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External Ear Malformations (EEM) continue to be a common malformation seen in the pediatric patient population. This study aims to further elucidate the correlation between EEM and cardiac and renal anomalies. A systematic review and meta-analysis to study the incidence of cardiac and renal anomalies associated with syndromic and isolated (EEM). The literature search spanned multiple databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and MEDLINE. Studies must be focused on EEM and cardiac and/or renal anomalies. Only articles written in English were included. General study characteristics, number of EEM patients, number of cardiac and renal anomalies and whether cases were syndromic were extracted from the studies. Of 1,058 initial studies, 33 were included for meta-analyses. Mean JBI score for all included studies was 92.06%, indicating acceptable study quality. Interrater reliability was high, with a Cohen kappa score for all studies of 0.94. The resulting pooled prevalence of cardiac abnormalities was 20% [95% CI:13-28%], while renal abnormalities were 13% [95% CI: 7-20%]. The most common anomalies were VSD (3.725%) and renal agenesis (2.04%). The presence of syndrome data across studies was not a significant modifier of prevalence rates. Primary limitation is due to heterogeneity in individual study methodology and reporting standards. These results highlight a higher prevalence of cardiac-related conditions than renal anomalies in patients with both syndromic and non-syndromic EEM in the included studies, underscoring the need for thorough clinical evaluations.

Purpose To examine clinical outcomes of endovascular and open bypass treatment for aortoiliac occlusive disease (AIOD). Methods Multiple databases were systematically searched to identify studies on open and endovascular treatment for AIOD published from 1989 to 2010. Studies were independently reviewed for eligibility criteria. Study selection and assessment of methodological quality were performed by two independent reviewers. Assuming between-study heterogeneity due to biases inherent to observational studies, a random effects model (DerSimonian-Laird method) was used for calculation of weighted proportions. Pooled weighted proportions or weighted means are reported. Twenty-nine open bypass studies (3733 patients) and 28 endovascular treatment studies (1625 patients) were analyzed. Results Weighted mean patient age was 60.4 years for open bypass and 60.8 years for endovascular treatment. Poor preoperative runoff was greater in the open bypass group (50.0% vs. 24.6%, p<0.001). Mean length of hospital stay (LOS) was 13 days for open bypass vs. 4 days for endovascular treatment procedures (p<0.001). The open bypass group experienced more complications (18.0% vs. 13.4%, p<0.001) and greater 30-day mortality (2.6% vs. 0.7%, p<0.001). At 1, 3, and 5 years, pooled primary patency rates were greater in the open bypass group vs. the endovascular cohort (94.8% vs. 86.0%, 86.0% vs. 80.0%, 82.7% vs. 71.4%, respectively; all p<0.001); the same was true for secondary patency [95.7% vs. 90.0% (p=0.002), 91.5 vs. 86.5% (p<0.001), and 91.0% vs. 82.5% (p<0.001), respectively]. Conclusion Although this study was limited by a paucity of randomized control trials, these results demonstrate superior durability for open bypass, although with longer LOS and increased risk for complications and mortality, when compared to the endovascular approach.

Tissue Engineering (TE) is a newer technology with ongoing development across various areas of healthcare. For microtia patients, TE holds promise as a viable option for ear reconstruction, making it essential to understand the perspectives of patients and guardians. This study aimed to evaluate the perspectives of microtia patients and guardians, specifically investigating levels of awareness, comprehension, and interest in TE. A survey and educational material were distributed to microtia patients and guardians. Surveyors were assessed on a Likert scale, and comparative analyses, including two-sample t-testing and multivariate analysis with logistic regression, were used to observe trends in responses. A total of 40 surveys were recorded. White patients reported greater familiarity with TE. More than half of the respondents expressed an interest in TE as a reconstructive option. Having a doctor provide TE information positively correlated with willingness to adopt TE reconstruction. Understanding of TE positively correlated with willingness to pursue TE for reconstruction. Patients with more severe grade microtia and white patients were more likely to travel to a hospital that offered TE. We found that TE is an unfamiliar concept for most patients. Demographic, socioeconomic, cost, and trust in a doctor played an essential role in patients' and guardians' willingness to choose TE for microtia reconstruction. As TE for reconstruction approaches clinical use, these key considerations from a patient and family-centered lens about TE-based reconstruction is critical for application.

Dermoid cysts are common, benign, embryologically derived soft tissue cysts that can arise at a variety of craniofacial sites. It is not known whether specific histological variations exist between the different craniofacial sites. This study aims to establish whether inter-site histologic differences exist between periorbital, nasal, scalp, and postauricular dermoid cysts and analyze these in context of their distinct embryological origin and varied clinical presentation. A retrospective review of craniofacial dermoid cysts was performed. Using light microscopy with hematoxylin and eosin staining, histological appearance was directly compared between craniofacial sites. All (n = 16) cysts contained keratinizing, stratified squamous epithelial lining, intraluminal keratin, and hair. Sebaceous glands were commonly present (n = 13). Eccrine (sweat) glands were less common (n = 3). Structures of mesodermal origin were seen in three periorbital cysts. Only the six ruptured cysts showed evidence of inflammation. Histological properties of dermoid cysts are conserved between craniofacial sites (periorbital, nasal, scalp, and postauricular). This reflects the consistency of ectodermal inclusion during early embryological development, which is independent of specific craniofacial site or surrounding anatomical structures.

External Ear Malformations (EEM) continue to be a common malformation seen in the pediatric patient population. This study aims to further elucidate the correlation between EEM and cardiac and renal anomalies. A systematic review and meta-analysis to study the incidence of cardiac and renal anomalies associated with syndromic and isolated (EEM). The literature search spanned multiple databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and MEDLINE. Of 1,058 initial studies, 33 were included for meta-analyses. Mean JBI score for all included studies was 92.06%, indicating acceptable study quality. Interrater reliability was high, with a Cohen kappa score for all studies of 0.94. The resulting pooled prevalence of cardiac abnormalities was 20% [95% CI:13-28%], while renal abnormalities were 13% [95% CI: 7-20%]. The most common anomalies were VSD (3.725%) and renal agenesis (2.04%). The presence of syndrome data across studies was not a significant modifier of prevalence rates. These results highlight a higher prevalence of cardiac-related conditions than renal anomalies in patients with both syndromic and non-syndromic EEM in the included studies, underscoring the need for thorough clinical evaluations.

External Ear Malformations (EEM) continue to be a common malformation seen in the pediatric patient population. This study aims to further elucidate the correlation between EEM and cardiac and renal anomalies. A systematic review and meta-analysis to study the incidence of cardiac and renal anomalies associated with syndromic and isolated (EEM). The literature search spanned multiple databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and MEDLINE. Of 1,058 initial studies, 33 were included for meta-analyses. Mean JBI score for all included studies was 92.06%, indicating acceptable study quality. Interrater reliability was high, with a Cohen kappa score for all studies of 0.94. The resulting pooled prevalence of cardiac abnormalities was 20% [95% CI:13-28%], while renal abnormalities were 13% [95% CI: 7-20%]. The most common anomalies were VSD (3.725%) and renal agenesis (2.04%). The presence of syndrome data across studies was not a significant modifier of prevalence rates. These results highlight a higher prevalence of cardiac-related conditions than renal anomalies in patients with both syndromic and non-syndromic EEM in the included studies, underscoring the need for thorough clinical evaluations.

Long COVID, or complications arising from COVID-19 weeks after infection, has become a central concern for public health experts. The United States National Institutes of Health founded the RECOVER initiative to better understand long COVID. We used electronic health records available through the National COVID Cohort Collaborative to characterize the association between SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and long COVID diagnosis. Among patients with a COVID-19 infection between August 1, 2021 and January 31, 2022, we defined two cohorts using distinct definitions of long COVID—a clinical diagnosis ( n  = 47,404) or a previously described computational phenotype ( n  = 198,514)—to compare unvaccinated individuals to those with a complete vaccine series prior to infection. Evidence of long COVID was monitored through June or July of 2022, depending on patients’ data availability. We found that vaccination was consistently associated with lower odds and rates of long COVID clinical diagnosis and high-confidence computationally derived diagnosis after adjusting for sex, demographics, and medical history. The extent to which COVID-19 vaccination protects against long COVID is not well understood. Here, the authors use electronic health record data from the United States and find that, for people who received their vaccination prior to infection, vaccination was associated with lower incidence of long COVID.

Emerging imaging spatial transcriptomics (iST) platforms and coupled analytical methods can recover cell-to-cell interactions, groups of spatially covarying genes, and gene signatures associated with pathological features, and are thus particularly well-suited for applications in formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissues. Here, we benchmark the performance of three commercial iST platforms—10X Xenium, Vizgen MERSCOPE, and Nanostring CosMx—on serial sections from tissue microarrays (TMAs) containing 17 tumor and 16 normal tissue types for both relative technical and biological performance. On matched genes, we find that Xenium consistently generates higher transcript counts per gene without sacrificing specificity. Xenium and CosMx measure RNA transcripts in concordance with orthogonal single-cell transcriptomics. All three platforms can perform spatially resolved cell typing with varying degrees of sub-clustering capabilities, with Xenium and CosMx finding slightly more clusters than MERSCOPE, albeit with different false discovery rates and cell segmentation error frequencies. Taken together, our analyses provide a comprehensive benchmark to guide the choice of iST method as researchers design studies with precious samples in this rapidly evolving field. Wang, Huang, Nelson, Gao, and colleagues perform a head-to-head comparison of multiple platforms for imaging spatial transcriptomics, determining their relative sensitivity, specificity, and ability to identify major cell types in clinical pathology samples.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Emerging imaging spatial transcriptomics (iST) platforms and coupled analytical methods can recover cell-to-cell interactions, groups of spatially covarying genes, and gene signatures associated with pathological features, and are thus particularly well-suited for applications in formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissues. Here, we benchmarked the performance of three commercial iST platforms on serial sections from tissue microarrays (TMAs) containing 23 tumor and normal tissue types for both relative technical and biological performance. On matched genes, we found that 10x Xenium shows higher transcript counts per gene without sacrificing specificity, but that all three platforms concord to orthogonal RNA-seq datasets and can perform spatially resolved cell typing, albeit with different false discovery rates, cell segmentation error frequencies, and with varying degrees of sub-clustering for downstream biological analyses. Taken together, our analyses provide a comprehensive benchmark to guide the choice of iST method as researchers design studies with precious samples in this rapidly evolving field.