In reviewing 25 years of U.S. malpractice claim payouts, Johns Hopkins researchers found that diagnostic errors — not surgical mistakes or medication overdoses — accounted for the largest fraction of claims, the most severe patient harm, and the highest total of penalty payouts.
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Gene therapy for Canavan disease slows brain atrophy and stabilizes patients’ clinical condition, show findings that highlight the need for very early diagnosis and intervention.
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Justin M. Brown, MD, reconstructive neurosurgeon at UC San Diego Health System, is one of only a few specialists in the world who have pioneered a novel technique to restore hand function in patients with spinal cord injury. In a delicate four-hour procedure, Brown splices together tiny nerve endings, only one millimeter in width, to help restore hand mobility. Most patients return home 24 hours after surgery.
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Surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have restored some hand function in a quadriplegic patient with a spinal cord injury at the C7 vertebra, the lowest bone in the neck. Instead of operating on the spine itself, the surgeons rerouted working nerves in the upper arms. These nerves still "talk" to the brain because they attach to the spine above the injury.
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A surgeon for WVU Healthcare has implanted a diaphragmatic pacemaker in a pediatric patient, making West Virginia University's medical center only the second in the country to use this device on a young patient, after Case-Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
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The American Academy of Neurology is issuing an updated guideline that recommends monitoring the spinal cord during spinal surgery and certain chest surgeries to help prevent paralysis, or loss of muscle function, related to the surgeries.
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Monitored by scientists at Kessler Foundation, six people with traumatic spinal cord injuries tested Ekso, the robotic exoskeleton from Ekso Bionics that enables wheelchair users to stand and walk.
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DryDiapersPlus is excited to announce that they have joined with Unique Wellness and BIOTX Ltd to provide world-class incontinence products for their customers.
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For people with severe physical disabilities, such as spinal cord injury, quadriplegia and hemiplegia or amputation, current technology for controlling a wheelchair or mobility scooter is wholly inadequate.
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Mobility is a challenge for spinal cord injured patients. Infection is another. Adam Thrasher, assistant professor of health and human performance, says infection is the leading cause of death for people living with spinal cord injuries for two years or more.
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Medtronic, Inc. announced that data from a multicenter, prospective, randomized, blinded, feasibility trial published today show promise for occipital nerve stimulation for treating medically refractory chronic migraines and support the need for further controlled study of the treatment. The study, called Occipital Nerve Stimulation for the Treatment of Intractable Migraine, included severely debilitated patients who had regularly experienced 15 or more headache days per month that were not responsive to currently available medical therapies.
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Patients fitted with long-term bladder catheters often face a potentially serious complication caused by a Gram-negative bacteria Proteus mirabilis that can colonize the catheters.
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Medtronic, Inc. today announced the launch of an educational campaign, called Release Your Potential, that is designed to raise awareness of spasticity, a condition that makes it difficult to voluntarily relax muscles.
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For patients with quadriplegia, mutism and lower cranial nerve paralysis (locked-in syndrome), their only means of interacting with others is through vertical gaze and upper eyelid movements, using eye-coded communication strategies.
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AbleNet, Inc. announces the agreement with Madentec Limited of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada for the exclusive global rights to manufacture and sell their entire line of assistive technology solutions. This adds a broad portfolio of proven devices to the AbleNet computer access products. Madentec will continue to own the products and provide engineering development support, which has been their core strength.
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Rachel steered her wheelchair into a Chicago area medical center for a series of upper gastrointestinal tests.
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Apolipoprotein E (APOE), a gene associated with heightened risk for Alzheimer's disease in adults, can also increase the likelihood that brain-injured newborns will develop cerebral palsy, researchers at Children's Memorial Research Center have discovered.
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Patients who are taken to a level 2 trauma center after suffering serious injury are significantly more likely to die than comparable patients treated at a major level 1 trauma center, according to researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
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For the first time, researchers have used human embryonic stem cells to create new insulating tissue for nerve fibers in a live animal model – a finding that has potentially important implications for treatment of spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis.
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