Obstetrics News and Research

RSS

Gynecology and obstetrics are twin subjects that deal with the female reproductive system. While obstetrics deals with pregnancy and its associated procedures and complications, gynaecology involves treating women who are not pregnant.

HUP launches Penn Hand Transplant Program

The Penn Transplant Institute, the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Division of Plastic Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) have collaborated to form the Penn Hand Transplant Program.

15 Dec 2010

Women & Infants Hospital participates in new fertility drug study

The emotional and physical demands on a couple seeking fertility treatment can be daunting. Researchers are constantly on a quest to improve fertility to increase a couple's chances of becoming pregnant in the most time and cost efficient manner.

13 Dec 2010

Research identifies two genetic variants that increase risk of endometriosis

Research published today identifies two genetic variants that increase the risk of developing endometriosis, a common gynaecological disease. The study provides clues to the origin of this often very painful condition, which has a significant impact on the quality of life of sufferers.

13 Dec 2010

Better approaches to ovarian cancer screening could lower cancer deaths

Cancer prevention experts have long been frustrated by the lack of a meaningful way to screen women for ovarian cancer. It is a relatively rare disease that often progresses with few symptoms until it is too late for potentially curative treatments, and elevated values of the most commonly used biomarker used in screening, CA125, are also related to other disorders.

13 Dec 2010

Weightlifting may help prevent lymphedema following breast cancer treatment

Weightlifting may play a key role in the prevention of the painful limb-swelling condition lymphedema following breast cancer treatment, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Combined with the team's previous findings that the exercise limits a worsening of symptoms among women who already have lymphedema, the new data cements the reversal of long-running advice that breast cancer survivors should avoid lifting anything heavier than five pounds after they finish treatment.

10 Dec 2010

Chinese study examines association between alcohol intake, CAD

Among a large number of Chinese men presenting with chest pain or EKG changes, sequential subjects undergoing cardiac angiography were evaluated for obstructive coronary artery disease lesions according to their reported recent alcohol intake. The study population consisted of 1,476 consecutive men 36 to 84 years of age; participants were categorized as nondrinkers, light drinkers, moderate drinkers, or heavy drinkers.

10 Dec 2010

New research indicates that older women can deliver healthy babies

Career women who put babies on hold until after 40, or even 45, will be reassured by new research from Tel Aviv University. Even though there are associated risks for babies when postponing child-bearing, the neonates can overcome them, says Prof. Yariv Yogev of Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine and the Hospital for Women at Rabin Medical Center.

8 Dec 2010

Health professionals discuss on reducing maternal, newborn mortality, morbidity

On Tuesday 7 December 2010, maternal health professionals from Africa and Asia will be attending a workshop in Liverpool to discuss the effects of 'Making It Happen', a programme with a life-saving training package for health care providers at its heart. Participants will share successes and lessons learned from this maternal and newborn health intervention, to better determine how the programme can be scaled-up.

8 Dec 2010

New technique may help develop novel treatments for brain diseases

Scientists have created a way to isolate neural stem cells - cells that give rise to all the cell types of the brain - from human brain tissue with unprecedented precision, an important step toward developing new treatments for conditions of the nervous system, like Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases and spinal cord injury.

8 Dec 2010

New ways to identify patients most likely to respond to cancer vaccine treatment

A personalized vaccine is a powerful therapy to prevent recurrence among certain follicular lymphoma patients, according to the latest results of ongoing research led by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The new findings show that when these patients - whose tumors are marked by a specific protein that may be present in up to half of people with this type of cancer -- receive a vaccine made from their own tumor cells, disease-free survival is improved by nearly two years, compared with patients who receive a placebo.

7 Dec 2010

HDAC inhibitors may be used to fight against skin cancers

In a study published in the journal Developmental Cell, Sarah Millar PhD, professor of Dermatology and Cell & Developmental Biology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and colleagues demonstrate that a pair of enzymes called HDACs are critical to the proper formation of mammalian skin.

7 Dec 2010

UBC receives $7M grant from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for PRE-EMPT Project

The University of British Columbia has received a $7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. UBC researchers working at the Child & Family Research Institute will test new strategies for the monitoring, prevention, and treatment of pre-eclampsia.

4 Dec 2010

New scientifically-based family planning tool

A scientifically-based family planning tool developed by researchers from Georgetown University's Institute for Reproductive Health, a part of Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC), is now available as an easy-to-use iPhone -, iPod touch- or iPad- application. iCycleBeads- is the first software application that enables a woman to plan or avoid pregnancy easily and effectively, entirely through the information provided by the application.

3 Dec 2010

FDA accepts to file PMA application for LightTouch Cervical Scanner

Guided Therapeutics, Inc. announced that it was notified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the company's premarket approval application (PMA) for the LightTouch Cervical Scanner, for patients at risk for cervical cancer, is suitable for filing.

3 Dec 2010

New findings on folic acid supplementation reveal causes of low birth weight

Groundbreaking work by a team of UK scientists has identified, for the first time, a link between changes in the DNA of newborn babies, folic acid supplementation during pregnancy, and birth weight.

1 Dec 2010

Number of big babies rise along with obstetric complications

Doctors say that with more babies born oversized mostly to obese or overweight mothers the risks of shoulder injury and getting stuck during labour is on the rise. Horrifyingly sometimes obstetricians are resorting to breaking baby’s collarbones to facilitate delivery because their shoulders get stuck during childbirth. This is usually done in a potentially life-threatening is known as shoulder dystocia that compresses the umbilical cord or puts pressure on the neck, leaving the child starved of oxygen if not delivered immediately.

30 Nov 2010

Mindray upgrades M7 ultrasound, high performance DC-7 platforms at RSNA annual meeting

Mindray Medical International Limited, a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices worldwide, today announced two significant upgrades for its premium M7 ultrasound and high performance DC-7 platforms at the Radiology Society of North America (RSNA) being held in Chicago, November 28 – December 2, 2010. The hand carried M7 unit (HCU), which was recently introduced in North America, will be available with an extensive variety of new transducers

From Mindray 30 Nov 2010

Drugs that target DNA in later-stage cancers could be effective in treating breast tumors

Breast cancers that arise sporadically, rather than through inheritance of certain genes, likely start with defects of DNA repair mechanisms that allow environmentally triggered mutations to accumulate, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.

30 Nov 2010

New laboratory test for pregnant women to detect GBS infections

A more rapid laboratory test for pregnant women to detect Group B strep (GBS), the most common cause of life-threatening infections in newborns, is being studied by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

29 Nov 2010

TomTec introduces multi-vendor review solution for 3D/4D radiologic ultrasound data

At this year's annual RSNA meeting TomTec Imaging Systems GmbH introduces 4D Sono-Scan, the multi-vendor review solution for 3D/4D radiologic ultrasound data

26 Nov 2010