Significant radiologic factors related to clinical outcomes after arthroscopic rotator cuff retear repair

Background Healing of the tendon itself is not always related to successful clinical outcomes after rotator cuff repair. It was hypothesized that certain radiologic factors affecting clinical outcomes could exist in case of the retear after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR) and the radiologic factors could help predict clinical process. The purpose of this study was to identify the radiologic factors associated with clinical outcomes of the retear after ARCR. Methods Between January 2012 and December 2019, among patients with sufficient footprint coverage for ARCR, 96 patients with Sugaya classification 4 or higher retear on follow-up magnetic resonance imaging were included. The association between clinical outcomes such as American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, Constant score and range of motion and radiologic variables such as initial tear dimension, retear dimension, variance of tear dimension, critical shoulder angle, acromial index, and acromiohumeral distance was analyzed. Results Preoperatively, the ASES and Constant scores were 59.81±17.02 and 64.30±15.27, respectively. And at the last follow-up, they improved to 81.56±16.29 and 78.62±14.16, respectively (p<0.01 and p<0.01). In multiple linear regression analysis, the variance of the mediolateral dimension of tear had statistically significant association with the ASES and Constant scores (p<0.01 and p=0.01). Conclusions In patients with the retear after ARCR, the variance in the mediolateral dimension of tear had significantly negative association with the clinical outcomes. This could be considered to be reference as relative criteria and needed more sample and mechanical study

Downregulation of protein kinase CK2 activity induces age-related biomarkers in C. elegans

Studies show that a decrease in protein kinase CK2 (CK2) activity is associated with cellular senescence. However, the role of CK2 in organism aging is still poorly understood. Here, we investigated whether protein kinase CK2 (CK2) modulated longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans. CK2 activity decreased with advancing age in the worms. Knockdown of kin-10 (the ortholog of CK2 beta) led to a short lifespan phenotype and induced age-related biomarkers, including retardation of locomotion, decreased pharyngeal pumping rate, increased lipofuscin accumulation, and reduced resistance to heat and oxidative stress. The long lifespan of age-1 and akt-1 mutants was significantly suppressed by kin-10 RNAi, suggesting that CK2 acts downstream of AGE-1 and AKT-1. Kin-10 knockdown did not further shorten the short lifespan of daf-16 mutant worms but either decreased or increased the transcriptional activity of DAF-16 depending on the promoters of the target genes, indicating that CK2 is an upstream regulator of DAF-16 in C. elegans. Kin-10 knockdown increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the worms. Finally, the ROS scavenger N-acetyl-L-cysteine significantly counteracts the lifespan shortening and lipofuscin accumulation induced by kin-10 knockdown. Therefore, the present results suggest that age-dependent CK2 downregulation reduces longevity by associating with both ROS generation and the AGE-1-AKT-1-DAF-16 pathway in C. elegans. © Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.1111sci

Incidental thyroid lesions detected by FDG-PET/CT: prevalence and risk of thyroid cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Incidentally found thyroid lesions are frequently detected in patients undergoing FDG-PET/CT. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of incidentally found thyroid lesions in patients undergoing FDG-PET/CT and determine the risk for thyroid cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>FDG-PET/CT was performed on 3,379 patients for evaluation of suspected or known cancer or cancer screening without any history of thyroid cancer between November 2003 and December 2005. Medical records related to the FDG-PET/CT findings including maximum SUV(SUV_max) and pattern of FDG uptake, US findings, FNA, histopathology received by operation were reviewed retrospectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two hundred eighty five patients (8.4%) were identified to have FDG uptake on FDG-PET/CT. 99 patients with focal or diffuse FDG uptake underwent further evaluation. The cancer risk of incidentally found thyroid lesions on FDG-PET/CT was 23.2% (22/99) and the cancer risks associated with focal and diffuse FDG uptake were 30.9% and 6.4%. There was a significant difference in the SUV_maxbetween the benign and malignant nodules (3.35 ± 1.69 vs. 6.64 ± 4.12; P < 0.001). There was a significant correlation between the SUV_maxand the size of the cancer.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results of this study suggest that incidentally found thyroid lesions by FDG-PET/CT, especially a focal FDG uptake and a high SUV, have a high risk of thyroid malignancy. Further diagnostic work-up is needed in these cases.</p

Evaluation of the Clinical and Radiographic Effectiveness of Treating Peri-Implant Bone Defects With a New Biphasic Calcium Phosphate Bone Graft: A Prospective, Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

PURPOSE: Biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP), a widely used biomaterial for bone regeneration, contains synthetic hydroxyapatite (HA) and β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP), the ratio of which can be adjusted to modulate the rate of degradation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical and radiographic benefits of reconstructing peri-implant bone defects with a newly developed BCP consisting of 40% β-TCP and 60% HA compared to demineralized bovine bone mineral (DBBM). METHODS: This prospective, multicenter, parallel, single-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted at the periodontology departments of 3 different dental hospitals. Changes in clinical (defect width and height) and radiographic (augmented horizontal bone thickness) parameters were measured between implant surgery with guided bone regeneration (GBR) and re-entry surgery. Postoperative discomfort (severity and duration of pain and swelling) and early soft-tissue wound healing (dehiscence and inflammation) were also assessed. Data were compared between the BCP (test) and DBBM (control) groups using the independent RESULTS: Of the 53 cases included, 27 were in the test group and 26 were in the control group. After a healing period of 18 weeks, the full and mean resolution of buccal dehiscence defects were 59.3% (n=16) and 71.3% in the test group and 42.3% (n=11) and 57.9% in the control group, respectively. There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of the change in mean horizontal bone augmentation (test group: -0.50±0.66 mm vs. control groups: -0.66±0.83 mm, CONCLUSION: The GBR procedure with the newly developed BCP showed favorable clinical, radiographic, postoperative discomfort-related, and early wound healing outcomes for peri-implant dehiscence defects that were similar to those for DBBM

Depression and suicide risk prediction models using blood-derived multi-omics data

More than 300 million people worldwide experience depression; annually, ~800,000 people die by suicide. Unfortunately, conventional interview-based diagnosis is insufficient to accurately predict a psychiatric status. We developed machine learning models to predict depression and suicide risk using blood methylome and transcriptome data from 56 suicide attempters (SAs), 39 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), and 87 healthy controls. Our random forest classifiers showed accuracies of 92.6% in distinguishing SAs from MDD patients, 87.3% in distinguishing MDD patients from controls, and 86.7% in distinguishing SAs from controls. We also developed regression models for predicting psychiatric scales with R2 values of 0.961 and 0.943 for Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression???17 and Scale for Suicide Ideation, respectively. Multi-omics data were used to construct psychiatric status prediction models for improved mental health treatment

Bloody nipple discharge in an infant

Although milky nipple discharge appears frequently in infants, bloody nipple discharge is a very rare finding. We experienced a 4-month-old, breast-fed infant who showed bilateral bloody nipple discharge with no signs of infection, engorgement, or hypertrophy. The infant's hormonal examination and coagulation tests were normal, and an ultrasound examination revealed mammary duct ectasia. The symptoms resolved spontaneously within 6 weeks without any specific treatment, except that we advised the mother to refrain from taking herbal medicine. Since no such case has been previously reported in Korea, we present this case with a brief review of the literature