Predictors of Plastic Surgery Applicant Success: An Analysis of the Texas STAR Database.

INTRODUCTION: Integrated plastic surgery residency is one of the most competitive medical specialties. Although previous studies have surveyed integrated plastic surgery residency program directors regarding desired applicant characteristics, there is a paucity of literature assessing detailed application characteristics and reported match outcomes from applicants in recent application cycles. This study examines application characteristics associated with matching into integrated plastic surgery residency from 2017 to 2023. METHODS: The authors accessed the Texas Seeking Transparency in Application to Residency database, which contains survey information from graduating medical students nationwide regarding residency application characteristics and specialties/programs to which applications were submitted. Characteristics of matched versus unmatched applicants between 2017 and 2023 were compared using χ 2 and 2-sided, independent t tests. Univariate logistic regression models were used to assess predictors of a successful match. RESULTS: A total of 381 integrated plastic surgery residency applicants responded to the Texas Seeking Transparency in Application to Residency survey from 2017 to 2023. Mean United States Medical Licensing Exam Step 2 CK scores; the number of away rotations, interview offers, and honored clerkships; and Alpha Omega Alpha membership rate were significantly associated with and predictive of matching. Preference signaling of programs was associated with an increased interview offer rate. CONCLUSIONS: Higher board examination scores, increasing numbers of honored clerkships, away rotations, and Alpha Omega Alpha membership were identified as statistically significant predictors of matching into integrated plastic surgery residency. Prospective applicants should use this information to help guide their efforts in these areas that appear to be associated with a successful transition to residency.

Rates of breast reconstruction uptake and attitudes toward breast cancer and survivorship among south asians: A literature review.

Our aim in this review was to ascertain rates of breast reconstruction among South Asian patients and identify attitudes towards breast cancer, survivorship, and breast reconstruction. Mastectomy rates for South Asian patients ranged from 52% to 77% and reconstruction following mastectomy varied from 0% to 14%. A negative perception of cancer, fears of social isolation, and taboos around breasts can prevent South Asian women from receiving surgical care after a breast cancer diagnosis.

Developing Expert Gaze Pattern in Laparoscopic Surgery Requires More than Behavioral Training.

Expertise in laparoscopic surgery is realized through both manual dexterity and efficient eye movement patterns, creating opportunities to use gaze information in the educational process. To better understand how expert gaze behaviors are acquired through deliberate practice of technical skills, three surgeons were assessed and five novices were trained and assessed in a 5-visit protocol on the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery peg transfer task. The task was adjusted to have a fixed action sequence to allow recordings of dwell durations based on pre-defined areas of interest (AOIs). Trained novices were shown to reach more than 98% (M = 98.62%, SD = 1.06%) of their behavioral learning plateaus, leading to equivalent behavioral performance to that of surgeons. Despite this equivalence in behavioral performance, surgeons continued to show significantly shorter dwell durations at visual targets of current actions and longer dwell durations at future steps in the action sequence than trained novices (ps ≤ .03, Cohen's ds > 2). This study demonstrates that, while novices can train to match surgeons on behavioral performance, their gaze pattern is still less efficient than that of surgeons, motivating surgical training programs to involve eye tracking technology in their design and evaluation.

"Summer hypokalemia" as an initial presentation of cystic fibrosis in a morbidly obese African American adult: case report.

BACKGROUND: Most patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) present with respiratory or digestive symptoms. About 3% of patients have electrolyte disturbances at the time of diagnosis, but most of the described cases presenting with this manifestation have been in children. Only 3 adult patients are identified in the literature who first presented with hypokalemia. We describe a morbidly obese African American adult who presented with severe hypokalemia and metabolic alkalosis, which eventually led to the diagnosis of CF after multiple hospitalizations over 4 consecutive summers. Besides being the first African American adult with this presentation, he had the highest BMI, lowest serum potassium, highest pH, and highest bicarbonate level. CASE PRESENTATION: In the summer of 2015, a 26 year-old African American man presented to the hospital for generalized weakness. His BMI was 54 kg/M2, and he had been on a special diet for a few months with a weight loss of 50 pounds. He sweated profusely while working as a chef. Laboratory tests showed severe hypokalemia and metabolic alkalosis. Further work-up pointed toward extrarenal losses of potassium. He was treated with intravenous normal saline and potassium chloride. After discharge, his potassium level remained normal through the winter while the potassium was tapered off. However, over the following three summers, he repeatedly presented to hospitals for the same problems. Cystic fibrosis was suspected and confirmed by an abnormal pilocarpine sweat test. Gene test revealed two mutations of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). Thereafter, his potassium level remained normal with potassium replacement during summertime. Unexpectedly, however, his BMI rose to 83 kg/M2 after he stopped the special diet for weight reduction. The reason for the delayed diagnosis is discussed. CONCLUSION: We present an exceedingly rare case of CF in a morbidly obese African American adult male whose only manifestation of CF was hypokalemia and metabolic alkalosis. Clinicians should keep an open mind to the diagnosis of CF in ethnically diverse populations, even if it seems unlikely at first glance. For "summer hypokalemia", consider cystic fibrosis.

Clinical significance of cation channel antibodies in motor neuron disease.

INTRODUCTION: Antibodies against cation channels, including voltage-gated potassium channel (VGKC) complex, voltage-gated calcium channel (VGCC), and ganglionic acetylcholine receptor (gAChR), are detected in subgroups of autoimmune disorders, and rarely occur in motor neuron disease (MND). METHODS: This investigation was a case-control study of 28 MND patients positive for cation channel antibodies in comparison with 56 age/gender/onset/diagnostic-category-matched MND patients without such antibodies. RESULTS: One or more cation channel antibodies were detected in 6.9% of MND patients, mostly at low titers. The rate of MND progression determined by the revised ALS Functional Rating Scale-revised (ALSFRS-R) and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was statistically indistinguishable between the antibody-positive and control groups. Incidence rates of cancer and coexisting autoimmune disorders were similar between both groups, based on non-comprehensive screening. CONCLUSION: Cation channel antibodies in MND patients do not appear to affect disease progression. Routine testing for paraneoplastic antibodies is probably of limited usefulness in most MND patients. Muscle Nerve 54: 228-231, 2016.

Katanin regulates dynamics of microtubules and biogenesis of motile cilia.

The in vivo significance of microtubule severing and the mechanisms governing its spatial regulation are not well understood. In Tetrahymena, a cell type with elaborate microtubule arrays, we engineered null mutations in subunits of the microtubule-severing complex, katanin. We show that katanin activity is essential. The net effect of katanin on the polymer mass depends on the microtubule type and location. Although katanin reduces the polymer mass and destabilizes the internal network of microtubules, its activity increases the mass of ciliary microtubules. We also show that katanin reduces the levels of several types of post-translational modifications on tubulin of internal and cortical microtubules. Furthermore, katanin deficiencies phenocopy a mutation of beta-tubulin that prevents deposition of polymodifications (glutamylation and glycylation) on microtubules. We propose that katanin preferentially severs older, post-translationally modified segments of microtubules.