Virtual Anesthesiology Medical Student Learning Program Pilot Designed in Response to COVID-19.

Background: This learning opportunity was designed to provide an interactive, virtual, educational anesthesiology program for interested medical students and to offer an opportunity to learn more about an institutional culture through a question and answer (Q&A) with program faculty preceptors for the 2020-2021 anesthesiology residency application cycle. We sought to identify if this virtual learning program was a valuable educational tool through a survey. Methods: A short Likert-scale survey was sent to medical students before and after participation in a session using REDCap electronic data capture tool. We designed the survey to assess the program's self-reported effect on participants' anesthesiology knowledge, and whether the program design was successful in creating a collaborative experience while also providing a forum to explore residency programs. Results: All respondents found the call useful in building anesthesiology knowledge and networking, and 42 (86%) found the call helpful in deciding where to apply for residency. Overall, 100% of respondents found the call useful, collaborative, engaging, and important to define critical thinking skills. Conclusions: The framework used for this program-virtual asynchronous and synchronous problem-based learning-can be applied broadly with potential benefit to medical student participants challenged by the cancellation of clinical rotations.

Perceived Stress, Resilience, and Wellbeing in Seasoned Isha Yoga Practitioners Compared to Matched Controls During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: Yoga practices, including breathing, meditation, and posture protocols (asanas), have been shown to facilitate physical and mental wellbeing. Methods: Seasoned yoga practitioners were recruited from the Isha Foundation. Recruitment of the comparison group was achieved using snowball sampling and were not yoga practitioners. Participants in the non-yoga group were randomized to a 3-min Isha practice or a comparator group asked to perform 15-min of daily reading. Participants completed a series of web-based surveys (REDCap) at baseline, 6, and 12 weeks. These surveys include validated scales and objective questions on COVID-19 infection and medical history. The validated questionnaires assess for: perceived stress (PSS), mood states [anxiety and depression (PHQ-4), joy (DPES-Joy subscale)], mindfulness attention and awareness (MAAS), resilience (BRS), mental wellbeing (WEMWBS) and recovery from traumatic event (PTGI). Weekly activity diaries were employed as a tool for collecting compliance information from study participants. Perceived stress scale scores were identified as primary outcome for this study. Findings: The median Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) score for the yoga practitioners compared to the active and placebo comparators was significantly lower at all time-points: baseline: 11 [IQR 7-15] vs. 16 [IQR 12-21] in both the active and placebo comparators (p < 0.0001); 6 weeks: 9 [IQR 6-13] vs. 12 [IQR 8-17] in the active comparator and 14 [IQR 9-18] in the placebo comparator (p < 0.0001); and 12 weeks: 9 [IQR 5-13] vs. 11.5 [IQR 8-16] in the active comparators and 13 [IQR 8-17] in the placebo comparator (p < 0.0001). Among the randomized participants that were compliant for the full 12 weeks, the active comparators had significantly lower median PSS scores than the placebo comparators 12 weeks [10 (IQR 5-14) vs. 13 (IQR 8-17), p = 0.017]. Further, yoga practitioners had significantly lower anxiety at all three-time points (p < 0.0001), lower depression at baseline and 6 weeks (p < 0.0003), and significantly higher wellbeing (p < 0.0001) and joy (p < 0.0001) at all three-time points, compared to the active and placebo comparator groups. Interpretation: The lower levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and higher level of wellbeing and joy seen in the yoga practitioners compared to the active and placebo comparators illustrate the impact of regular yoga practices on mental health even during the pandemic. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT04498442.

Perioperative Multimodal General Anesthesia Focusing on Specific CNS Targets in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgeries: The Pathfinder Feasibility Trial.

Multimodal general anesthesia (MMGA) is a strategy that utilizes the well-known neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of nociception and arousal control in designing a rational and clinical practical paradigm to regulate the levels of unconsciousness and antinociception during general anesthesia while mitigating side effects of any individual anesthetic. We sought to test the feasibility of implementing MMGA for seniors undergoing cardiac surgery, a high-risk cohort for hemodynamic instability, delirium, and post-operative cognitive dysfunction. Twenty patients aged 60 or older undergoing on-pump coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery or combined CABG/valve surgeries were enrolled in this non-randomized prospective observational feasibility trial, wherein we developed MMGA specifically for cardiac surgeries. Antinociception was achieved by a combination of intravenous remifentanil, ketamine, dexmedetomidine, and magnesium together with bupivacaine administered as a pecto-intercostal fascial block. Unconsciousness was achieved by using electroencephalogram (EEG)-guided administration of propofol along with the sedative effects of the antinociceptive agents. EEG-guided MMGA anesthesia was safe and feasible for cardiac surgeries, and exploratory analyses found hemodynamic stability and vasopressor usage comparable to a previously collected cohort. Intraoperative EEG suppression events and postoperative delirium were found to be rare. We report successful use of a total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA)-based MMGA strategy for cardiac surgery and establish safety and feasibility for studying MMGA in a full clinical trial. Clinical Trial Number: www.clinicaltrials.gov; identifier NCT04016740 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04016740).

Etiology of Burst Suppression EEG Patterns.

Burst-suppression electroencephalography (EEG) patterns of electrical activity, characterized by intermittent high-power broad-spectrum oscillations alternating with isoelectricity, have long been observed in the human brain during general anesthesia, hypothermia, coma and early infantile encephalopathy. Recently, commonalities between conditions associated with burst-suppression patterns have led to new insights into the origin of burst-suppression EEG patterns, their effects on the brain, and their use as a therapeutic tool for protection against deleterious neural states. These insights have been further supported by advances in mechanistic modeling of burst suppression. In this Perspective, we review the origins of burst-suppression patterns and use recent insights to weigh evidence in the controversy regarding the extent to which burst-suppression patterns observed during profound anesthetic-induced brain inactivation are associated with adverse clinical outcomes. Whether the clinical intent is to avoid or maintain the brain in a state producing burst-suppression patterns, monitoring and controlling neural activity presents a technical challenge. We discuss recent advances that enable monitoring and control of burst suppression.

Neurofilament light: a narrative review on biomarker utility.

Neurofilament light (NfL) is a scaffolding protein that is located primarily within myelinated axons and that provides increased conduction speed and structural support. In recent years, NfL has been used as a disease biomarker on the basis of the observation that axonal injury results in elevated levels of NfL in cerebrospinal fluid or blood. This review focuses on how cerebrospinal fluid and plasma NfL have been studied in various disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and multiple sclerosis (MS) in relation to neuroinflammation and cognitive dysfunction. Focusing on the role of NfL as a biomarker for AD and MS, this review aims to further explore the potential of NfL as a promising biomarker with regard to surgery- and anesthesia-based incidents for postoperative cognitive decline and delirium. A search of the PubMed database yielded 36 articles, 31 of which are from within the last 3 years, that show how NfL has been observed and studied under various types of trials and disease cohorts and potential future directions. Higher levels of NfL have frequently been correlated with disease progression and prognosis of AD and MS, and delirium has been found to share a neuroinflammatory pathophysiology that NfL could help to measure. Focusing on NfL as a biomarker for neurodegenerative decline, these studies indicate that the protein could be further tested and related to postoperative aspects that result in cognitive dysfunction, and it has the potential to be an established delirium biomarker, particularly in the realm of the perioperative course.

Impact of frailty in cardiac surgical patients-Assessment, burden, and recommendations.

Elderly patients undergoing cardiac surgery are at an increased risk of adverse postoperative outcomes. Frailty, a state of decreased physiological reserve, is highly prevalent among elderly patients. Despite being associated with adverse surgical outcomes, no universally accepted definition or measurement tool for frailty exists. Moreover, regardless of all the recommendations, a routine perioperative frailty assessment is often ignored. In addition to complications, frailty increases the burden to the healthcare system, which is of particular concern in Southeast Asia due to its socioeconomically disadvantaged and resource limited settings. This narrative review focuses to develop clinical practice plans for perioperative frailty assessment in the context of a cardiac surgical setting.

Blunt aortic dissection and bilateral internal carotid dissection in the setting of polytrauma: A case report.

Severe polytrauma involving multiple organ systems presents a significant challenge to any trauma center. We present a case of a patient presenting simultaneously with a type B aortic dissection, bilateral internal carotid dissections, a brachiocephalic artery dissection, and a splenic laceration among other injuries. In this patient with both solid organ injury and vascular trauma, we discuss how multidisciplinary collaboration was required to prioritize treatment goals and determine the proper initiation of antiplatelet and anticoagulation therapies.

The color of skin: black diseases of the skin, nails, and mucosa.

Gradations in skin color are a consequence of differing amounts of melanin and their varying distribution. Although many darkly pigmented skin lesions are melanocytic and can be attributed to melanin content, the color of a black lesion can also be due to blood, necrotic tissue, or exogenous pigment. The source, pattern, and distribution of the color in black lesions usually offer important insight into its etiology. This contribution reviews conditions that can take on a black color, discussing the cause of the hue and any additional impact sun exposure may have.