Background: This study investigates whether intramuscular electrical stimulation (IMES) with inverse electrode placement (IEP) or conventional electrode placement (CEP) more effectively modulates pain. The current study’s aim was to compare the effects of IMES using IEP and CEP, and sham-IMES on the pressure pain threshold (PPT), EMG activity, upper trapezius (UT) muscle length and pain severity among adults with UT myofascial trigger points (MTrPs). Methods: Thirty-six male adults with UT-MTrPs were allocated into three groups. IEP, CEP and sham groups were respectively treated with a single IMES session using IEP, CEP, and sham-IMES. Pain intensity, PPT, EMG activity (root mean square, RMS) and UT muscle length were measured on day one before the treatment, day one post treatment and at a day three follow-up to determine the immediate and short-term effectiveness of IMES. Results: IMES using both IEP and CEP methods produced significant higher changes in UT-PPT (median, interquartile-interval, IEP group: 3.25, 2.56–3.50 and CEP group: 2.75, 1.75–3.00, vs. sham group: 1.07, 0.89–1.71 kg/cm 2 ), RMS (IEP: 0.31, 0.26–0.35 and CEP: 0.36, 0.23–0.38, vs. sham: 0.21, 0.16–0.25 mV), and UT muscle length (IEP: 9.50, 8–12.75 and CEP: 8, 7–10, vs. 1.5. 1–2.75 degrees) and UT-pain severity (IEP: 3.00, 2.25–4 and CEP: 3, 3–3, vs. sham: 2, 2–2.75 points on VAS) compared to the score change in sham-IMES at day three follow up. Conclusions Pain modulation can be effectively achieved using IMES regardless of electrode placement method, with different electrode configurations.

Purpose: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we investigated assisted reproductive technology (ART) success in infertile men with clinical varicocele and abnormal semen parameters who underwent varicocele repair (VR) before the ART procedure as compared to those who did not. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive search of the Scopus, PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases was conducted using a specific query string to identify studies examining the impact of VR on ART outcomes, including fertilization rate, clinical pregnancy, pregnancy loss, and live-birth rate, until October 2023. Outcomes were analyzed based on the type of ART. Studies on VR in infertile men with non-obstructive azoospermia and those who underwent ART only due to female factor infertility were excluded from the study. Results: Out of 1,554 articles reviewed, only 9 met the inclusion criteria for the study. All the included articles were observational studies. The variability in study quality in the included literature resulted in a moderate overall risk of bias. Data analysis showed that for intrauterine insemination, there was no difference in the clinical pregnancy rate (odds ratio [OR] 1.01, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.42, 2.45; p=0.97). However, for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), men with VR showed a significant improvement in fertilization rate (mean difference 10.9, 95% CI: 5.94, 15.89; p<0.01), clinical pregnancy rate (OR 1.38, 95% CI: 1.07, 1.78; p=0.01) and live-birth rate (OR 2.07, 95% CI: 1.45, 2.97; p<0.01), compared to men who did not undergo VR. Conclusions The findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that VR has a positive impact on pregnancy and live birth rates after ICSI. However, biases like small sample sizes and heterogeneous populations highlight the need for larger, well-designed prospective studies to validate these findings.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) is associated with a dismal prognosis. Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (atezo-bev) is the recommended palliative treatment, and approximately 10% of the patients may experience a complete response (CR), according to the mRECIST criteria. The treatment duration is until disease progression or unacceptable side effects occur. Long-term continuation can cause potential toxicities and a substantial financial burden, making early treatment discontinuation a viable option. This report describes durable CR after discontinuing atezo-bev treatment in three patients with HCC and PVTT.

Surgery for a symptomatic epiphrenic esophageal diverticulum (EED) typically involves a diverticulectomy with myotomy and partial fundoplication. A 54-year-old male patients presented with postprandial retrosternal pain and regurgitation. A contrast-enhanced computed tomography scan revealed an 8 × 6 × 7 cm left-sided EED. We planned the EED excision using the da Vinci Xi robot (Intuitive Surgical) from an abdominal transhiatal approach.The lower esophagus was looped, followed by the mobilization of the diverticulum and division of its neck using a robotic stapler. A 7-cm long esophagogastric myotomy was performed on the right side with a Toupet fundoplication. The total operative time was 240 minutes with a blood loss of 200 mL. An oral contrast study on postoperative day 1 showed no leak, and the patient was discharged the next day on an oral soft diet. The robotic transhiatal approach to treat EED is safe and may successfully overcome the difficulties of exposure and reach encountered in conventional laparoscopic surgery.

Objective: Colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor-related leukoencephalopathy (CSF1R-L) is a rare adult-onset leukoencephalopathy. Reports of CSF1R-L patients from the Indian subcontinent remain limited. We aimed to report four patients with genetically confirmed CSF1R-L from four Asian Indian families and described their clinical, molecular, and radiological features. Methods: All patients underwent clinical examination, brain magnetic resonance imaging, and whole-exome sequencing to identify causative variants in the CSF1R gene. We also reviewed published reports of Indian patients with CSF1R-L. Results: The age at enrollment ranged from 34 to 40 years. The duration of symptoms ranged from 11 months to 2 years. The chief clinical phenotype in three patients was a rapidly evolving cognitive-behavioral syndrome combined with atypical parkinsonism, and asymmetrical spastic tetraparesis was observed in one patient. We identified four different variants (three missense variants and one in-frame deletion). Radiological findings revealed white matter involvement and diffusion restriction involving the subcortical white matter and pyramidal tracts. Conclusion We expand the literature on CSF1R-L patients from India by reporting four new cases.

Objective: To explore sleep patterns in individuals with essential tremor (ET) and essential tremor plus (ET-Plus) compared with healthy controls and assess differences between ET and ET-Plus, given the lack of established polysomnography (PSG) data on these groups and the potential for sleep disturbances to serve as clinical markers. Methods: We conducted a prospective cross-sectional study at National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, from November 2021 to August 2023 on 45 patients (26 ET, 19 ET-Plus) and 45 controls. Tremor severity was assessed using The Essential Tremor Rating Assessment Scale (TETRAS) and Fahn‐Tolosa‐Marin Clinical Rating Scale (FTMRS). Sleep symptoms were assessed via the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Mayo Sleep Questionnaire, restless legs syndrome questionnaire, Berlin questionnaire, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale 7, and Patient Health Questionnaire-9. All patients and controls underwent overnight video PSG. Sleep scoring was manually performed by a trained sleep research technician and the first author following the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (2017) guidelines, with data analyzed using R studio. Results: Compared with ET-Plus patients, ET patients had a younger onset age (46.8±11.1 years versus 30.8±16.7 years, respectively). Compared with ET patients, ET-Plus patients had higher TETRAS and FTMRS scores (p<0.005). Compared with controls, both ET patients and ET-Plus patients presented poorer sleep quality, excessive daytime sleepiness, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder, and restless legs syndrome symptoms. PSG findings supported these clinical observations, showing an elevated apnea‒hypopnea index, reduced total sleep time, prolonged REM latency, decreased sleep efficiency, increased N1 stage duration, and reduced N2/N3 durations and percentages in patients versus controls. Conclusion The study highlights significant sleep architecture abnormalities in both ET and ET-Plus patients compared with healthy controls, with no differences between the ET groups.