UW Neurological Surgery Recent PubMed Publications

The Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended (GOSE) is the most widely used outcome measure for hospital-based studies of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The GOSE may be administered several ways, the choice depending on the purpose of the research. In this investigation, we evaluated the effect of administering the GOSE to collect functional disability attributed to all injuries sustained (GOSE-All) or excluding the impact of extracranial injuries (GOSE-TBI). We examined the differences in reported...

Because most traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) do not present with objective indicators (e.g., neuroimaging findings) to confirm the diagnosis, clinicians often rely on self- or observer-reporting of alteration of consciousness (AOC; e.g., loss of consciousness [LOC], amnesia, other signs of altered mental status), and symptoms to make diagnoses. Moreover, there is no universal agreement on signs and symptoms to sufficiently diagnose TBI, which leads to variability and ambiguity in how TBI is...

CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight a critical shift in the patterns of mortality and end-of-life care preferences among ischemic stroke patients over the past two decades. These findings highlight significant shifts in the patterns of mortality and location of death among ischemic stroke patients over the past two decades, with notable differences across urbanization levels and racial groups. The increasing proportion of home deaths and persistent disparities in location of death suggest a need...

INTRODUCTION: Weight loss is often recommended as the primary intervention for infertility in individuals with high body mass index. However, focusing on body mass index might overlook other important factors like cardiometabolic health. This study aims to examine cardiometabolic health in patients seeking fertility treatment and its impact on reproductive outcomes.

Osteoarthritis is the third most rapidly growing health condition associated with disability, after dementia and diabetes¹. By 2050, the total number of patients with osteoarthritis is estimated to reach 1 billion worldwide². As no disease-modifying treatments exist for osteoarthritis, a better understanding of disease aetiopathology is urgently needed. Here we perform a genome-wide association study meta-analyses across up to 489,975 cases and 1,472,094 controls, establishing 962 independent...

Neurons in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) receive and transmit sensory information from the tissues they innervate and from the external environment. Upper cervical (C1-C2) DRGs are functionally unique as they receive input from the neck, head, and occipital cranial dura, the latter two of which are also innervated by the trigeminal ganglion (TG). The C2 DRG also plays an important role in neck pain, a common and disabling disorder that is poorly understood. Advanced transcriptomic approaches...

CONCLUSIONS: This initial ex vivo clinical study demonstrated the ability of TumorID to rapidly differentiate and classify various pathologies and surrounding brain in a configuration that can be easily translated to scan in vivo. This classification power could allow TumorID to augment surgical decision-making by enabling rapid intraoperative tissue diagnostics and border delineation, potentially improving patient outcomes by allowing for a more informed and complete resection.

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CONCLUSION: Activities of transcriptional programs offer significantly better prognostic and predictive assessments of treatments across different stages of MM in an individual patient.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The objective was to evaluate the association of subacute postconcussion symptoms (with the total Rivermead Post-Concussion Questionnaire [RPQ] score) with persistent symptoms, functional limitations, and quality of life at 6 months in patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).

CONCLUSIONS: Standardizing QA parameters via injection bias correction improves occlusion prediction accuracy for flow diverter-treated IAs. Adding explainable AI (e.g., LIME) clarifies model decisions, demonstrating the feasibility of clinically interpretable AI-based outcome prediction.

Astrocytes play vital roles in regulating brain states across organisms. Specifically, they serve several roles in regulating breathing behaviors and associated brain states, including facilitating transitions between phases of breathing by sensing small changes in O(2) and CO(2) levels, regulating the sleep-wake cycle, and impacting arousal and wakefulness. Here, we tested the hypothesis that astrocytes in the ventral respiratory column (VRC) are important for arousal and sigh generation in...

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In the NOTIFY-LVH randomized clinical trial, a centralized population health coordinator-led notification and clinical support pathway for individuals with LVH on prior echocardiograms increased the initial treatment of hypertension. This work highlights the potential benefit of leveraging preexisting but potentially underutilized cardiovascular data to improve health care delivery through mechanisms augmenting the traditional ambulatory care system.

Spetzler-Martin Grade IV arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are challenging due to high risks associated with both treatment and natural progression. This study compares the outcomes of microsurgical resection and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in high-grade AVMs, analyzing obliteration rates, complications, and functional outcomes. A retrospective cohort of 96 patients treated with either microsurgical resection (33 patients) or SRS (63 patients) was analyzed. Propensity-score matching was...

Radiation is an effective treatment for many brain tumors, but often causes cognitive impairment. Ultra-high dose rate (FLASH) radiotherapy is less toxic to many normal tissues and may protect against adverse cognitive effects of cranial irradiation. Adult male Sprague Dawley rats received a single 18 Gy fraction of cranial irradiation with protons at 1 Gy/s (CV), 60 Gy/s (FLASH-60), 95 Gy/s (FLASH-95), or sham treatment (Control) (n ≥ 22/group). Rats were tested in open-field, acoustic (ASR)...

Cercospora leaf spot (CLS), caused by the fungus Cercospora beticola, is an important determinant of table beet foliar health. Primary inoculum sources include infested crop residues and alternative hosts, but seed-to-seedling transmission has also been reported. We evaluated the localization of C. beticola in table beet seeds and contribution of infested seeds to CLS outbreaks in field studies. In seed dissection experiments, C. beticola was more frequently isolated from the pericarp (95.6%)...

CONCLUSIONS: FDS treatment for recurrent/residual aneurysms after SAC represents a viable treatment option for these challenging cases with acceptable safety and reasonable occlusion rates, although lower than de novo FDS occlusion rates.

CONCLUSIONS: Onyx, a liquid embolic agent, reduces EBL which may explain the shorter surgery duration, higher GTR rates, and lower retreatment rates. Procedural risks and patient selection require further investigation.

CONCLUSIONS: This international survey of spine surgeons demonstrated that currently, there is limited use of IOUS in the surgical management of acute SCI. Understanding the needs of spine surgeons and tailoring educational opportunities may increase the role of IOUS. Given the importance of surgical decompression in enhancing outcomes after acute SCI coupled with the ability of IOUS to assess decompression, greater adoption of IOUS could further enhance the efficacy of decompressive surgery.

Monitoring the quality of water resources is essential to determine environmental impacts and seek sustainable management solutions. In this work, we demonstrated the toxicity of effluents and surface water of an important river in Central Brazil, the Meia Ponte River, using not just physicochemical parameters but also ecotoxicological bioindicators, such as Aliivibrio fischeri, Allium cepa, Lactuca sativa, and Salmonella typhimurium. To complement this data, we analyzed soil toxicity and...