Marijuana's Influence on Pain Scores, Initial Weight Loss, and Other Bariatric Surgical Outcomes.

Introduction: Pain management can be challenging following bariatric surgery, and patients with obesity tend to increase opioid use after undergoing surgery. This report quantifies marijuana (MJ) use and its relationship to pain and other surgery-related outcomes in a population from a state that has legalized MJ.

Methods: Data were collected for consecutive patients undergoing weight reduction surgeries between May 1, 2014 and July 31, 2015.

Hyperthyroidism · myalgia · rapidly progressing paralysis · Dx?

A 26-year-old Hispanic woman presented to the emergency department (ED) with myalgia and weakness. There were no prior symptoms and family history was negative for endocrinopathies. She was admitted and started on methimazole 10 mg twice a day for thyroid suppression and given propranolol 10 mg twice a day for anticipated hyperadrenergic adverse effects.

Laparoscopic management of duodenal obstruction resulting from superior mesenteric artery syndrome.

Importance: Duodenal obstruction by compression from the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) can be managed using minimally invasive techniques initially developed for bariatric patients requiring gastric bypass.

Observations: This retrospective review evaluates 12 patients with SMA syndrome who were treated with laparoscopic enteric bypass. Technical considerations are presented in detail.

A Clinician's Guide to the Diagnosis and Management of Gallbladder Volvulus.

Introduction: Gallbladder volvulus (GV), or torsion of the gallbladder, is an uncommon surgical emergency. This article reviews the world literature related to GV. We examine the history of gallbladder torsion and highlight the critical constellation of presenting signs and symptoms, which guide the acute care physician and surgeon to accurate and timely diagnosis of GV before surgical intervention.

Identification of novel candidate oncogenes and tumor suppressors in malignant pleural mesothelioma using large-scale transcriptional profiling.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a highly lethal, poorly understood neoplasm that is typically associated with asbestos exposure. We performed transcriptional profiling using high-density oligonucleotide microarrays containing approximately 22,000 genes to elucidate potential molecular and pathobiological pathways in MPM using discarded human MPM tumor specimens (n = 40), normal lung specimens (n = 4), normal pleura specimens (n = 5), and MPM and SV40-immortalized mesothelial cell lines (n = 5). In global expression analysis using unsupervised clustering techniques, we found two potential subclasses of mesothelioma that correlated loosely with tumor histology.