 27 RNMSMs. Inherited germline variation associated with RNMSM acquisition. These variants were found in genes involved in adaptive immune function, proinflammatory cytokine production, and lymphoid …

A Precision Environmental Health Approach To Prevention Of Human Disease, Andrea Baccarelli, Dana C Dolinoy, Cheryl Lyn Walker

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Human health is determined by the interaction of our environment with the genome, epigenome, and microbiome, which shape the transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic landscape of cells and tissues. Precision environmental health is an emerging field leveraging environmental and system-level ('omic) data to understand underlying environmental causes of disease, identify biomarkers of exposure and response, and develop new prevention and intervention strategies. In this article we provide real-life illustrations of the utility of precision environmental health approaches, identify current challenges in the field, and outline new opportunities to promote health through a precision environmental health framework.