Integration of Electrochemical Sensing and Machine Learning to Detect Tuberculosis via Methyl Nicotinate in Patient Breath.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant global health issue; making early, accurate, and inexpensive point-of-care detection critical for effective treatment. This paper presents a clinical demonstration of an electrochemical sensor that detects methyl-nicotinate (MN), a volatile organic biomarker associated with active pulmonary tuberculosis. The sensor was initially tested on a patient cohort comprised of 57 adults in Kampala, Uganda, of whom 42 were microbiologically confirmed TB-positive and 15 TB-negative. The sensor employed a copper(II) liquid metal salt solution with a square wave voltammetry method tailored for MN detection using commercially available screen-printed electrodes. An exploratory machine learning analysis was performed using XGBOOST. Utilizing this approach, the sensor was 78% accurate with 71% sensitivity and 100% specificity. These initial results suggest the sensing methodology is effective in identifying TB from complex breath samples, providing a promising tool for non-invasive and rapid TB detection in clinical settings.

Risk factors for surgical site infections and assessment of vancomycin powder as a preventive measure in patients undergoing first-time cranioplasty.

OBJECTIVE Craniectomy is often performed to decrease intracranial pressure following trauma and vascular injuries. The subsequent cranioplasty procedures may be complicated by surgical site infections (SSIs) due to prior trauma, foreign implants, and multiple surgeries through a common incision. Several studies have found that intrawound vancomycin powder (VP) is associated with decreased risk of SSIs after spine operations. However, no previously published study has evaluated the effectiveness of VP in cranioplasty procedures. The purpose of this study was to determine whether intrawound VP is associated with decreased risk of SSIs, to evaluate VP's safety, and to identify risk factors for SSIs after cranioplasty among patients undergoing first-time cranioplasty. METHODS The authors conducted a retrospective cohort study of adult patients undergoing first-time cranioplasty for indications other than infections from January 1, 2008, to July 31, 2014, at an academic health center. Data on demographics, possible risk factors for SSIs, and treatment with VP were collected from the patients' electronic health records. RESULTS During the study period, 258 patients underwent first-time cranioplasties, and 15 (5.8%) of these patients acquired SSIs. Ninety-two patients (35.7%) received intrawound VP (VP group) and 166 (64.3%) did not (no-VP group). Patients in the VP group and the no-VP group were similar with respect to age, sex, smoking history, body mass index, and SSI rates (VP group 6.5%, no-VP group 5.4%, p = 0.72). Patients in the VP group were less likely than those in the no-VP group to have undergone craniectomy for tumors and were more likely to have an American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status score > 2. Intrawound VP was not associated with other postoperative complications. Risk factors for SSI from the bivariable analyses were diabetes (odds ratio [OR] 3.65, 95% CI 1.07-12.44), multiple craniotomy procedures before the cranioplasty (OR 4.39, 95% CI 1.47-13.18), prior same-side craniotomy (OR 4.73, 95% CI 1.57-14.24), and prosthetic implants (OR 4.51, 95% CI 1.40-14.59). The multivariable analysis identified prior same-side craniotomy (OR 3.37, 95% CI 1.06-10.79) and prosthetic implants (OR 3.93, 95% CI 1.15-13.40) as significant risk factors for SSIs. After adjusting for potential confounders, patients with SSIs were more likely than those without SSIs to be readmitted (OR 7.28, 95% CI 2.07-25.60). CONCLUSIONS In this study, intrawound VP was not associated with a decreased risk of SSIs or with an increased risk of complications. Prior same-side craniotomy and prosthetic implants were risk factors for SSI after first-time cranioplasty.

Rathke's cleft cyst: A case report of recurrence and spontaneous involution.

Rathke's cleft cysts (RCC) are sellar lesions that typically remain asymptomatic throughout life. Symptomatic patients present with headache, visual disturbance and/or pituitary dysfunction and are treated with resection. We present a 61-year-old woman diagnosed with RCC which was resected twice then recurred before undergoing spontaneous resolution. RCC are often managed without surgical intervention. Some of these lesions may spontaneously resolve without surgical intervention while others may become symptomatic. In patients with asymptomatic recurrent RCC conservative management is recommended. Spontaneous involution may occur following initial resection and recurrence of RCC.

Risk factors associated with distal catheter migration following ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement.

Ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt placement is used to treat hydrocephalus. Shunt migration following VP shunt placement has been reported. The risk factors related to this complication have not been previously evaluated to our knowledge. In this retrospective cohort study, we aimed to determine risk factors leading to distal catheter migration and review the literature on the current methods of management and prevention. Adult patients undergoing VP shunt placement from June 2011 to December 2013 at a single institution were identified using electronic health records. The records were reviewed for demographic and procedural information, and subsequent treatment characteristics. The parameters of patients with distal shunt migration were compared to those undergoing new VP shunt placement for the same time period. We identified 137 patients undergoing 157 new VP shunt procedures with an average age of 57.7 ± standard deviation of 18.4 years old. There were 16 distal shunt migrations. Body mass index >30 kg/m(2) and number of previous shunt procedures were found to be independent risk factors for distal catheter migration. Obesity and number of previous shunt procedures were factors for distal catheter migration. Providers and patients should be aware of these possible risk factors prior to VP shunt placement.