Articles: cations.
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Although blunt cerebrovascular injuries (BCVIs) are relatively common in patients with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), uncertainty remains regarding optimal management strategies to prevent neurological complications, morbidity, and mortality. Our objectives were to characterize common care patterns; assess the prevalence of adverse outcomes, including stroke, functional deficits, and death, by BCVI grade; and evaluate therapeutic approaches to treatment in patients with BCVI and TBI. ⋯ In patients with TBI, BCVIs impart greater risk for stroke and other associated morbidities as their severity increases. It may prove difficult to mitigate high-grade BCVI-related stroke, considering most events occur in the acute window. The paucity of late time frame strokes suggest that current management strategies do help mitigate risks.
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Preoperative anemia is known to be associated with perioperative complications in many surgical interventions. Here, we examine the effects of preoperative anemia on peri-operative complications and postoperative outcomes in pediatric patients undergoing spinal fusion. ⋯ Preoperative anemia leads to worse outcomes in pediatric spinal fusion procedures. Utilizing HCT recordings could be factored into the equation for optimal patient selection and prevention of post-operative complications.
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Pain and mood disturbances, such as anxiety and depression, are common symptoms in gynecologic cancer. Their associations and the role of personality traits in pain adaptation during chemotherapy remain unclear. This ancillary data analysis aimed to investigate these relationships. ⋯ This study highlights the dynamic nature of pain and its associations with anxiety and depression in individuals with gynecologic cancer undergoing chemotherapy. The findings have implications for understanding pain and developing tailored psychosocial symptom management interventions to prevent pain during chemotherapy.
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There is limited evidence studying the relationship of liver segmental dose and segmental volume changes. The segmental dose thresholds could potentially allow for segmental regeneration after liver stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). Given improved survival in hepatocellular cancer (HCC) and liver metastases and more salvage therapy options, this has become an important clinical question to explore. This study assesses the impact of liver segmental dose on segmental volume changes (gain or loss) after SBRT. ⋯ We propose from the findings of this study that in SBRT for large hepatocellular cancer or liver metastases, liver segments should be individually delineated. Furthermore, 3-5 liver segments may be preferentially subjected to <9 Gy to facilitate hepatocyte regeneration. Preferential sparing of uninvolved liver segments may improve outcomes in liver stereotaxyas lower segmental doses were associated with liver regeneration. This may have implications on future liver SBRT planning where segmental doses may be as important as the mean dose.
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Background: Thermal injury is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the pediatric population worldwide with secondary infection being the most common acute complication. Suppression of innate and adaptive immune function is predictive of infection in pediatric burn patients, but little is known about the mechanisms causing these effects. Circulating mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which induces a proinflammatory signal, has been described in multiple disease states but has not been studied in pediatric burn injuries. ⋯ Conclusion: IC patients experienced a significant increase in circulating mtDNA quantity over time, demonstrating an association between increased mtDNA release and proinflammatory phenotype in the burn patients. IP patients had significant increases in mtDNA mutation load likely representative of degree of oxidative damage. Together, these data provide further insight into the inflammatory and immunological mechanisms after pediatric thermal injury.