Predictors of Need for Home Health Services at Discharge for Thoracic Surgery Patients.

Background: In patients undergoing general thoracic surgery, the need for home health (HH) services at discharge increases hospital length of stay. We sought to identify preoperative predictors of HH needs for these patients.

Methods: This was a single-institution, retrospective analysis of patients undergoing elective, nonambulatory thoracic surgical procedures from January 2017 through June 2021.

Predictors of Opioid Prescription Refill After Lung Cancer Resection.

Introduction: Thoracic surgery patients are among the least likely to be on opioids before surgery but have the highest rate of new persistent opioid use after surgery compared to other surgical cohorts. Nearly 27% of opioid-naïve lung cancer resection patients become new persistent opioid users. We aimed to identify risk factors for postdischarge opioid prescription refill within 90 ds of surgery for lung cancer resection patients.

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Expert Consensus Statements on a Framework for a Standardized National Robotic Curriculum for Thoracic Surgery Trainees.

Objective: With robotic technology's rapid growth and integration, an urgent need to bridge the educational gap in thoracic surgical training has emerged. This document, a result of consensus among a group of experts in the practice and training of robotic surgery from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, aims to provide a framework for a standardized national robotic curriculum for thoracic surgery trainees.

Methods: The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Task Force on Robotic Thoracic Surgery and Workforce on E-learning and Educational Innovation assembled an expert group with the input of the Thoracic Surgery Director's Association.

Predictors of Discharge With Supplemental Oxygen After Lobectomy for Lung Cancer.

Background: Before lung cancer resection, patients inquire about dyspnea and the potential need for supplemental oxygen. The objective of this study was to identify predictors of discharge with supplemental oxygen for patients undergoing lobectomy for lung cancer.

Methods: Using The Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database, study investigators conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent lobectomy for lung cancer from July 2018 to December 2021.

Operating on A Bias: A Review of Cultural Competency Curricula in Surgical Residencies and a Call for Systemic Change.

Background: Several factors contribute to surgical outcome disparities, including structural racism and implicit bias. Research into how surgical residency programs intervene on Cultural Complications via education remains sparse. We review the literature for how surgical residency programs use education to combat staff and patient exposure to Cultural Complications.

Dissecting Diversity: A Comprehensive Look at the Present Landscape and Future Challenges in Surgical Specialties.

Background: As the US demographic evolves, surgical fields must adapt to ensure equitable healthcare. Healthcare disparities notably affect minority populations, with communities of color often facing physician shortages and higher rates of diseases such as coronary disease, stroke, and cancer. Research shows that minority physicians significantly improve patient satisfaction and outcomes in underserved communities, highlighting the need for increased physician diversity to enhance cultural competency and patient centered care.

Imaging of pediatric skull lytic lesions: A review.

Skull lesions in pediatric population are common findings on imaging and sometimes with heterogeneous manifestations, constituting a diagnostic challenge. Some lesions can be misinterpreted for their aggressiveness, as with larger lesions eroding cortical bone, containing soft tissue components, leading to excessive and, in some cases, invasive inappropriate etiological investigation. In this review, we present multiple several conditions that may present as skull lesions or pseudolesions, organized by groups (anatomic variants, congenital and development disorders, traumatic injuries, vascular issues, infectious conditions, and tumoral processes).

Emerging precision neoadjuvant systemic therapy for patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer: current status and perspectives.

Over the past decade, targeted therapy for oncogene-driven NSCLC and immune checkpoint inhibitors for non-oncogene-driven NSCLC, respectively, have greatly improved the survival and quality of life for patients with unresectable NSCLC. Increasingly, these biomarker-guided systemic therapies given before or after surgery have been used in patients with early-stage NSCLC. In March 2022, the US FDA granted the approval of neoadjuvant nivolumab and chemotherapy for patients with stage IB-IIIA NSCLC.

Racial Health Disparities Research in Cardiothoracic Surgery Under-represented in Major Meetings.

Introduction: Black/African Americans and Latinos face significant health disparities and systemic inequities. Heart and lung disease are leading factors affecting morbidity and mortality in these groups. Given this disparity, we sought to determine how often this topic is presented at the most relevant United States annual cardiothoracic surgery meetings.

Dscam1 overexpression impairs the function of the gut nervous system in Drosophila.

Background: Down syndrome (DS) patients have a 100-fold increase in the risk of Hirschsprung syndrome of the colon and rectum (HSCR), a lack of enteric neurons in the colon. The leading DS candidate gene is trisomy of the Down syndrome cell adhesion molecule (DSCAM).

Results: We find that Dscam1 protein is expressed in the Drosophila enteric/stomatogastric nervous system (SNS).

Comprehensive Review of Chest Tube Management: A Review.

Importance: Thoracostomy, or chest tube placement, is used in a variety of clinical indications and can be lifesaving in certain circumstances. There have been developments and modifications to thoracostomy tubes, or chest tubes, over time, but they continue to be a staple in the thoracic surgeon's toolbox as well as adjacent specialties in medicine. This review will provide the nonexpert clinician a comprehensive understanding of the types of chest tubes, indications for their effective use, and key management details for ideal patient outcomes.

Social Disparities in Thoracic Surgery Education.

Despite an ever-diversifying US population, women, and underrepresented minorities lack proportionate membership in the CT surgery workforce. CT surgery is the surgical specialty practiced by the oldest surgeons as a group. This highlights a deficit within our specialty and foreshadows a shrinking of the CT surgery workforce that will be compounded by a lack of diversity as the workforce ages.

Cardiothoracic Surgery Training Program Director Awareness of Available Visiting Medical Student Clerkships for the Underrepresented in Medicine.

A diversity gap exists within cardiothoracic (CT) surgery that might be addressed with currently available medical student pipeline programs. We sought to assess CT surgery residency/fellowship program directors' (PD) awareness of and participation in underrepresented in medicine visiting medical student clerkship programs (UIM-VMSCPs). We reviewed the ACGME program finder database and medical school websites to identify thoracic surgery training programs that: (1) offer visiting student clerkships (VSCs), (2) are affiliated with an institution offering a UIM-VMSCP, (3) are at an institution where the existing UIM-VMSCP specifically offers rotations in CT surgery.

Drug-related demyelinating syndromes: understanding risk factors, pathophysiological mechanisms and magnetic resonance imaging findings.

Some drugs and medications can precipitate immune system deregulations, which might be confused with recurrent demyelinating diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMO), exacerbations of an existing disease, neoplastic lesions or other conditions. In this narrative review we describe some of the most relevant drugs and medications associated with iatrogenic demyelination. The anthelminthic agent levamisole is a frequent cocaine adulterant and can precipitate an exacerbated immune response attacking the central nervous system (CNS).

ATP6V1B2-related epileptic encephalopathy.

ATP6V1B2 encodes a subunit of the lysosomal transmembrane proton pump necessary for adequate functioning of several acid hydrolases. De novo monoallelic variants of this gene have been associated with two distinct phenotypes: Zimmermann-Laband syndrome 2 (ZLS2), an intellectual deficiency/multiple malformation syndrome, and dominant deafness onychodystrophy (DDOD), a multiple malformation syndrome without cognitive involvement. Epilepsy is not observed in DDOD, is variably present in ZLS2, but is a common feature in Zimmermann-Laband syndrome 1 (ZLS1) (caused by monoallelic pathogenic variants in KCNH1) and Zimmermann-Laband syndrome-like (ZLSL) (associated with KCNK4 variants).

Acute pancreatitis in Chile: A multicenter study on epidemiology, etiology and clinical outcome. Retrospective analysis of clinical files.

Background: Epidemiology of acute pancreatitis (AP) is variable in different geographical regions.

Objectives: To compare etiology and severity of AP to published data from South America and the rest of world, study impact of demographical factors and treatment on its outcome in Chilean hospitals.

Methods: Multicenter observational study.