Minimally Invasive Surgery for Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome and Celiac Artery Stenosis.

Median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS) is a pathology commonly reported in educational literature, although in reality it is scarcely seen. Herein, we present the case of a 48-year-old female patient who presented with nausea, vomiting, and unintentional weight loss. After thorough work up of her symptoms through a variety of different modalities, MALS was confirmed and she underwent surgical release via a minimally invasive approach. The authors of this article feel that this case is important to present due to paucity of reported cases in the literature. In addition, this patient was exceptionally unique to report as we selected to perform a slight adaptation of a minimally invasive approach, while there are multiple different treatment techniques and management plans that have previously been described in a variety of different literatures and require further discussion.

Long-term Outcomes for Teen Mothers Who Participated in a Mentoring Program to Prevent Repeat Teen Pregnancy.

BACKGROUND: Each year in the United States (US), one million adolescents are pregnant, of which approximately 20% are repeat pregnancies. Adolescent motherhood is associated with lower educational attainment, socioeconomic status and poorer health outcomes. A mentoring program called the Maikuru Program conducted from 2011 to 2015, was designed to teach young mothers under 20 years old how to face daily life challenges, to support them by pairing them with an adult mentor, and prevent a subsequent pregnancy during their teens. The goal of the present study was to examine educational attainment, employment and pregnancies of these adolescent mothers 1-5 years post program. METHODS: Former participants of the Maikuru Program were contacted by telephone and/or Facebook in 2016 to conduct a survey about education attainment, employment status, number of subsequent children delivered, and satisfaction with the program. RESULTS: Nineteen of 51 participants (37%) were reached to complete the survey. Of those who responded, all were in high school or had graduated, nearly half were pursuing some form of higher education and 12 (63%) were currently employed. Nine mothers had given birth to another child; only two (10.5%) were known to be less than 20 years old at the time. All participants reported positive perceptions of the program and would recommend it to other adolescent mothers. CONCLUSION: Educational achievement and employment were high among a modest proportion of adolescent mothers who had participated in a culturally tailored, teen mother-adult mentoring program. Repeat teen pregnancy was infrequent and the mentoring program was perceived as contributing to the success of those who responded to the follow-up. A future randomized trial based on this model may confirm these findings.