Internal Medicine Commons^™

An Educational Case For Applying The Alveolar- Arterial Gradient In Hypoxemia: An Underutilized And Underappreciated Clinical Tool, Chioma Nwonu, Do, Michael Dong, Md, Daniel Kramer, Md

The Medicine Forum

The Alveolar-arterial gradient, commonly known as the A-a gradient, measures the difference in the oxygen concentration in the alveoli and the arteries across the capillary membrane in the lung. In an ideal system, the A-a gradient would be zero because there would be perfect equilibrium as oxygen diffuses and equalizes across the alveolar and arterial sides of the capillary membrane. However, there is a physiologic A-a gradient because of the differences in perfusion and ventilation in the apical and basilar regions of the lungs. Because this relationship exists, the changes in the A-a gradient have clinical utility in guiding the …

Achenbach Syndrome: A Classic Presentation Of A Not-So-Common Condition, Brandon Pecchia, Md, Ms

The Medicine Forum

Also called “acute idiopathic blue finger” or “paroxysmal finger hematoma,” Achenbach syndrome is a benign collection of findings that is often mistaken for more serious conditions. Characteristically presenting with discrete unexplained bruising or discoloration of the volar aspect of one or two fingers, it is a diagnosis that physicians should include on their differential given its innocuous course and excellent outcomes, without need for invasive testing or intervention. The purpose of this case report therefore is to increase awareness of this rare condition, especially among emergency department physicians and internists, in order to minimize the incidence of unnecessary testing, procedures, …

From The Chief Residents, Tina Boortalary, Md, Justin Robbins, Md, Svenja Schneider, Md

The Medicine Forum

As your Chief Residents, we would like to take a moment to express our heartfelt congratulations to each and every one of you on your incredible scholarly achievements over the past year. We have been impressed by the quality and diversity of your scholarly work. From interdisciplinary clinical research projects that have been submitted to journals across numerous subspecialties, to contributions to the Health Equity and Quality Improvement Summit, you have all demonstrated a passion for excellence and a commitment to advancing the field of medicine. We are grateful for the opportunity to have worked alongside you and to have …

From The Editors, Harrison Bell, Md, Akash Patel, Do, Benjamin Tasevac, Md

The Medicine Forum

We are honored to present the 24th Annual edition of The Medicine Forum to the Jefferson community. Over the years, it has been remarkable to see the quality and diversity of projects submitted to this forum, and this year is no exception. The Medicine Forum aims to celebrate the scholarly activity among physicians in training at our institution. We hope that this year's edition will continue to honor this long standing tradition. Despite the uncertainties and stressors that are inherent to working in a hospital, our authors have found the time to produce scholarly work that will diversify and further …

From The Desk Of The Residency Program Director, Christopher Henry, Md, Facp

The Medicine Forum

It is my pleasure to introduce myself to you for the first time as Program Director, as I also introduce to you our latest edition of The Medicine Forum. Having done my residency training at Jefferson, I am so proud that the tradition of this journal has continued throughout the years despite new residents, new leadership, and new challenges both locally and globally. Our residents’ commitment to not only patient care, but also to scholarship and inquiry remains outstanding and impactful.

Tradition, coming from the Latin word “tradere”, means to transmit, to hand over, or to give for safekeeping; …

Table Of Contents: The Medicine Forum Volume 24, 2022-2023

The Medicine Forum

Table of Contents: The Medicine Forum Volume 24, 2022-2023

The Medicine Forum: Volume 24

The Medicine Forum

The Journal of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital - Department of Internal Medicine, Volume 24, 2022-2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Case Reports
• Ultrasound Education

Impact Of Type Of Induction Therapy On Outcomes In Older Adults With Aml After Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation, Nicholas J Short, Faustine Ong, Farhad Ravandi, Graciela Nogueras-Gonzalez, Tapan M Kadia, Naval Daver, Courtney D Dinardo, Marina Konopleva, Gautam Borthakur, Betul Oran, Gheath Al-Atrash, Rohtesh Mehta, Elias J Jabbour, Musa Yilmaz, Ghayas C Issa, Abhishek Maiti, Richard E Champlin, Hagop Kantarjian, Elizabeth J Shpall, Uday Popat

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Although venetoclax-based lower-intensity regimens have greatly improved outcomes for older adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are unfit for intensive chemotherapy, the optimal induction for older patients with newly diagnosed AML who are suitable candidates for hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is controversial. We retrospectively analyzed the post HSCT outcomes of 127 patients ≥60 years of age who received induction therapy at our institution with intensive chemotherapy (IC; n = 44), lower-intensity therapy (LIT) without venetoclax (n = 29), or LIT with venetoclax (n = 54) and who underwent allogeneic HSCT in the first remission. The 2-year relapse-free survival …

Early-Onset/Young-Onset Colorectal Carcinoma: A Comparative Analysis Of Morphological Features And Biomarker Profile, Atif A. Hashmi, Mahnoor Aslam, Khushbakht Rashid, Abrahim H. Ali, Tanim Ud Dowlah, Umair Arshad Malik, Shamail Zia, Sunder Sham, Fazail Zia, Muhammad Irfan

Medical College Documents

Introduction: Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is one of the most common cancers that involve the human body. Young-onset CRC (YO-CRC) or early-onset CRC (EO-CRC) is defined as CRC that develops before the age of 50 years, as opposed to CRC that is diagnosed after the age of 50, referred to as late-onset CRC (LO-CRC). EO-CRC is sparsely studied in our population. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the clinicopathological parameters and biomarker profile of EO-CRC and compared them with those of LO-CRC.
Methods: This was a retrospective study conducted at the Department of Histopathology, Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. A total …

Neurotropic Manifestations As A Potential Risk Factor For Schizophrenia Following In Utero Exposure To Sars-Cov-2, Mir Ali R Talpur, Omar H. Elsayed, Rif S. El-Mallakh

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

Background: COVID-19 infection is associated with neurologic and psychiatric morbidity that suggests a direct effect of the virus or secondary effect of an inflammatory process. These neuropsychiatric consequences may increase the likelihood of schizophrenia in the offspring of women who become infected with COVID-19 during their pregnancy.

Methods: We performed a directed narrative review of the literature focusing on the proposed pathophysiological processes that lead to schizophrenia and known pathological consequences of COVID-19 infection.

Results: Schizophrenia in adult offspring has been associated with maternal infections during pregnancy by a wide range of respiratory and neurotropic pathogens. Spikes in the incidence …

The Neutralization Of The Eosinophil Peroxidase Antibody Accelerates Eosinophilic Mucin Decomposition, Panagiotis Doukas, Jan Paul Frese, Thorsten Eierhoff, Gabriel Hellfritsch, Ben Raude, Michael J Jacobs, Andreas Greiner, Alexander Oberhuber, Alexander Gombert

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication after complex aortic procedures and it is associated with relevant mortality and morbidity. Biomarkers for early and specific AKI detection are lacking. The aim of this work is to investigate the reliability of the NephroCheck bedside system for diagnosing stage 3 AKI following open aortic surgery. In this prospective, multicenter, observational study,- https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04087161 -we included 45 patients undergoing open thoracoabdominal aortic repair. AKI risk (AKIRisk-Index) was calculated from urine samples at 5 timepoints: baseline, immediately postoperatively and at 12, 24, 48, and 72 h post-surgery. AKIs were classified according to the KDIGO …

Clinical And Demographic Factors Associated With Covid-19, Severe Covid-19, And Sars-Cov-2 Infection In Adults: A Secondary Cross-Protocol Analysis Of 4 Randomized Clinical Trials, Deborah A Theodore, Angela R Branche, Lily Zhang, Daniel S Graciaa, Madhu Choudhary, Timothy J Hatlen, Raadhiya Osman, Tara M Babu, Samuel T Robinson, Peter B Gilbert, Dean Follmann, Holly Janes, James G Kublin, Lindsey R Baden, Paul Goepfert, Glenda E Gray, Beatriz Grinsztejn, Karen L Kotloff, Cynthia L Gay, Brett Leav, Jacqueline Miller, Ian Hirsch, Jerald Sadoff, Lisa M Dunkle, Kathleen M Neuzil, Lawrence Corey, Ann R Falsey, Hana M El Sahly, Magdalena E Sobieszczyk, Yunda Huang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

IMPORTANCE: Current data identifying COVID-19 risk factors lack standardized outcomes and insufficiently control for confounders.

OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors associated with COVID-19, severe COVID-19, and SARS-CoV-2 infection.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This secondary cross-protocol analysis included 4 multicenter, international, randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled, COVID-19 vaccine efficacy trials with harmonized protocols established by the COVID-19 Prevention Network. Individual-level data from participants randomized to receive placebo within each trial were combined and analyzed. Enrollment began July 2020 and the last data cutoff was in July 2021. Participants included adults in stable health, at risk for SARS-CoV-2, and assigned to the placebo group …

Disparities In The Operative Experience Between Female And Male General Surgery Residents: A Multi-Institutional Study From The Us Rope Consortium, Leah K Winer, Sarah Kader, Jonathan S Abelson, Austin C Hammaker, Chukwuma N Eruchalu, James C Etheridge, Nancy L Cho, Darci C Foote, Felicia A Ivascu, Savannah Smith, Lauren M Postlewait, Kathriena Greenwell, Katherine M Meister, Kelsey B Montgomery, Polina Zmijewski, Samuel E Byrd, Mary K Kimbrough, Stephen J Stopenski, Jeffry T Nahmias, Jalen Harvey, Deborah Farr, Zachary M Callahan, Joshua A Marks, Christopher C Stahl, Motaz Al Yafi, Jeffrey M Sutton, Ali Elsaadi, Samuel J Campbell, Shah-Jahan M Dodwad, Sasha D Adams, Matthew R Woeste, Robert C G Martin, Purvi Patel, Michael J Anstadt, Bilal Waqar Nasim, Ross E Willis, Jitesh A Patel, Melisa R Newcomb, Brian C George, Ralph C Quillin, Alexander R Cortez

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: To examine differences in resident operative experience between male and female general surgery residents.

BACKGROUND: Despite increasing female representation in surgery, sex and gender disparities in residency experience continue to exist. The operative volume of male and female general surgery residents has not been compared on a multi-institutional level.

METHODS: Demographic characteristics and case logs were obtained for categorical general surgery graduates between 2010 and 2020 from the US Resident OPerative Experience Consortium database. Univariable, multivariable, and linear regression analyses were performed to compare differences in operative experience between male and female residents.

RESULTS: There were 1343 graduates from …

Arsenic Metabolism, Diabetes Prevalence, And Insulin Resistance Among Mexican Americans: A Mendelian Randomization Approach, Margaret C Weiss, Yu-Hsuan Shih, Molly Scannell Bryan, Brian P Jackson, David Aguilar, Eric L Brown, Goo Jun, Craig L Hanis, Maria Argos, Robert M Sargis

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Differences in arsenic metabolism capacity may influence risk for type 2 diabetes, but the mechanistic drivers are unclear. We evaluated the associations between arsenic metabolism with overall diabetes prevalence and with static and dynamic measures of insulin resistance among Mexican Americans living in Starr County, Texas.

METHODS: We utilized data from cross-sectional studies conducted in Starr County, Texas, from 2010-2014. A Mendelian randomization approach was utilized to evaluate the associations between arsenic metabolism and type 2 diabetes prevalence using the intronic variant in the arsenic methylating gene, rs9527, as the instrumental variable for arsenic metabolism. to further assess mechanisms …

Measuring Quality At The Surgeon Level, Elias A Chamely, Jonah J Stulberg

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Patients expect high-quality surgical care and increasingly are looking for ways to assess the quality of the surgeon they are seeing, but quality measurement is often more complicated than one might expect. Measurement of individual surgeon quality in a manner that allows for comparison among surgeons is particularly difficult. While the concept of measuring individual surgeon quality has a long history, technology now allows for new and innovative ways to measure and achieve surgical excellence. However, some recent efforts to make surgeon-level quality data publicly available have highlighted the challenges of this work. Through this chapter, the reader will be …

Immunotherapy-Related Pneumonitis And The Synergic Impact Of Thoracic Radiation And Preexisting Interstitial Lung Disease, Maria Azhar, Rodeo Abrencillo, Saumil Gandhi, Mehmet Altan, Ajay Sheshadri

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are the frontline of therapy for most cancers. Although ICIs are sometimes considered to be less harmful than systemic chemotherapies, ICIs may cause immune-related adverse events, which are cases of off-target inflammation in healthy tissues. Pneumonitis, an immune-related adverse event, is the leading cause of therapy-related mortality with ICIs. The aim of this review is to discuss how preexisting interstitial lung disease (ILD) and thoracic radiation increase the risk for ICI-pneumonitis. We discuss potential mechanisms of lung injury and how pneumonitis may impact cancer treatments.

RECENT FINDINGS: Preexisting ILD and thoracic radiation are …

Endoscopic Mucosal Resection: Tips And Tricks For Gastrointestinal Trainees, Tessa Herman, Bryant Megna, Kumar Pallav, Mohammad Bilal

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) is a minimally invasive, specialized endoscopic technique that is useful in resecting superficial gastrointestinal lesions that are unable to be removed by standard polypectomy. This is typically accomplished using a submucosal injection that lifts the lesion away from the muscularis propria to allow for safe resection of the polyp, either via piecemeal or en bloc resection. Over the years, several techniques exist to perform EMR including conventional EMR or hot EMR, cold EMR and underwater EMR. Despite its established advantages and safety over conventional techniques such as surgery, the adoption of endoscopic resection (and thus the …

Extracorporeal Carbon Dioxide Removal With The Hemolung In Patients With Acute Respiratory Failure: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study, Ravindranath Tiruvoipati, Bindu Akkanti, Kha Dinh, Nicholas Barrett, Alexandra May, Jeremy Kimmel, Steven A Conrad

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives: Extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO 2 R) devices are effective in reducing hypercapnia and mechanical ventilation support but have not been shown to reduce mortality. This may be due to case selection, device performance, familiarity, or the management. The objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness and safety of a single ECCO 2 R device (Hemolung) in patients with acute respiratory failure and identify variables associated with survival that could help case selection in clinical practice as well as future research.

Design: Multicenter, multinational, retrospective review.

Setting: Data from the Hemolung Registry between April 2013 and June …

Steroids For The Treatment Of Viral Encephalitis: A Systematic Literature Review And Meta-Analysis, Emira Hodzic, Rodrigo Hasbun, Alejandro Granillo, Anna R Tröscher, Helga Wagner, Tim J Von Oertzen, Judith N Wagner

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Specific antiviral treatment is only available for a small subset of viral encephalitis (VE). Adjunctive steroids are used, but there is scant evidence evaluating its utility. We present a systematic review and meta-analysis on the outcome of steroid use in VE.

Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review and reported it according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standards. Two observational studies from unpublished or partially published data were added. For the meta-analysis, we employed the metaphor package of the statistical software R-4.3.1.

Results: We screened 378 studies and included 50. 155 patients were …

Are There Sex Differences In Interactive Associations Of Environmental Exposure To Lead (Pb), Mercury (Hg), And Manganese (Mn) With Gst Genes (Gstp1, Gstt1, And Gstm1) In Relation To Asd In Jamaican Children?, Hiba T Zwiya, Maureen Samms-Vaughan, Jan Bressler, Minjae Lee, Courtney Byrd-Williams, Manouchehr Hessabi, Megan L Grove, Sydonnie Shakespeare-Pellington, Katherine A Loveland, Mohammad H Rahbar

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Male preponderance is well-established in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Glutathione S-transferase (GST) genes play a crucial role in suppressing oxidative stress triggered by environmental stressors.

Objective: To determine whether the association between metals and ASD differs by sex and by GST genes.

Methods: Using data from 344 pairs of sex-and age-matched cases and controls, we assessed the association of each metal with ASD or ASD severity, by applying conditional logistic regression (CLR) or general linear models (GLM). Sex was assessed as an effect modifier in separate GST genetic models.

Results: For Pb exposure, using a recessive model …