Annals of surgery
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To evaluate the use of gut barrier proteins, liver-fatty acid binding protein (L-FABP), intestinal-fatty acid binding protein (I-FABP), and trefoil factor 3 (TFF3), as biomarkers for differentiating necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) from septicemic/control infants and to identify the most severely affected surgical NEC from nonsurgical NEC infants. ⋯ The LIT score can effectively differentiate surgical NEC from nonsurgical NEC infants and nonsurvivors of NEC from survivors at the onset of clinical presentation. Frontline neonatologists and surgeons may, therefore, target NEC infants who are most in need of close monitoring and those who may benefit from early surgical intervention.
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We sought to quantify the use of and analyze factors predictive of receipt of surgical therapy for early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). ⋯ Although some patients with early HCC may not be candidates for surgical therapy, these data suggest that there is a significant missed opportunity to improve survival of patients with early HCC through the use of surgical therapy.
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Historical Article
The education, training, and specialization of surgeons: turn-of-the-century America and its postgraduate medical schools.
To understand the institutions, personnel, and events that shaped postgraduate medical schools in late 19th- and early 20th-century America. ⋯ Postgraduate medical schools, particularly the New York Polyclinic and the New York Post-Graduate, were dominant influences in shaping the early history of surgery in America. These institutions brought the pressure for specialization in surgery to the forefront of discussions about medical education and training. For the first time, a large number of practitioners were offered a formalized surgical experience in a busy urban medical facility. As a result, and despite their being long forgotten, the importance of postgraduate medical schools in our nation's surgical history cannot be overstated.