University Hospital Heidelberg

Functional characterization of snoRNA-derived RNA (sdRNA) expression in healthy hematopoiesis and acute myeloid leukemia

Abstract SnoRNAs are highly expressed in AML and have implications in leukemogenesis and leukemic maintenance. SnoRNAs can be further processed into snoRNA-derived RNAs (sdRNAs). The role of sdRNAs in AML and healthy hematopoiesis remains largely elusive. We characterized sdRNA a...

Barriers to birth preparedness and complication readiness in Tanzania: a narrative review through the lens of the Three Delays Model

Introduction Birth Preparedness and Complication Readiness (BPCR) is a key safe motherhood intervention aimed at reducing maternal and neonatal mortality through timely decision-making, delivery planning, and rapid response to obstetric emergencies. This narrative review synthesi...

Estimating the lifetime costs associated with maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy

Objectives Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy is a major, yet preventable, risk factor for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), which can lead to lifelong neurodevelopmental, educational, and social challenges. The economic burden of FASD in Germany remains poorly...

Sex Differences in a Contemporary, Real-World Cohort of Patients with Transthyretin Amyloid Cardiomyopathy Treated with Tafamidis

INTRODUCTION: Tafamidis improves outcomes in patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) versus placebo. ATTR-CM has historically been considered a predominantly male disease, and women are underrepresented in prior studies. Sex-specific data in contemporary pati...

Sex-specific associations of the plasma-proteome with incident coronary artery disease

AIMS: The etiology of coronary artery Disease (CAD) appears different for men and women, yet insights into underlying sex-specific biological mechanisms are limited. We integrated genomic and proteomic analyses to investigate sex-specific associations of the plasma-proteome with...

Preparing for the tiny predators: Community readiness and perceptions of copepod-based dengue control in eastern guatemala

Background Dengue remains a persistent public health challenge in eastern Guatemala, particularly in communities where irregular water supply, domestic water storage, and limited sanitation infrastructure create favorable conditions for Aedes aegypti proliferation. As concerns in...

Reproducible human reward imaging phenotypes exhibit differential sensitivity to dopamine D2 receptor antagonism

Abstract Human reward processing varies along cue-centric and outcome-centric axes, but a reproducible mechanistic account of individual variation in incentive salience attribution has been lacking. Using fMRI across five cohorts (N-total=1,251; N1=890; N2=245; N3=34; N4=48; N5=3...

Exercise Training in PAH: Methodological Ingenuity Meets Ethical Complexity

Nicola Benjamin, Ekkehard Grünig; Exercise Training in PAH: Methodological Ingenuity Meets Ethical Complexity, Annals of the American Thoracic Society, , a

Chronic exposure to aflatoxin B1, ochratoxin A, and citrinin in women and children and associated health risk characterization: blood biomonitoring evidence from rural Bangladesh

Abstract Dietary exposure to mycotoxins—including aflatoxins (AFs), ochratoxin A (OTA), and citrinin (CIT)—represents an important health risk, particularly in low-resource settings with widespread food contamination. This study investigates mycotoxin exposure among 712 participa...

Identifying optimal dose head CT acquisition techniques through cluster analysis from 904,209 scans

Abstract Objectives To identify clinically established and frequently utilized routine head computed tomography (CT) acquisition techniques in children and adults that achieve lower radiation. Materials and methods The level of the analysis is at the CT scan (series) level. CT ac...

Cullin 3 ubiquitin ligase regulates redox defense and metabolic programs in proximal tubule cells

Abstract Background Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is characterized by proximal tubule (PT) stress, oxidative injury, and metabolic dysfunction. Human kidney single-nucleus RNA-sequencing (snRNA-seq) identified enrichment of ubiquitin-dependent protein catabolic processes in injure...

Measurement Properties of Delirium Tools in Pediatric Intensive Care: A Systematic Review

CONTEXT: Delirium is common in pediatric intensive care units. Reliable tools are needed, but evidence on measurement properties remains fragmented. OBJECTIVES: To identify pediatric delirium tools and evaluate their measurement properties and certainty of evidence. DATA SOURCES:...

Integrative Muscle-Adipose Score (IMAS)

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential of integrating muscle and fat compartments into a novel and unified score for outcome prediction in a bicentric European cohort of LT recipients. BACKGROUND: Body composition (BC) reflects nutritional status and metabolic reserves and influ...

Clinical outcome after rescue intracranial stenting: a comparison of the ACCLINO flex and the CREDO heal stenting platforms after failed mechanical thrombectomy

Abstract Purpose Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) is the first-line therapy for patients with acute ischemic stroke due to large vessel occlusion; however, despite substantial advances in MT techniques and devices, mechanical recanalization remains unsuccessful in up to 15% of patien...

Federated Medical Image Segmentation under Real-World Label Noise: A Benchmark Suite for Noisy Label Learning Method Selection

Abstract While federated learning (FL) enables collaborative medical image segmentation without centralizing sensitive data, real-world deployment is frequently complicated by cross-site label imperfections such as contour disagreement, missing or additional structures, and confu...

Prognostic value of circulating tumor DNA and copy-number alterations in patients receiving tandem [225Ac]Ac-/[177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 therapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: a prospective observational study

Abstract ASTRACT Background Prostate-specific membrane antigen-targeted radioligand therapy (PSMA-RLT) demonstrates clinical efficacy in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), yet robust biomarkers for dynamic treatment monitoring and resistance remain lacking....

Milvexian with Antiplatelet Therapy after Acute Coronary Syndrome Event

BackgroundPatients are at increased risk for recurrent ischemic events after an acute coronary syndrome event. Milvexian, an oral factor XIa inhibitor, may reduce the risk of major adverse clinical events with minimal bleeding risk. MethodsIn this phase 3, randomized, placebo-con...

Robotic-assisted compartmental dissection for retroperitoneal sarcoma: a feasibility study on cadavers with the da Vinci Xi system

Abstract Purpose Retroperitoneal sarcomas (RPS) pose major technical challenges because of their size, anatomical complexity, and need for multivisceral resection. We evaluated the feasibility of a standardized robotic approach for right- and left-sided retroperitoneal sarcoma (R...

Patient-reported outcomes after lateral unicompartmental and total knee arthroplasty: a propensity score-matched cohort study

Abstract Introduction Comparative evidence on patient-reported outcomes (PROs) after lateral unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) remains limited. We compared PROs between cohorts matched for demographic characteristics and baseline knee func...

Gene Expression of TGF-β1 , Matrix Metalloproteinases, and Collagen in Keloid Patients and Their Growth Patterns in 2D and 3D Cell Cultures: An In Vitro Study

Background/Aim: Keloids result from abnormal wound healing and are characterized by excess fibroblast activity, extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation, and elevated collagen types. The contemporary research often relies on 2D cell cultures, which do not fully replicate keloid pa...