UW Neurological Surgery Recent PubMed Publications

CONCLUSIONS: Obesity and comorbidity profiles are associated with an inflammatory response with the potential to impact recovery; consideration of systemic health at the time of injury could improve recovery.

Patients with ischaemic heart disease (IHD) require frequent monitoring, as the transition from stable disease to acute life-threatening events remains largely unpredictable. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs involved in physiological and pathological processes, are released into circulation and remain stable. In this study, we aimed to determine if the serial measurement of cardiovascular-enriched circulating miRNAs could reflect changes in cardiac function in patients with IHD....

Some patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) make a full recovery, while others remain severely disabled. Accurate prognostication is important, because withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy based on perceived poor prognosis is the leading cause of death after TBI. Synchronized activity between brain regions, measurable with resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI), may underlie neurological recovery. However, which functional connections are critical for recovery, and...

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by the absence of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and HER-2 amplification, rendering it unresponsive to endocrine and HER2-targeted therapies. GRP78 (78 kDa glucose-regulated protein), a key endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident chaperone involved in protein folding and stress response, has been observed atypically localized on the cell surface of various cancer and stressed cell types, where it engages in non-canonical...

CONCLUSIONS: Isoflurane causes a failure of SERCA-dependent calcium removal by inhibition of mitochondrial production of ATP. The increase in intracellular calcium leads to early signs of cellular toxicity.

COVID-19 patients experience dynamic changes in immune and cellular function over time, similar to that in sepsis. However, there is insufficient research investigating, at the gene expression level, the mechanisms that become activated or suppressed over time as patients deteriorate or recover. This has potential prognostic and therapeutic implications. In this longitudinal study, 300 whole blood samples were analyzed from 128 adult patients throughout their COVID-19 hospitalization....

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We investigated the genetic and epigenetic regulation of the UBASH3A gene and its association with early-onset sepsis. Using matched whole blood DNA methylation, gene expression, genotypes and immune cell counts from the EPIC-HIPC newborn cohort, we report promoter methylation was negatively correlated (Pearson's r = -0.5, p < 2.2×10-16) with ontogenetic changes in UBASH3A gene expression and circulating CD3+ T-cell numbers. Higher promoter methylation at birth was associated with lower UBASH3A...

CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with TBI meeting screening criteria for PTSD and/or depression have consistently worse cognitive performance over the first year post-injury compared with individuals without psychiatric comorbidities, but the average rate of cognitive improvement over the first year was similar regardless of PTSD/depression status.

In health or medical studies, participants can often experience the outcome(s) of interest multiple times during the observation period, creating recurrent event data. Depending on the primary research objective, advanced statistical methods are required to correctly analyze this special type of data. This tutorial discusses 4 general frameworks, appropriate for analyzing recurrent events data: 1) extended Cox, 2) parametric survival, 3) longitudinal, and 4) multistate models. We present in...

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are essential for brain development and function, affecting inflammation, neurotransmission, and neuroplasticity. These nutrients are associated with benefits in managing stress, sleep disorders, anxiety, and mild cognitive impairment. This study investigated the effects of chronic exposure to varying omega-3 PUFA levels, from gestation to adulthood, on behavioral and molecular aspects related to memory, anxiety, and depression in male mice. Dams...

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this cohort study of service members, clinical outcome clustering revealed key postdeployment subtypes that evolved over time. Cerebellar and brainstem volumes were significantly different by cluster. Regional differences were evident years before when stratified by these 10-year clusters. These findings underscore the need to appreciate not only the heterogeneity of brain injury but the heterogeneity of these mild TBI outcomes.

CONCLUSION: Using FWE tractometry on a large clinical repository, we identified distinct pathology-specific patterns of white matter alteration. Glioblastoma showed extensive direct involvement and peritumoral microstructural changes, while oligodendroglioma demonstrated relatively preserved white matter architecture near tumor margins. These patterns reflect expected biological differences and provide a reproducible framework for characterizing extent of white matter involvement, with potential...

CONCLUSIONS: The bifrontal interhemispheric approach offers the ability to expose large and giant ACoA aneurysms and bilateral A2 vessel aneurysms, which allows an operative corridor for possible bypass revascularization. The results of this approach were excellent, with a low rate of aneurysm recurrence and complications.

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Algae, including both eukaryotes and prokaryotes (cyanobacteria), play a crucial role in aquatic ecosystems. However, eutrophication caused by human activities has led to excessive algal blooms, degrading water quality. Traditional phytoplankton monitoring methods are limited in scale and cost, whereas remote sensing emerges as an efficient alternative, enabling broad and continuous analysis. Chlorophyll-a, a pigment found in algae and cyanobacteria, is a key indicator of phytoplankton biomass...

CONCLUSIONS: In this pilot study, quantitative smartphone pupillometry demonstrates the potential to be a useful tool in the future diagnosis of acute mTBI.

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Rett Syndrome is a rare, x-linked genetic neurological disorder caused by MECP2 gene mutations. This progressive neurodevelopmental disorder hinders patients' ability to breathe and eat normally. It is unclear how Mecp2- deficiency results in a high percentage of dysphagia and aspiration pneumonia in patients with Rett syndrome. We aim to determine the effects of Mecp2 -deficiency on swallow related neuromuscular mechanisms contributing to dysphagia in Rett syndrome. Swallow and breathing were...

INTRODUCTION: Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates among patients receiving care at multiple federally qualified health care centers (FQHCs) in New York city are low. Proactive outreach through mailed fecal immunochemical tests (FIT), reminders and navigation are evidence based interventions to improve CRC screening rates but remain untested in this study population.