Medical Specialties Commons^™

Surgical Treatment Of Multiple Deforming Xanthomas Of The Foot And Ankle With Complete Excision And Rotational Skin Flaps: A Case Report, Qanita Ali, Rachelle Randall, Lawrence M. Fallat

Articles

Xanthomas are cholesterol rich nodular dermal lesions characterized by lipid-laden macrophages that accumulate in skin and tendons.1 These lesions are frequently associated with hyperlipidemia disorders characterized by impaired cholesterol metabolism and accelerated atherosclerotic plaque development.2 Until recently, xanthomas were considered mere cosmetic lesions, however extensive evidence has shown that the presence of xanthomas signify increased cardiovascular risk and reduced average lifespan.3 Treatment centers around lipid lowering agents and rarely are these masses large enough to require surgical resection, thus there is very little literature discussing proper surgical excision.4, 5 We present a rare case of a 65 year old female …

Urban Family Planning In Sub-Saharan Africa: An Illustration Of The Cross-Sectoral Challenges Of Urban Health, Trudy Harpham, Moses Tetui, Robert Smith, Ferdinand Okwaro, Adriana Biney, Judith Helzner, James Duminy, Susan Parnell, John Ganle

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

The multi-sectoral nature of urban health is a particular challenge, which urban family planning in sub-Saharan Africa illustrates well. Rapid urbanisation, mainly due to natural population increase in cities rather than rural–urban migration, coincides with a large unmet urban need for contraception, especially in informal settlements. These two phenomena mean urban family planning merits more attention. To what extent are the family planning and urban development sectors working together on this? Policy document analysis and stakeholder interviews from both the family planning and urban development sectors, across eight sub-Saharan African countries, show how cross-sectoral barriers can stymie efforts but also …

Fetal Movement Trials: Where Is The Evidence In Settings With A High Burden Of Stillbirths?, Natasha Housseine, Joyce Browne, Nanna Maaløe, Brenda Sequeira Dmello, Sam Ali, Muzdalfat Abeid, Tarek Meguid, Marcus J. Rijken, Hussein Kidanto

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

No abstract provided.

Provision Of Labour Analgesia And Its Related Barriers Among Maternal Health Care Providers In Kenya: An Institution-Based Descriptive Survey., Gabriel Ouma, Elkanah Omenge, Edwin Were, Kimbley Omwodo

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

Background: Although pain relief is a key component of modern obstetric care, it remains a poorly established service in sub-Saharan countries, such as Kenya. Maternal health care providers have an extensive role to play in meeting the analgesic needs of women, during childbirth. This study sought to examine the practice of labour pain relief and its deterrents among Kenyan maternal health care providers.

Methods: This was an institution based, cross-sectional, descriptive survey. The study population included midwives, obstetricians, and anaesthesiologists working at the second largest tertiary facility in Kenya. A structured, self- administered questionnaire was used. The patterns …

Real-Time Fmri Neurofeedback And Ptsd: Efficacy In Symptom Relief And Neural Circuit Restoration, Sophia F. Ryker

University Honors Theses

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is recognized by the DSM-V as resulting from exposure to a traumatic event and the subsequent, prolonged experience of intrusive symptoms, avoidance behavior, altered cognitive functioning and hyperarousal. Current treatments often do not provide relief from symptoms and there is a need for neuro-scientifically informed interventions.

Methods: Through the review of all available studies using real-time fMRI neurofeedback (rt-fMRI-NF) as a treatment for PTSD, the efficacy of this therapeutic intervention was analyzed in order to make specific recommendations for the neurofeedback protocols of future studies.

Results: Evidence demonstrated successful reduction in symptom severity and normalizing …

Comparison Of Two Immunoassays For Detection Of Anti-Sars Cov-2 Antibodies Among Healthcare Workers At A Tertiary Referral Hospital In Nairobi, Kenya, Patrick Muriuki Mugaine

Master of Medicine in Clinical Pathology

Background: Tests for antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the aetiologic agent of coronavirus disease 2019, provide evidence of past infection or immunization. At the individual level, they are useful as markers of protection against severe disease and in cases where the diagnosis by nucleic acid amplification is inconclusive. At the population level, they are an indirect measure of exposure and may be useful in monitoring changes in viral infection or uptake of immunization over time. The interpretation and optimal use of antibody assays on populations requires an appreciation of the wide variability in individual antibody responses, the …

Single Oral Or Single Intramuscular Dose Of Vitamin D In The Treatment Of Vitamin D Deficiency In Children At Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Winfred Mwikali Ndaka

Master of Medicine in Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Vitamin D deficiency is a global health concern and plays an important role in bone health and many chronic non-communicable diseases. Vitamin D deficiency in children is associated with short stature, underdevelopment, respiratory infections and many other features that increase the risk of childhood complications. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in Kenya among children is high. Treatment with daily oral vitamin D is associated with poor compliance. While a single high intramuscular dose vitamin D offers an alternative strategy, it is however, associated with injection site pain and its absorption is dependent on the patient’s peripheral circulation. Various …

Non-Pharmacological Self-Management Strategies For Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy In People With Advanced Cancer: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Megan Crichton, Patsy M. Yates, Oluwaseyifunmi Andi Agbejule, Amy Spooner, Raymond J. Chan, Nicolas H. Hart

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Non-pharmacological self-management interventions for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neurotherapy (CIPN) are of clinical interest; however, no systematic review has synthesized the evidence for their use in people with advanced cancer. Five databases were searched from inception to February 2022 for randomized controlled trials assessing the effect of non-pharmacological self-management interventions in people with advanced cancer on the incidence and severity of CIPN symptoms and related outcomes compared to any control condition. Data were pooled with metaanalysis. Quality of evidence was appraised using the Revised Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for Randomized Trials (RoB2), with data synthesized narratively. Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development …

Beach Chair Versus Lateral Decubitus Surgical Positioning For Arthroscopic Anterior Shoulder Stabilization: A Retrospective Comparison Of Clinical And Patient-Reported Outcomes, Ryan W Paul, Sydney Streicher, Alim Osman, Chuka Ukekwe, Usman Zareef, Kevin B Freedman, Brandon J Erickson, Sommer Hammoud, Meghan E Bishop

Rothman Institute Papers

Background: Surgical positioning can affect both perioperative and postoperative complication rates. It is unclear whether beach-chair versus lateral decubitus positioning affects outcomes in patients undergoing arthroscopic anterior shoulder stabilization surgery.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare recurrent instability, complications, and patient-reported outcomes between patients who underwent arthroscopic anterior shoulder stabilization in the beach-chair versus the lateral decubitus positions. It was hypothesized that recurrent instability, complications, and patient-reported outcomes would not be affected by surgical positioning.

Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods: The authors reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent shoulder stabilization ( …

1485-Pub: Assessing Correlates Of Microvascular Complications Among Patients With Diabetes Mellitus, Kenneth Izuora, Amalie Alver, Arpita Basu, Kavita Batra, Shelley J. Williams, Jeffrey L. Ebersole

Department of Internal Medicine Faculty Research

Background: Microvascular complications associated with diabetes (DM) are important predictors of morbidity and mortality. Understanding the factors associated with these complications is important in reducing their burden. Method: Using a cross-sectional study design, seventy-one ambulatory patients with Type 2 DM (female 60.6%, white 36.6%, mean age 64.1± 10.3 years, and mean duration of DM 15.8±9.1 years) were recruited using an investigator-administered questionnaire and chart review. Variables of demographics, smoking, HbA1c, DM duration, and complications were collected. CRP was measured and oral health status was assessed by a clinical exam. Data were analyzed using Chi-square/Fisher exact tests and binomial logistic regression …

Commissioning And Validation Of A Monte Carlo Algorithm For Spine Stereotactic Radiosurgery, C Knill, R Sandhu, B Loughery, L Lin, R Halford, D Drake, M Snyder

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Purpose: A 6FFF Monte Carlo (MC) dose calculation algorithm was commissioned for spine stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) planning on the Versa HD. Initial model generation, validation, and ensuing model tuning will be presented. Methods: The model was generated by the manufacturer, Brainlab, using both in-air and in-water commissioning measurements of field sizes between 6mm and 400mm on the Versa HD. Initial model validation was performed by simulating a water tank in the planning system, calculating commissioning fields, and comparing calculations to measured data. Model accuracy was quantified for output factors, PDDs, profile sizes, and profile penumbras. Nine previously treated Spine SRS …

A Novel Technique To Evaluate Skin Toxicity In Breast Cancer Radiotherapy, R Culcasi, M Vlachaki, M Snyder

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Purpose: To evaluate skin toxicity throughout breast radiotherapy by visualizing variations in Eulerian amplified microcirculation and correlating to skin temperature as measured by a thermal camera. Methods: High-resolution monochrome video recordings and thermal images were acquired for four breast cancer patients prior to radiation treatment followed weekly over 3-5 weeks. During these visits, the radiation oncologist assessed the patient’s skin following the CTCAE scoring system. Videos were amplified by a factor of 100 for frequencies near the patient's measured heart rate (as measured by a fingertip pulse oximeter) with a bandwidth of 0.2Hz, based on a technique developed by CSAIL …

Evaluation Of 4pi Arc Positioning For Cranial Vmat Srs In Elements, B Loughery, C Knill, R Sandhu, L Lin, Z Seymour

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Purpose: Brainlab’s Elements Cranial VMAT (CVMAT) v3.0 introduces a 4Pi optimization that includes automated gantry and couch positioning alongside collimator optimization. In contrast, v1.5 uses a fixed collimator angle and predefined templates for gantry and couch angles that are manually modified by the planner. This study evaluates the 4Pi generated plans for clinical acceptability in terms of plan quality and delivery accuracy on a VersaHD. Methods: We chose a recent sample of 9 clinical plans that represent our catalog of target locations, fractionation schemes, and target sizes. Cases were replanned in CVMAT v3.0 using 4Pi optimization. These plans were evaluated …

Does Lung Function Imaging Modality Have A Dosimetric Impact On Functional Avoidance Treatment Planning: Assessment Using Prospective Clinical Trial Data, J Belardo, S Zhang, E Castillo, R Castillo, C Rusthoven, B Jones, M Miften, T Guerrero, I Grills, Y Chen

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Purpose: Functional avoidance radiotherapy proposes to use functional imaging to design treatment plans that reduce doses to functional regions of lung. Prospective data has shown that reducing doses to functional lung results in reduced pulmonary toxicity. Various lung function imaging modalities have been proposed for functional avoidance; however, there have been no studies evaluating whether using different imaging modalities results in dosimetrically different functional avoidance plans. The purpose of this study was to quantify the differences in treatment plans as a function of lung function imaging modality. Methods: 25 lung cancer patients enrolled on a prospective trial underwent nuclear medicine …

Development Of A Collision Model For Advanced Proton Treatment Planning And Delivery, Shupeng Chen, Lewei Zhao, Weili Zheng, An Qin, Rohan Deraniyagala, Xuanfeng Ding

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Purpose: A major barrier to implementing advanced proton therapy delivery techniques, such as proton arc/4pi delivery is the unknown characteristics of the collision zones, i.e., the combinations of couch and gantry angles that result in a mechanical collision between the gantry and couch or patient. This study aims to develop a collision model for the determination of patient-specific collision zones to enable safe and deliverable noncoplanar proton therapy treatment planning. Methods: The detailed geometric parameters of the treatment machine including the nozzle, the snout, and the size and the location of the range shifter were measured from an IBA Proteus …

Evaluation Of Variables Predicting Pulmonary Function Test (Pft) Changes For Lung Cancer Patients Treated On A Prospective 4dct-Ventilation Functional Avoidance Clinical Trial, Nader Ghassemi, Richard Castillo, Edward Castillo, Bernard L. Jones, Moyed Miften, Brian Kavanaugh, Maria Werner Werner-Wasik, Ryan Miller, Julie Barta, Inga Grills, Thomas Guerrero

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Purpose: Functional avoidance radiotherapy uses functional imaging to reduce pulmonary toxicity by designing radiotherapy plans that reduce doses to the functional lung. A novel form of lung functional imaging uses 4DCT imaging to calculate 4DCT-based lung ventilation (4DCT-ventilation) maps. A phase-II, multi-center, prospective study of 4DCT-ventilation functional avoidance was completed. Pre and post-treatment pulmonary function tests (PFTs) were acquired in order to quantitatively assess pulmonary function change. The purpose of this study is to evaluate which factors predict for PFT changes for patients treated with 4DCT-ventilation functional avoidance radiotherapy. Methods: 56 patients with locally advanced lung cancer receiving radiotherapy were …

Real-Time Tracking Diaphragm Motion On During-Treatment Kv Cone Beam Projection Images Using Resnet50, J Liang, Q Liu, E Porter, D Yan

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Purpose: Diaphragm manifested on Cone Beam projection image has been used as surrogate to monitor lung tumor position. We propose a deep learning method to detect diaphragm apex position of the ipsilateral lung in real-time on KV projections acquired during Lung SBRT delivery. Methods: 7 hypo-lung SBRT patients with right lower lobe tumor were selected in this retrospective study. The imaging projection angle ranges from about -270 to 112 degrees. The right lung diaphragm apex was manually labeled as ground-truth on KV projections acquired during-treatment sessions with 899±167 projections per session. The backbone of our machine learning model is 50 …

A Novel Ultra-High Dose Rate Proton Therapy Technology: Spot-Scanning Proton Arc Therapy Flash (Splash), Gang Liu, Lewei Zhao, Xiaoqiang Li, S Zhang, S Dai, X Lu, Xuanfeng Ding

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Purpose: The flash dose rate on the order of 40 Gy/s has the potential to spare normal tissue with iso-effective tumor growth delay. Meanwhile, the spot-scanning proton arc therapy(SPArc), demonstrated its superior dosimetric conformity and plan robustness compared to the conventional intensity modulated proton therapy(IMPT). To take the full advantage of flash dose rate and the high dose conformity, we introduce a novel optimization and delivery technique, SPArc FLASH (SPLASH). Methods: SPLASH framework was implemented in an open-source proton planning platform (matRad). It optimizes the spot moniter unit(MU) weighting and cyclotron beam current per spot simultaneously. More specifically, it simultaneously …

During-Treatment Imaging Feasibility For Intrafraction Stereotactic Spine Treatment Evaluations, M Liu, D Drake, D Lack, M Sigler, J Sliwinski, K Barton, D To, I Grills, J Liang

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Purpose: On Elekta linacs, cone-beam CTs (CBCT) can be acquired during VMAT delivery to monitor intrafraction motion during treatment. Stereotactic spine treatments can be lengthy, increasing patient motion likelihood during treatment. We evaluated during-treatment CBCT (DT-CBCT) feasibility to assess patient motion for stereotactic spine treatments in place of a mid-treatment CBCT. Methods: CBCTs from seven spine treatments were analyzed retrospectively. Various fractionation schemes were used (16-25Gy delivered in 1-5 fractions). All plans contained two VMAT arcs of 2209.5-13,332.4 MUs with treatment times of 7-58 minutes. Projections from pre-correction CBCTs were combined with post-correction CBCT to simulate patient motion (1cm, 2 …

A Team Learning Initiative In Undergraduate Medical Physics, B Loughery, J Mcbrady, M Joiner

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Purpose: To improve comprehension in traditionally difficult subjects for a senior-level undergraduate medical physics course, we designed and implemented a Team Learning technique. This work evaluates the translation of Team Learning to medical physics.  Methods: At the beginning of the term, students were sorted into 3 even teams (students/year = 14.5).  The class met twice weekly: a traditional lecture was taught first, and each team was assigned a specific 1/3 of the lecture material in which to specialize.  Each team was assigned to create a PowerPoint presentation on their material using outside references and without copying the original figures or …

Physics-Informed Machine Learning For Estimating Pulmonary Perfusion From Non-Contract 4dct, Y Liu, A Nowacki, R Castillo, Y Vinogradskiy, G Nair, C Stevens, E Castillo

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Purpose: Novel methods have been developed for functional avoidance that proposes to use 4DCT to derive lung ventilation and perfusion images. Previous methods for quantifying lung perfusion on non-contrast 4DCT rely either on HU-based physical models or black-box deep learning models. While deep learning typically achieves higher accuracies in image processing tasks, physical models provide a rationale for model predictions. The purpose of this study is to introduce a biophysics-informed machine learning method for estimating pulmonary perfusion from noncontrast 4DCT. Our approach is designed to combine the predictive power of neural networks with the interpretability of physical modeling, with the …

Quantifying Copd Disease Severity With Ct-Derived Perfusion Imaging, A Nowacki, G Nair, Y Liu, C J. Galban, C Stevens, E Castillo

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Purpose: CT-derived perfusion (CTP) is a novel image processing modality that quantifies pulmonary perfusion from non-contrast inhale/exhale CT image pairs. While existing imaging markers for COPD primarily depend on morphological features or HU thresholding, CTP provides a quantitative marker of blood flow and has been shown to identify disease progression prior to the appearance structural abnormalities. In this study, we assess the potential utility of CTP as a disease severity marker for COPD. Methods: CTP was computed from high-resolution inhale-exhale CT scans for 785 patients with a Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) score ranging from 0 to 4 …

Per-Fraction Deviation In Logfile Parameters Reported In A Single Vmat Arc, M Snyder, D To, D Drake, J Liang, D Lack

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Purpose: Measurement-based QA identifies large deviations between planned and delivered dose, but subtle—yet clinically unacceptable—deviations can pass through the conventional QA process unnoticed. Incorporating logfilebased information into pre-treatment QA should result in more robust QA overall, provided such information is stable across the entire treatment course. We present here a case-study of logfile stability to investigate the potential of logfiles as useful adjuncts in the QA process. Methods: We analyzed logfiles from six fractions of a VMAT plan delivered on an Elekta Infinity linac with an Agility MLC. To simplify the analysis, we considered a single 52 control point VMAT …

A Novel Simultaneous Plan Quality And Beam Delivery Time Sparc Optimization Platform Using Primal Dual Active Set With Continuation (Pdasc), Lewei Zhao, J You, Gang Liu, X Lu, Xuanfeng Ding

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Purpose: Proton arc is a new treatment modality that delivers proton beams while continuously rotating the gantry. This study proposed a regularized l0-minimization primal dual active set with continuation (PDASC) algorithm for proton arc spot sparsity optimization to simultaneously optimize the plan quality and the beam delivery time (BDT). Methods: Based on the previously published beam delivery sequence model of IBA ProteusONE®, proton treatment delivery time is actually dominated by spot switching time (SSWT). SSWT is approximately linearly dependent on spot numbers. So we used a non-convex l0-norm to control the sparsity level of the regularized solution. The clinical objective …

External Validation Of A Laboratory Prediction Algorithm For The Reduction Of Unnecessary Labs In The Critical Care Setting, Linda T Li, Tongtong Huang, Elmer V Bernstam, Xiaoqian Jiang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Unnecessary laboratory tests contribute to iatrogenic harm and are a major source of waste in the health care system. We previously developed a machine learning algorithm to help clinicians identify unnecessary laboratory tests, but it has not been externally validated. In this study, we externally validate our machine learning algorithm.

METHODS: To externally validate the machine learning algorithm that was originally trained on the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care (MIMIC) III database, we tested the algorithm in a separate institution. We identified and abstracted data for all patients older than 18 years admitted to the intensive care unit …

Hyperinsulinemic Hypoglycemia And Growth Hormone Deficiency Secondary To 20p11 Deletion, Erica Wee, Kavitha Dileepan, Sarah Tsai, Emily Paprocki

Posters

No abstract provided.

Hemoglobin A1c Increase In Youth At Risk For Developing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Erica Wee, Ashley Sherman, Mark A. Clements, Kelsee Halpin, Yun Yan

Posters

No abstract provided.

Myocardial Work By Strain Echocardiography: A Predictor Of Exercise Capacity In The Fontan Population, Amulya Buddhavarapu, Suma Goudar, David A. White, Daniel Forsha, Doaa Aly

Posters

INTRODUCTION: Global myocardial work index (GWI) obtained by non-invasive pressure-strain loops is a fast-emerging tool to assess myocardial contractility, independent of loading conditions. Data about the feasibility and utility of this modality in single ventricles are still lacking. AIM: We aimed to explore the relationship between the non-invasive myocardial work indices and exercise parameters in the Fontan population. METHOD: Fontan patients were prospectively evaluated by exercise testing and echocardiography. The systemic ventricle was tracked in 3 orthogonal apical planes for global longitudinal strain (GLS). Pressure-strain loops were generated against brachial blood pressure (surrogate for ventricular systolic pressure in the absence …

Validation Of A Whole Genome Methylation Profiling Classifier For Central Nervous System Tumors, Lucas Santana-Santos, Kwok Ling Kam, David Dittman, Stephanie De Vito, Matthew Mccord, Pouya Jamshidi, Hailie Fowler, Xinkun Wang, Alan Aalsburg, Daniel Brat, Craig Horbinski, Lawrence Jennings

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Whole genome methylation profiling is proving to be an incredibly powerful tool to diagnose tumors that are otherwise difficult to classify by histopathology and sequencing. The reference library of tumor DNA methylation data, using a machine learning-based tumor classifier, was developed by the German Cancer Research Network (DKFZ), and is available publicly on a research basis. However, medical institutions desiring to implement that classifier for routine clinical care need to import, adapt, and validate the classifier internally. We did this for our own DNA methylation-based classifier of central nervous system (CNS) tumors, using the same training and validation datasets as …

Inflammatory Diseases And Resections Of The Digestive Tract Influence The Risk Of Circulating Food-Specific-Igg, Jacques Izard, Walker Carson, Joseph Baumert, Jennifer Clarke

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: Individuals affected with inflammatory diseases of the digestive tract or have had surgical removal of sections of the digestive tract are often in need to adjust their diet. The symptomatology associated with food intake issues is often informally reported as food sensitivity. We investigated the circulating food-specific-IgG among ten conditions.

Conclusion: The risk of the having circulating food-specific IgG differed widely among the conditions investigated. The maintenance of a colonic environment might influence the risk of food sensitivity in ostomates.