Antinociceptive Effects of Spinal Manipulative Therapy on Nociceptive Behavior of Adult Rats during the Formalin Test

Optimizing pain relief resulting from spinal manipulative therapies, including low velocity variable amplitude spinal manipulation (LVVA-SM), requires determining their mechanisms. Pain models that incorporate simulated spinal manipulative therapy treatments are needed for these studies. The antinociceptive effects of a single LVVA-SM treatment on rat nociceptive behavior during the commonly used formalin test were investigated. Dilute formalin was injected subcutaneously into a plantar hindpaw. Licking behavior was video-recorded for 5 minutes. Ten minutes of LVVA-SM at 20° flexion was administered with a custom-made device at the lumbar (L5) vertebra of isoflurane-anesthetized experimental rats (n=12) beginning 10 minutes after formalin injection. Hindpaw licking was video-recorded for 60 minutes beginning 5 minutes after LVVA-SM. Control rats (n=12) underwent the same methods except for LVVA-SM. The mean times spent licking the formalin-injected hindpaw of both groups 1–5 minutes after injection were not different. The mean licking time during the first 20 minutes post-LVVA-SM of experimental rats was significantly less than that of control rats (P<0.001). The mean licking times of both groups during the second and third 20 minutes post-LVVA-SM were not different. Administration of LVVA-SM had a short-term, remote antinociceptive effect similar to clinical findings. Therefore, mechanistic investigations using this experimental approach are warranted

Exertional Dyspnea as a Symptom of Infrarenal Aortic Occlusive Disease

Advanced atherosclerosis of the aorta can cause severe ischemia in the kidneys, refractory hypertension, and claudication. However, no previous reports have clearly associated infrarenal aortic stenosis with shortness of breath. A 77-year-old woman with hypertension and hyperlipidemia presented with exertional dyspnea. Despite extensive testing and observation, no apparent cause for this patient\u27s dyspnea was found. Images revealed severe infrarenal aortic stenosis. After the patient underwent stenting of the aortic occlusion, she had immediate symptomatic improvement and complete resolution of her dyspnea within one month. Twelve months after vascular intervention, the patient remained asymptomatic. In view of the distinct and lasting elimination of dyspnea after angioplasty and stenting of a nearly occluded infrarenal aortic lesion, we hypothesize that infrarenal aortic stenosis might be a treatable cause of exertional dyspnea. Clinicians should consider infrarenal aortic stenosis as a possible cause of dyspnea. Treatment of the stenosis might relieve symptoms

Development and validation of the Medical Student Scholar-Ideal Mentor Scale (MSS-IMS)

Abstract Background Programs encouraging medical student research such as Scholarly Concentrations (SC) are increasing nationally. However, there are few validated measures of mentoring quality tailored to medical students. We sought to modify and validate a mentoring scale for use in medical student research experiences. Methods SC faculty created a scale evaluating how medical students assess mentors in the research setting. A validated graduate student scale of mentorship, the Ideal Mentor Scale, was modified by selecting 10 of the 34 original items most relevant for medical students and adding an item on project ownership. We administered this 11-item assessment to second year medical students in the Johns Hopkins University SC Program from 2011 to 2016, and performed exploratory factor analysis with oblique rotation to determine included items and subscales. We correlate overall mentoring quality scale and subscales with four student outcomes: ‘very satisfied’ with mentor, ‘more likely’ to do future research, project accepted at a national meeting, and highest SC faculty rating of student project. Results Five hundred ninety-eight students responded (87% response rate). After factor analysis, we eliminated three items producing a final scale of overall mentoring quality (8 items, Cronbach’s alpha = 0.92) with three subscales: advocacy, responsiveness, and assistance. The overall mentoring quality scale was significantly associated with all four student outcomes, including mentor satisfaction: OR [(95% CI), p-value] 1.66 [(1.53–1.79), p < 0.001]; likelihood of future research: OR 1.06 [(1.03–1.09), p < 0.001]; abstract submission to national meetings: OR 1.05 [(1.02–1.08), p = 0.002]; and SC faculty rating of student projects: OR 1.08 [(1.03–1.14), p = 0.004]. Each subscale also correlated with overall mentor satisfaction, and the strongest relationship of each subscale was seen with ‘mentor advocacy.’ Conclusions Mentor quality can be reliably measured and associates with important medical student scholarly outcomes. Given the lack of tools, this scale can be used by other SC Programs to advance medical students’ scholarship

Superficial temporal artery calcification in patients with end-stage renal disease: Association with vascular risk factors and ischemic cerebrovascular disease

Background And Purpose: Extracranial superficial temporal artery (STA) calcification is an unusual finding seen in Patients with chronic kidney disease and has unknown ramifications with respect to intracranial ischemic disease. We sought to determine the association between the risk factors for vascular calcification and this rare phenomenon, in Patients with chronic renal failure, and to assess the coexistence of cerebral ischemia. Materials And Methods: Medical records and laboratory data on risk factors for vascular calcification were retrospectively retrieved for 453 Patients with a discharge diagnosis of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). CT head examinations were reviewed to identify and associate STA calcification with 1) risk factors for the vascular calcification, 2) intracranial artery calcification, and 3) cerebral ischemia (white matter and/or cortical ischemic changes). Results: STA calcification was present in 9.9% (45/453) of the studied cohort. The prevalence of cerebral ischemia was 24.4% (11/45) in Patients with STA calcification and 9.3% (38/408) in Patients without it. Diabetes mellitus (OR: 2.56, 95% CI: 1.059-6.208, P=0.037) was independently associated with the risk of STA calcification. The risk of cerebral ischemia, however, was not related to STA calcification (P=0.221). Conclusion: The presence of diabetes mellitus is important in describing the risk of STA calcification in Patients with ESRD, whereas age, gender, hypertension, serum calcium, serum phosphate, or serum hemoglobin levels are not. The risk of cerebral ischemia is not related to STA calcification but has the strongest association with diabetes mellitus

Education in nephrology fellowship: a survey-based needs assessment.

Educational needs assessments for nephrology fellowship training are limited. This study assessed fellows\u27 perceptions of current educational needs and interest in novel modalities that may improve their educational experience and quantified educational resources used by programs and fellows. We distributed a seven-question electronic survey to all United States-based fellows receiving complimentary American Society of Nephrology (ASN) membership at the end of the 2015-2016 academic year in conjunction with the ASN Nephrology Fellows Survey. One third (320 of 863; 37%) of fellows in Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited positions responded. Most respondents rated overall quality of teaching in fellowship as either good (37%) or excellent (44%), and most (55%) second-year fellows felt fully prepared for independent practice. Common educational resources used by fellows included UpToDate