UAB Med Cast

How Digital Health Tools Are Changing Medicine

February 08, 2023 06:00 - 16.8 MB

Digital technology is making the concept of continuous care possible – along with its more familiar benefits to telemedicine. Jeff Curtis, MD, a rheumatologist, discusses new applications of digital technology to healthcare that are becoming standard of care: virtual reality (VR) to help with pain management and teach wellness techniques; biosensors that allow doctors to gather data from patients between visits; and artificial intelligence (AI) to sort large amounts of data for rapid answers ...

Urinary Diversion

January 30, 2023 06:00 - 23.4 MB

Urinary diversion is needed for a variety of patients whose bladders are not functioning properly. In cases of organ removal, cancer, or loss of mobility, complex and permanent surgical procedures may be required. Chas Peyton, MD, and Jeffrey Nix, MD, both urologic oncologists, discuss the role of specialists in creating patient-driven solutions for urinary diversion using different of routes, materials, and means of bladder emptying. Learn more about the relative advantages of the major surg...

Diagnosis of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)

January 23, 2023 06:00 - 13.1 MB

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is one of the common forms of interstitial lung disease (those that affect the tissues between airways); it results in scarring and fibroblasts. Early diagnosis is critical to the management of this dangerous condition. Carla Copeland, MD, explains the challenge of diagnosing IPF due to its generic symptoms, which usually indicate more common breathing issues. She discusses recent innovations in how CT scans are categorized to better diagnose IPF and to hel...

Using Mpirik Cardiac Intelligence to Address Health Inequities

January 16, 2023 06:00 - 18.4 MB

Oscar Julian Booker, MD and Efstathia Andrikopoulou MD discuss how using third-party vendor, Mpirik Cardiac Intelligence, helped to develop a software algorithm that provides clinical decision support to help identify patients at risk for heart valve disease who otherwise might be overlooked. They share what factors are behind the most significant disparities, as they connect the potential of machine learning and artificial intelligence with the need for clinicians to expand their toolkit. Th...

Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia

December 14, 2022 06:00 - 12.2 MB

Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare genetic disease that results in severe sinus and pulmonary infections and is particularly difficult to treat; however, as George Solomon, MD, explains, researchers have recently made important steps in understanding and treating PCD. He explains the critical link they have established between genotype and phenotype of observed PCD cases, which will lead to genetic-based therapies in the future. Equally important, he says, are the strides made in trea...

Forecasting Seizure Clusters from Chronic Ambulatory Electrocorticography

December 13, 2022 06:00 - 13.2 MB

Even for those diagnosed with a seizure disorder (e.g., epilepsy), seizure events are unpredictable and dangerous; worse still, they often occur in clusters. Adeel Ilyas, MD, discusses his new research paper that demonstrates how seizure clusters may be predicted based on brain activity. He describes the methods his team used to refine a definition for seizure clusters and to develop an algorithm for predicting them in the pilot study. Learn more about the promising implications of this grou...

Current Management of Atrial Fibrillation

December 06, 2022 06:00 - 12 MB

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained heart arrhythmia, and it dramatically increases stroke risk. William Maddox, MD, a cardiac electrophysiologist, discusses the most recent approaches to treating patients’ symptoms of AF and reducing their stroke risk. He covers some of the most important developments that affect how specialists manage AF: smartwatch monitoring, catheter ablation improvements, and new implantation devices that occlude the left atrial appendage for stroke pr...

Treating Type 2 Diabetes in the Diabetes Belt

November 21, 2022 05:00 - 15.2 MB

In some central Alabama counties, roughly one in five adults has type 2 diabetes. Fernando Ovalle, MD, discusses trends in diabetes care. He notes the general complications that often accompany type 2 diabetes, including kidney disease, neuropathy, and retinopathy. In Dr. Ovalle’s experience, continuous glucose monitoring devices empower patients to achieve tangible goals related to their condition. Learn more about new drugs that now target hormones beyond insulin, which also have a signific...

New Frontiers in Diabetes Research

November 14, 2022 06:00 - 22.3 MB

Diabetes and related comorbidities have been devastating in the South. Anath Shalev, MD, explains how the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC) opens new avenues for collaborative research and effective new treatments. She discusses two recent examples of multidisciplinary research bringing new therapies from bench to bedside.

Diagnosing and Treating Opioid Use Disorder

November 07, 2022 06:00 - 12.3 MB

The most recent medical research on opioid addiction makes one thing clear: medication saves lives. Leah Leisch, MD, a psychiatrist, explains how CDC guidelines regarding prescribing and tapering opioids have responded to new insights about the risks of addiction and withdrawal. She notes that patients who develop a substance use disorder face a mortality ratio three times higher if they are not prescribed a medication approved to treat opioid addiction. Dr. Leisch discusses each medication a...

Collaborative Management of Atrial Fibrillation in Hematology Patients

October 31, 2022 05:00 - 16.8 MB

Hematologic cancer patients have the benefit of many new oral medications to manage their conditions; however, those medications may create or worsen cardiovascular comorbidities. Nurse Practitioners Courtney Estes (Cardio-Oncology Program) and Ellen Lazarre (Hematology Oncology Division) discuss the balancing act of managing risks while attacking cancer, which is only possible with an interdisciplinary team. They discuss the most common cardiovascular comorbidities (e.g., AFib, hypertension)...

Identifying and Reducing Risk Factors for ACL Injuries

October 24, 2022 05:00 - 8.87 MB

Justin Kirk, PT, highlights identifying and reducing risk factors for ACL injuries. He shares who is most likely to sustain an ACL injury, the movements or position that increases an athlete’s risk for injury and the importance of limb symmetry and single leg training for preventing ACL injuries. Additionally, he offers recommendations for providers, when working with athletes at high risk, on how to reduce their risk for an ACL injury and the changes he has seen in management of ACL tears ov...

Crohn's Disease & Colitis

October 17, 2022 05:00 - 35 MB

Around 3 million Americans suffer from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Daniel Chu, MD, a colorectal surgeon, and Kirk Russ, MD, a gastroenterologist, discuss the trends in occurrence, diagnosis, and treatment of IBD (including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis). Dr. Russ emphasizes that biologic and small molecule medicinal options have changed the approach of specialists. Meanwhile, Dr. Chu explains that surgeons have begun to focus on patient recovery and using minimally invasive tec...

Spasticity Rehabilitation & Treatment Options

October 10, 2022 05:00 - 8.41 MB

Any injury or illness that affects the spinal cord can cause spasticity, an increase in muscle stiffness that can lead to immobility. Bobby Brunner, MD, a physiatrist, discusses some common disorders that result in spasticity and the wide spectrum of its severity. He walks us through the considerations a physiatrist would make in determining how to address spasticity. Dr. Brunner discusses a progression of treatment options for spasticity: physical therapy, injection therapies, pump system i...

Chronic Limb Threatening Ischemia

October 03, 2022 05:00 - 12 MB

Chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) is a severe form of peripheral arterial disease that results in constant pain, usually in the extremities. Danielle Sutzko, MD, program director for the Vascular Surgery Residency at UAB, discusses the importance of classifying claudication (arterial pain) along a spectrum and treating it appropriately. Many patients with mild peripheral arterial disease may simply manage their condition with cholesterol agents, smoking cessation, and exercise progra...

Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm: Optimal Management & Treatment

September 26, 2022 05:00 - 19.6 MB

Aortic aneurysms are complex and often asymptomatic, making swift monitoring and mitigation crucial. Kyle Eudailey, MD, an expert in aortic surgery, discusses the guidelines that he considers when weighing the patient-specific risks of surgery vs. surveillance. He emphasizes the importance of consistent imaging and measurement over time by specialists to improve physician recommendations and patient outcomes. Learn about behavioral interventions that may reduce the risk of aortic aneurysm rup...

Cystic Fibrosis: Family Planning Post-CFTR Modulators

September 19, 2022 05:00 - 12.2 MB

Pulmonologists have noted an exciting “baby boom” among women with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) in the last several years. As Gretchen Winter, MD, explains, CFTR modulators have led to increased fertility and the prospect of family planning for those with CF. She discusses the unique concerns those with CF may have when making reproductive decisions, such as effective contraception; safety of CFTR modulator use during both pregnancy and breastfeeding; and the risk of passing on the genetic disease. ...

Facial Pain Classification and Treatment: Not Just Trigeminal Neuralgia

September 12, 2022 05:00 - 13.6 MB

Patients present with facial pain for a whole host of reasons. One of the most widely known facial pain diagnosis is trigeminal neuralgia, but a whole host of other diagnosis must be considered as treatment is driven by diagnosis. In this podcast, Marshall Holland MD talks about the approach to a facial pain patient, neurosurgical options for different facial pain syndromes, the importance of listening to the patient’s story fully, and the need for good relationships with other providers tha...

Sepsis: Improving Prevention, Diagnosis and Clinical Management

September 05, 2022 05:00 - 10.1 MB

With no quick fix in sight, only vigilance and testing can help prevent death from sepsis—the dysregulated immune response that is responsible for 270,000 deaths per year. Justin Glasgow, MD, the physician advisor for sepsis at UAB Medicine, discusses best practices for identifying and classifying sepsis, as well as those for treating its root infections. He discusses the importance of following the CMS reporting requirements protocol for sepsis, which includes checking lactic acid, taking bl...

Vascular Malformations of the Head and Neck

August 29, 2022 05:00 - 14.6 MB

Vascular malformations in the face are lesions with potential psychosocial and functional consequences to the patient. Jesse Jones, MD—an interventional neuroradiologist—and Anthony Morlandt, MD, DDS, FACS—an oral and maxillofacial surgeon—discuss their interdisciplinary approach to diagnosing and treating these complex lesions. They highlight the importance of accounting for and controlling blood flow in a vascular malformation during surgery to preserve facial function and appearance.

Geographic Disparities in Transplantation

August 22, 2022 05:00 - 16.7 MB

The areas of the country with the highest need for liver and kidney transplants have the lowest rates. Why? Robert Cannon, MD, surgical director of the UAB Liver Transplant Program, explains that researchers have often focused on the number of patients on waitlists rather than the overall need for transplants in an area; that has resulted in more transplants in some areas that are among the best-performing already. He discusses related health-care challenges of those who live in regions with ...

Teen Pregnancy Prevention

August 15, 2022 05:00 - 26 MB

Three in 10 teens will become pregnant before they are 20 years old. Amy Boone, MD, a specialist in pediatric and adolescent gynecology, discusses the multifaceted topics of teen sexual health, including pregnancies and STI infections, digital influences on teens, access to contraceptives, and public policy on sex education. She discusses statistical trends and how those trends relate to what we now know about effective sex education. Boone shares expertise in navigating the provider-patient ...

Current Management of Ventricular Arrhythmias

August 08, 2022 05:00 - 10.3 MB

Ventricular tachycardia (VT) is a life-threatening arrhythmia that requires a comprehensive treatment approach unique to a patient’s comorbidities and heart condition. As electrophysiologist William Maddox, MD, explains, patients with a structurally normal heart can often manage VT with various medications, while those with myopathies also require defibrillator (ICD) implantation and catheter ablation. He explains the advances in catheter ablation technology that have resulted in success rate...

Exercise in Pregnancy Clinic

August 01, 2022 05:00 - 18.6 MB

Women who exercise during pregnancy have better outcomes for prenatal and neonatal health, but ACOG exercise guidelines can be confusing for patients who either have not previously exercised or have high-risk conditions. Sara Gould, MD, and Chase Cawyer, MD, discuss the UAB Exercise in Pregnancy Clinic, which guides women through healthy exercise regimens with appropriate intensities informed by ultrasound technology. Learn more about how the multidisciplinary clinic, as well as the doctors o...

Academic Global Surgery

July 25, 2022 05:00 - 13 MB

Surgery has often been known as the ‘neglected stepchild of global health,’ says Lily Gutnik, MD, during this primer on the emergence of academic global surgery. The field of global academic surgery has only begun to cohere over the past 6-to 7 years in order to address the diverse needs that stand in the way of access to surgical care across the world. She explains the challenges of collecting meaningful data in such a cross-cutting field. Because the organization of health care varies great...

Gynecologic Care

July 18, 2022 05:00 - 23.2 MB

Gynecologic care evolves with patients throughout their lives and depending on risk factors. Ashley Wright, MD, provides an overview of the turning points in routine care by age range. She discusses the major changes in recommendations over the past decade for cervical and breast cancer screening—which depends more on genetic testing than before. Learn more about why the provider-patient relationship in gynecology is uniquely personalized.

Lung Cancer Screening Guidelines

July 12, 2022 05:00 - 25.1 MB

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States and the second most common malignancy in both men and women. Aline Zouk, MD, explains that many of these deaths are preventable via early low-dose CT scan screening among smokers and early-stage treatment. Because survival rates increase dramatically with earlier detection, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has updated its guidelines for screening—now, around 14 million Americans are recommended to receive yearly scr...

Breast Cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa

July 04, 2022 05:00 - 13.3 MB

Women living in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) diagnosed with breast cancer are more than four times as likely to die from the disease (48% mortality rate) as women from wealthier countries. Lily Gutnik, MD, explains the interrelated factors—biological, social, and systemic—that lead to later diagnoses and worse outcomes for breast cancer in SSA. She shares her own research experiences in Malawi that explored ways to make screening and detection more likely, such as training laypersons in low-resou...

Exercise Is Medicine in Cystic Fibrosis

June 27, 2022 05:00 - 9.54 MB

Exercise can improve lung function and have a range of other benefits for cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, but each patient has a unique tolerance for exercise depending on age, condition, and lifestyle. Stefanie Krick, MD, discusses how the complications specific to CF require popular exercises to be modified. She also emphasizes that patients must be monitored closely for changing abilities in each phase of their lives. Multidisciplinary teams that include physical therapists are best suited ...

The Role of Ambulatory Care Transition RNs

June 20, 2022 05:00 - 23.3 MB

Ambulatory care transition RNs manage the crossroads of the patient experience. Alyse Hicks, RN, and Jennifer Rosales, RN, explain the dynamic work of triaging patients from an online portal and via telephone, as well as following up with those patients to prevent readmissions. They use critical thinking to make judgments based on a deep knowledge of physicians’ preferences from various specialties. Learn more about the growth of their profession’s scope, the challenges of maintaining their o...

Management of Spinal Vascular Lesions

June 13, 2022 05:00 - 14 MB

Spinal vascular lesions are rare yet treatable. Good patient outcomes depend on quick recognition of stepwise symptoms and referral to specialists who can use advanced imaging and other tests. That is where Jesse Jones, MD, and Will Meador, MD, come in, with the most advanced diagnostic, treatment, and recovery techniques in neurosurgery. They discuss the pathologies of vascular lesions and closely related disorders, as well as the relative severity of these diagnoses. After explaining diagn...

STIs in Women and Pregnancy

June 06, 2022 05:00 - 11 MB

STI infection rates are generally increasing in the U.S., and this is especially concerning for pregnant women; for instance, in just the last five years, congenital syphilis cases have jumped 200%. Jodie Dionne-Odom, MD, MSPH, FIDSA, defines the categories of STIs and explains possible reasons behind the increase. She emphasizes the need for early testing and treatment of pregnant women and discusses some of the advances in testing that may lead to convenient, at-home sample collection optio...

Brain Tumor Therapy

May 23, 2022 05:00 - 27.6 MB

Immunotherapy is the most promising avenue of research for treating deadly brain tumors. M. R. Chambers, DVM, MD, and James Markert, MD, MPH, are leading clinical trial research on therapies using oncolytic viruses and checkpoint inhibitors as part of an ongoing NIH-awarded UAB Specialized Program of Research. They discuss the promising immune system responses they have seen in humans and dogs via RNA-seq and NanoString analyses, as well as how results may translate from one species to the o...

UAB Adds Surgery Suite with Built-In MRI

May 16, 2022 05:00 - 11.4 MB

Procedures for brain tumors, epilepsy, and movement disorders require a precise and conservative approach so as not to damage functioning brain tissue. UAB Hospital neurosurgeons can now check their work as they operate in a new intraoperative MRI suite—the first in Alabama. James Markert, MD, MPH, chair of the Department of Neurosurgery in the Heersink School of Medicine, discusses how surgeons respond to real-time MRIs at crucial moments. Because of this technology, UAB surgeons can now ta...

Cystic Fibrosis: New CF Research & Clinical Trials

May 16, 2022 04:00 - 10.9 MB

Although most cystic fibrosis (CF) patients respond to new drug combinations which activate the proteins commonly affected by the disease, around 15% of patients are still without a treatment option. George Solomon, MD, discusses how UAB’s participation in the international “Path to a Cure” initiative will expand treatment options for all CF patients. He summarizes the three prongs of the path: developing a wider range of protein modulators, finding safe and ethical ways to administer genetic...

Oral, Head and Neck Cancer: Symptoms, Types & Treatment

May 16, 2022 04:00 - 32.8 MB

Head and neck cancer patients face not only health challenges, but identity challenges—altered appearance and speech and difficulty eating and swallowing. As a result, oral oncologists, such as Anthony Morlandt, MD, are uniquely focused on quality-of-life outcomes for patients. Dr. Morlandt explains the recent leaps forward in radiation treatment (proton therapy), jaw reconstruction (custom fabrication), and cost reduction that have dramatically improved the quality of life for UAB patients. ...

Telemedicine for Cystic Fibrosis Patients

May 10, 2022 05:00 - 18 MB

Telehealth is making it possible for those with rare diseases to receive expert care more efficiently. Bryan Garcia, MD, explains that although many specialties simply had to use telehealth during the pandemic, the benefits are here to stay for many of his cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Thanks to recent Cystic Fibrosis Foundation investments in home-monitoring spirometers and newly approved medicines that allow CF patients to maintain more routine lifestyles, telehealth is not only possible, ...

Hypoglossal Nerve Stimulator Implantation Treats Obstructive Sleep Apnea

May 02, 2022 05:00 - 18.1 MB

Kirk Withrow, MD, director of Salivary and Sleep Surgery in the UAB Department of Otolaryngology, discusses a new solution for patients who do not tolerate CPAP therapy: hypoglossal nerve stimulator implantation. A CPAP machine is the first-line treatment for obstructive sleep apnea because it works when patients use it consistently—and many either cannot or do not. Hypoglossal nerve stimulation represents a new approach, adding muscle tone to the upper airway to ensure airflow. Dr. Withrow w...

Pregnancy and Vaccination

April 25, 2022 05:00 - 10.4 MB

Even amid dropping infection numbers and generally lower disease severity, COVID-19 is still a special concern for pregnant women, those planning to become pregnant, and new mothers. Akila Subramaniam, MD—the only doctor in Alabama board-certified in both maternal-fetal medicine and genetics—summarizes why these women should get vaccinated. As she explains, two full years of data indicate that vaccination protects mother and child against severe illness from the disease (for which they are at...

Ongoing Impact of COVID-19 in Ambulatory Care Settings

April 18, 2022 05:00 - 29.2 MB

COVID-19 has shone a light on the dynamic, challenging, and rewarding field of nursing. Antoinette Shedlarski, RN; Jennifer Rosales, RN; and Alyse Hicks, RN, discuss the ongoing impact of COVID-19 in ambulatory care settings. The panel explains the role that good communication patterns; accurate triage; reliance on telehealth; and learning from evolving infectious disease research allowed them to give their patients the best care despite unprecedented demand. These nurses take pride in being ...

Hip Arthroscopy: New Frontier in Treating Hip Pain

April 11, 2022 05:00 - 9.22 MB

Hip arthroscopy is a relatively new and expanding field to treat hip impingement and groin pain in young active individuals. The hip labrum can tear, causing significant pinching pain with deep flexion, prolonged running, or prolonged sitting. Aaron Casp, MD discusses the goal to intervene before degenerative changes and hip arthritis begin set in, and prolong the health of the joint.

New Treatment for Rotator Cuff Injury

April 04, 2022 05:00 - 28 MB

Rotator cuff tears are painful and limiting for patients; larger tears have had poor outcomes in general and have often been deemed irreparable. But a new procedure using a subacromial balloon spacer offers hope to patients with large tears, a way of relieving their pain and restoring range of motion—and without the tissue grafts of capsular reconstruction. Amit Momaya, MD; Aaron Casp, MD; and Eugene W. Brabston, III, MD, of the UAB Medicine Sports Medicine program, have led research and ear...

Maxillofacial Prosthetics Practice Profile

March 28, 2022 05:00 - 10.7 MB

Did you know the same type of dentist who places a full mouth of dental implants for a cancer patient can also repair congenital anomalies in the mouth; place an inter-oral barrier to preserve eating ability; and even create a prosthetic nose or ear? In Alabama, there is only one such dentist who subspecializes in maxillofacial prosthodontics and dental oncology—Michael Kase, DMD. Learn more from Dr. Kase about his dynamic UAB Medicine practice, his training, and the wide range of fascinating...

Endobronchial Lung Volume Reduction

March 21, 2022 05:00 - 16.6 MB

For certain severe COPD patients who are not responding to bronchodilators and rehabilitation, a new minimally invasive procedure is available that can yield a 15-20% improvement in lung function. As Surya Bhatt, MD, explains, the Zephyr endobronchial valve addresses emphysema via lung volume reduction; the one-way valve is placed through a bronchoscope, without even a stitch. The procedure, performed under conscious sedation or general anesthesia, can dramatically improve patients’ quality o...

The Role of Radiation Therapy for Oral Cancer

March 07, 2022 06:00 - 25.4 MB

Precision coordination among specialists is critical to successfully treating oral cancer. Michael Kase, DMD; James Snider, III, MD; and Christopher Willey, MD, discuss advances in both radiation therapy and overall treatment timelines for oral cancer. Though proton therapy is an exciting new form of radiation that limits damage to surrounding tissues, there are still serious side effects to the treatment and serious consequences to delays. The doctors emphasize the role of a prosthodontist i...

The UAB Oral Oncology Multidisciplinary Clinic

February 21, 2022 06:00 - 14 MB

Anthony Morlandt, MD, DDS, FACS, Michael Kase DMD and Christina Cyriac PA-C discuss The UAB Oral Oncology Multidisciplinary Clinic. They tell us about oral cancer and why the care management model is challenging. They share the importance of a multidisciplinary approach for these patients and the most important issues to patients and families as they navigate cancer care. They talk about whether medical insurance covers the dental aspects of multi-specialty oral cancer care and how the oral o...

The Immense Value of Dental Implants For The Oral Cancer Patient

February 14, 2022 06:00 - 15.8 MB

Dental implants (or their absence) change an oral cancer patient’s quality of life forever—socially, psychologically, and nutritionally. Michael Kase, DMD, and Anthony Morlandt, MD, DDS, FACS, discuss the complexity of modern titanium implants and the special coordination that goes into successful implants for an oral cancer patient. Learn how the comprehensive care model has changed the perception of dental implants, from an afterthought to now being considered a standard of the oral cancer ...

Common Causes and Risk Factors of Thyroid Disease

February 07, 2022 05:00 - 11.9 MB

Thyroid disease is one of the most common found in general practice, though many people never know they have it. For primary care physicians, keeping your patient’s condition manageable is often as simple as doing the right blood work, that is, a TSH level test, and knowing when to make a referral. Endocrinologist Richard Rosenthal, MD, discusses the steps of diagnosing and treating both hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. Join him to learn more about identifying nodules, the proper use of di...

Bicuspid Valve Disease

January 31, 2022 06:00 - 17.9 MB

Bicuspid valve disease one of the most common congenital heart defects, affecting 1-2% of the entire population. Because it is asymptotic for many who have it, or for much of their lives, detection and treatment can be complex. Kyle Eudailey, MD, discusses the three common ways that symptoms of bicuspid valve disease complications present themselves, as well as the ages at which these symptoms usually occur. He describes the multidisciplinary approach needed for successful treatment at variou...

Non-Fluoroscopic Imaging for Endovascular Surgery

January 24, 2022 06:00 - 9.01 MB

Due to its two-dimensional (2D) nature and the high radiation exposure associated with its use, fluoroscopy is an imperfect solution to endovascular surgery’s need for intraoperative imaging. Adam Beck, MD discusses non-fluoroscopic imaging for endovascular surgery

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