Take-Home Surgical Simulation Model Allows Senior Trainees to Practice Airway Anastomosis

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the University of Toronto have developed and validated a portable model that helps trainees perfect complex vascular surgery and airway anastomosis techniques. The model is inexpensive and is the first to simulate tracheal anastomosis.

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Case Study: Endobronchial Valve Placement in a Patient With an Incomplete Lobar Fissure

CT scan of lungs before and after endobronchial valve placement

A team at the Brigham’s Lung Center performed a complex, two-step procedure to place endobronchial valves in a 59-year-old woman who had hyperinflation of her lungs due to advanced COPD, combined with an incomplete lobar fissure. Interventional pulmonologist Majid Shafiq, MD, MPH, discusses this challenging case.

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Structured Analysis of Pleural Epithelial Cells Gives Insight Into Distribution of Mechanical Stresses in the Lung

Human lung tissue under microscope view for education histology. Human tissue.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers developed a method for studying the topography of pleural epithelial structure, enabled by en face harvest and machine learning. They used its geometry to map regional differences in mechanical stress, providing key insight into normal lung function and parenchymal lung disease.

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Paxlovid Reduces COVID-19 Hospitalization Among Vaccinated Older Adults

Older man holding glass of water and taking pill, paxlovid covid treatment concept

A Mass General Brigham study suggests nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir (Paxlovid) reduces COVID-19 severity even in highly vaccinated adults over the age of 50. In this Q&A, Scott Dryden-Peterson, MD, MSc, and Ann Woolley, MD, MPH, discuss key takeaways from the study and describe best methods for prescribing Paxlovid.

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Mouse PLPP6 Regulates Allergen Sensitization

Dendritic cell, antigen-presenting immune cell, 3D illustration

Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers are the first to characterize Plpp6, a mouse homolog of PLPP6, as a polyisoprenyl diphosphate phosphatase that’s activated in dendritic cells after airway exposure to an aeroallergen. They suggest PLPP6 is likely a targetable regulatory checkpoint for allergic inflammation.

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Progression of Interstitial Lung Disease Likely in Relatives of Patients With Pulmonary Fibrosis

Brigham researchers previously reported that first-degree relatives of patients with pulmonary fibrosis have high rates of interstitial lung abnormalities (ILA). Their two-year follow-up indicates radiologic progression of ILA was common in relatives and may be associated with accelerated loss of lung function.

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Applying Engineering Expertise to Enrich Diagnostics, Therapy Planning, and Decision-making

Virtual surgery through numerical simulation of thoracic endovascular aortic repair implantation

Farhad R. Nezami, PhD, lead investigator in the Division of Cardiac Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is a mechanical and aerospace engineer by training. His lab pulls from engineering, computer science, and bioinformatics to uncover better diagnostic tools and predictors of clinical events.

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Case Report: Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy As an Unexpected Mimic of Inducible Laryngeal Obstruction

Close up of older man touching throat, discomfort, inducible laryngeal obstruction concept

Physicians at Brigham and Women’s Hospital recently encountered a patient with exertional dyspnea and inducible laryngeal obstruction at rest who was ultimately diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy as the cause of his symptoms.

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Novel Approach Protects Animal Model Against Bacterial Pneumonia After Influenza A Infection

3D rendering of human lung anatomy, showing rod-shaped bacteria inside lung aveoli

Brigham researchers believe a new host-directed treatment approach to secondary bacterial pneumonia, a serious and common complication of infection with the influenza A virus (IAV) that can also occur after SARS-CoV-2 infection, might complement antibiotic therapy.

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