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The medical affidavit is critically significant for asylum seekers. Studies have shown that asylum seekers applying with a medical affidavit (versus without a medical affidavit) have double the success rate. There are many training resources for clinician-evaluators on the interviewing process, but little instruction exists on the affidavit writing process. Our objective was to identify the most common narrative elements in medical affidavits of successful (versus unsuccessful) asylum seekers to provide further writing guidance for clinician-evaluators. We hypothesized that these elements, when thoughtfully employed, help clinician-evaluators best represent their clients in the US immigration system. We focused on the most vulnerable applicants: those applying after the one-year deadline. Using grounded theory, we coded 23 affidavits filed after the one-year deadline for narrative elements. We identified seven narrative elements more common in medical affidavits of asylum seekers who filed after the one-year deadline and were successful: (1) Recommending specific clinical interventions; (2) Quoting elevated diction by the client; (3) Using headlines; including anecdotes that describe (4) The client forming human connections, (5) Archetypal female characters, (6) Love stories, or (7) Moments of realization., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Authors report no competing interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.)

Background: Refractory ventricular dysrhythmia, or electrical storm, is a cardiac condition consisting of three or more episodes of ventricular dysrhythmia resistant to treatment within a 24-hour period. These dysrhythmias carry high morbidity and mortality if not diagnosed and abated promptly. When traditional resuscitative algorithms fail to return a patient to a perfusing rhythm, providers need to consider other, more novel techniques to terminate these dangerous dysrhythmias. One approach is the use of a stellate ganglion block, which has been documented in the literature only a handful of times for its resuscitative use in cardiac arrest., Case Series: This case series details two cases from an urban emergency department (ED) in a large metropolitan city, where the use of ultrasound-guided stellate ganglion blocks during cardiac arrest provided successful ablation of the tachydysrhythmia. The first case involves a patient who went into cardiac arrest while in the ED and was found to be in refractory pulseless ventricular tachycardiawhile. The second case describes a patient who went into a witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest while with emergency medical services. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: The stellate ganglion block is a procedure currently being used as a treatment modality for a variety of neurologic, psychological, and cardiac conditions. This intervention may provide a viable and lifesaving option for emergency physicians to adopt when traditional resuscitative algorithms fail to break resistant ventricular tachydysrhythmias., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In the variational subspace valence bond (VSVB) [G. D. Fletcher, J. Chem. Phys. 142, 134112 (2015)] method, the electronic orbitals comprising the wave function correspond to chemically meaningful objects, such as bonds, lone pairs, atomic cores, and so on. Selected regions of a molecule (for example, a single chemical bond, as opposed to all the bonds) can be modeled with different levels of basis set and possible methods for modeling correlation from the other regions. The interactions between the components of a molecule (say, a bond and a neighboring orbital) can then be studied in detail for their impact on a chemical phenomenon while avoiding the expense of necessarily applying the higher levels and methods to the entire molecule. This work presents the theoretical basis for modeling correlation effects between specific electron pairs by incorporating terms in the inter-electronic coordinates ("r 12 ") into VSVB. The approach is validated with calculations on small systems using single-reference wave functions.

Objective: The os trigonum is a common cause of posterior ankle impingement in children and adults. Its incidence in the medical literature is controversial. The aim of the study is to determine the incidence of os trigonum, medullary imaging features and size in pediatric patients with suspected posterior ankle impingement., Methods: Fifty-five children (4-16-years-old; 16 girls,) who underwent magnetic resonance ımaging (MRI) with a pre-diagnosis of posterior ankle impingement syndrome (PAIS) were included in the study. Their ankle MRI and lateral radiograms were retrospectively reviewed. The relationship between os trigonum type, size, medullary signal characteristics, and PAIS development was investigated. Skeletal maturity was graded based on the ossification pattern of the calcaneal apophysis. The possible relationship between skeletal maturity and PAIS caused by os trigonum was investigated., Results: Among the 55 participants, there were 14 participants diagnosed with PAIS (9 boys, mean age 15±1.2 years). There was no connection between the os trigonum type, its medullary signal, gender, and PAIS clinical picture (p>0.05). The os trigonum size causing PAIS was 9±3.4 mm on average. There was a statistically significant relationship between PAIS complaints and os trigonum size (p=0.04). There was no significant relationship between calcaneal stage and PAIS clinical picture (p=0.669). When the os trigonum was fused, all participants were at calcaneal stage 3 or higher., Conclusion: MRI is superior in detecting fusion of the os trigonum with the talus, the medullary signal of ossicle, and PAIS findings. The most important factor in the development of PAIS is the size of the os trigonum., (Copyright © by by Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Health - Available online at www.northclinist.com.)

Background: The purpose of this retrospective study is to investigate the association of qualitative and semiquantitative strain elastography (SE) features with factors such as lesion size, skin-to-lesion distance, and patient's age in fibroadenomas and to discuss false-positive results., Methods: A total of 120 lesions that were performed SE with histopathologically confirmed fibroadenoma were included in the study. All images were reviewed from the archiving system with a consensus of two radiologists. Tsukuba elasticity score was used for color scoring (from 1 to 5). Lesions with strain ratio (SR) ≥2.27 and color scale score of 4 or 5 were considered as false positive. The patients were divided into two groups according to the age: <50 and ≥50 years old. Regard of the size, lesions were divided into two groups: <15 mm and ≥15 mm. The distances of the lesions to the skin were also divided into two groups: <5 mm and ≥5 mm. Statistical analysis to identify associations between these groups and SR was carried out with Pearson Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test. The false-positive rates were calculated., Results: There was no statistically significant difference between patients' age, lesion size, skin-to-lesion distance, and SR values. The false-positive rate was 21.66% for SR, while it was 3.33% for color scale., Conclusion: SR values of the fibroadenomas were not affected by factors such as age, lesion size, and depth. In addition, false-positive rates significantly decrease when color scale scores are evaluated for fibroadenomas., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2020 Journal of Medical Ultrasound.)

Introduction: Microvolt T-wave alternans (TWA) is known to be useful in prediction of ischemia and sudden death in high-risk populations and there are no studies in children with chronic renal failure (CRF). Cardiac problems seem to be responsible for an important part of death in children and young adults with CRF. The aim of this study is to evaluate Holter microvolts TWA measurements in children with CRF comparing to the control group., Methods: This prospective study included 40 patients with CRF and 48 healthy controls. The history, echocardiography and microvolt TWA values based on 24-hour ECG recordings of the patients were evaluated. Analysis of microvolt TWA was considered on the basis of three leads (V5, V1 and AVF)., Results: Compared with the controls, the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure values and average heart rates were significantly higher in the children with CRF (p = 0.001 and p = 0.026, respectively). Also, the values of left ventricular internal dimensions at end diastole and end-diastolic volume were significantly higher in CRF group (p = 0.01 and p = 0.049, respectively) and couplet ventricular extrasystole was detected in 2 patients with CRF. Consequently, all TWA values in three leads were increased in CRF group than the control group but the only increase in V5 lead was statistically significant (p = 0.028)., Conclusions: This study has demonstrated that microvolt TWA values increased in pediatric patients with CRF. TWA might be used for early risk assessment in pediatric patients with CRF in the future., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

We investigated the etiology, treatment, and prognosis of patients treated for status epilepticus at a pediatric intensive care unit. Medical records of 89 patients admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit with status epilepticus were reviewed retrospectively. Patients ranged in age from 2 months to 18 years (mean age ± S.D., 4.7 ± 3.8 years). Seizure etiologies comprised remote symptomatic in 47 (52.7%), febrile in 15 (16.9%), acute symptomatic in 12 (13.5%), and unknown in 15 (16.9%). Seizure durations ranged from 30-60 minutes in 58 patients, whereas 31 manifested refractory seizures longer than 60 minutes. Seizure control was achieved within 30 minutes in 55 patients, from 30-60 minutes in 19, and after 60 minutes in 15. Rectal diazepam was administered to 38 (42.7%) patients before admission to the hospital. Length of intensive care unit stay increased with increasing seizure duration (P < 0.05). The total mortality rate was 3.4%. This lower mortality rate may be considered evidence of the effectiveness and reliability of the status epilepticus treatment protocol in our pediatric intensive care unit. Prehospital rectal diazepam administration and the treatment of brain edema in the intensive care unit may be useful in the management of patients with status epilepticus., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The evaluation of orbital blood flow parameters in patients with unilateral pseudoexfoliation syndrome (XFS) and in age-sex-matched control subjects using color Doppler imaging., Methods: This prospective, comparative case series included 33 unilateral XFS patients and 33 age-sex-matched control subjects. Color Doppler imaging was used to evaluate the XFS-affected (Group 1) and -unaffected (Group 2) eyes that were matched with the corresponding side (Groups 3 and 4) of control subjects. All subjects were given a complete ophthalmological examination. A masked radiologist obtained the peak systolic velocity (PSV) and end diastolic velocity (EDV) of ophthalmic (OA), central retinal (CRA), nasal posterior ciliary (NPCA) and temporal posterior ciliary arteries (TPCA) as well as mean velocity of central retinal vein (CRV). Resistivity indices (RI) were calculated., Results: Analysis of peak systolic and end diastolic velocity (PSV, EDV) and RI between Groups 1-2 and 3-4 did not show any significant difference. Comparing Groups 1-3 (corresponding eyes of pseudoexfoliation-affected and control subjects) and Groups 2-4 (corresponding eyes of pseudoexfoliation-unaffected and control subjects) revealed significantly low values for OA, PSV and EDV in both eyes of the XFS patients. The OA RI value in Group 1 was found to be significantly higher than that in Group 3 with the cut-off value of 0.72., Conclusion: These findings suggest that ophthalmic artery hemodynamic parameters change in both eyes of unilateral XFS patients, illustrating out the systemic nature of the disease. We conclude that XFS decreases OA blood flow velocities and increases vascular resistance through progressive build-up.

Lidocaine, a use-dependent Na(+) channel blocker, paradoxically evokes neural activation in the slowly adapting stretch receptor organ of crayfish at 5-10 mmol/l concentration. For elucidating the underlying mechanisms of this paradoxical effect, a series of conventional electrophysiological experiments were performed in the stretch receptor neurons of crayfish. In the presence of tetrodotoxin, lidocaine did not evoke impulse activity, however, a slowly developing and dose-dependent depolarization occurred in both the rapidly and slowly adapting stretch receptors. Similar effects were observed by perfusion of equivalent concentrations of benzocaine but not of procaine or prilocaine. Lidocaine did not evoke neural activity in the rapidly adapting neuron which fires action potential(s) in response to rapid changes in membrane potential. Slowly developing mode of the depolarization indicated the reason why only depolarization but not action potential responses were observed in the rapidly adapting neuron. The depolarizing effect of lidocaine was independent from any ionic channel or exchanger system. However, lidocaine and benzocaine but not procaine and prilocaine evoked a dose-dependent alteration in the input resistance of the neuron. It was proposed that the principal mechanism of the effect could stem from a change in the physical properties of the neuronal membrane.

To investigate whether interleukin-10, a potent anti-inflammatory cytokine, could have a therapeutic effect on rats on that were made pancreatitis by cerulein. Thirty Wistar Albino rats were randomized into sham, pancreatitis, and therapy groups (n = 10 in each). Nothing was applied to the sham group; pancreatitis by inject-ing cerulein (50 micro/g/kg/h) was induced in the pancreatitis and therapy groups. Interleukin-10 (10.000 U) was injected at 1 and 4 h after pancreatitis inductions in the therapy group. The rats were sacrificed at postoperative hour 24. The following parameters were investigated: the leukocyte count, blood glucose, amylase, lipase and tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels in the blood samples; histopathological search, and wet/dry weight ratios of the pancreas tissues. The ratio of wet/dry pancreatic tissue weight, serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha, amylase and lipase lev-els, and histologic damage scores in the pancreatitis and therapy groups were significantly higher when they were compared with the sham group(p < .01). However, all of these values were significantly lower in the therapy groups than in the pancreatitis group (p < .01). Interleukin-10 decreases pancreatic tissue injury induced by cerulein-induced pancreatitis in rats. Nevertheless, more experimental studies are needed to compare endogenous interleukin-10 with exogenous interleukin-10 effects before clinical usage of this drug.

We report a case of pituitary duplication in a neonate girl whose magnetic resonance (MR) images showed unusual findings of hypogenesis of the corpus callosum and oral dermoid. Pituitary duplication is an extremely rare malformation, with only a few previously reported cases. It occurs most commonly in association with complicated midline and skull base anomalies. We present a case of this malformation with special emphasis on the hypogenesis of splenium of the corpus callosum and oral dermoid.

Obstructive jaundice is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Major complications such as pulmonary dysfunction, renal failure and sepsis are frequently encountered. Recent studies and observations suggest that the free oxygen radicals (FORs) produced in obstructive jaundice may play a significant role in the etiopathogenesis of acute renal failure (ARF). Thirty rats were divided into three groups, as sham, control and treatment groups containing 10 rats each. Laparatomy was performed on each animal in the control and treatment groups and common bile ducts were ligated. Common bile duct was observed but was not ligated for the rats in the sham group. Saline solution injection was begun on the first day of surgical procedure and repeated once a day during the following 5 days. The same procedure was performed with oxygen radical scavenger dimethyl sulfoxide (1.5 mg/kg/day i.p.) instead of saline in the treatment group. The rats were sacrificed on the 7th postoperative day. On the 7th postoperative day, the bilirubin, urea and creatinine levels of the control and treatment groups were significantly higher in comparison with the sham group (p < 0.01). Although there was no statistically significant difference between the bilirubin levels of the control and treatment groups (p > 0.05), the urea and creatinine levels in the treatment group were significantly lower (p < 0.01). On the 7th postoperative day, the erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) levels of the control and treatment groups were significantly lower than those of the sham group (p < 0.01), whereas renal and erythrocyte malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were significantly higher (p < 0.01). Although SOD and GSH-Px levels did not differ significantly between the treatment and control groups (p > 0.05), renal and erythrocyte MDA levels of the treatment group were significantly lower than those of the control group (p < 0.01). The histopathological scores were significantly higher in the control and treatment groups (p < 0.01); there was no significant difference between the control and treatment groups (p > 0.05). FORs seem to play a significant role in the etiopathogenesis of renal failure in obstructive jaundice. Antioxidant treatment may decrease oxidative damage due to FORs and may prevent renal failure., (Copyright 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel)