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Vitamin E total knee replacement performed at Tri-City Medical Center

Dr. James Helgager, an experienced orthopedic surgeon, implanted the first vitamin E Total Knee Replacement in San Diego County on July 31 at Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside. Helgager is the Medical Director of Joint Replacement for the Orthopaedic & Spine Institute at Tri-City Medical Center. He has been practicing medicine for more than three decades and has performed thousands of total knee replacements.

6 Aug 2012

Prior contralateral amputation predicts outcomes after LEB for critical limb ischemia

Researchers from the Vascular Study Group of New England (VSGNE) report that prior contralateral amputation predicts worse outcomes for lower extremity bypasses (LEB's) performed in the intact limb.

6 Aug 2012

Montefiore launches first fellowship program in Women's Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Montefiore Medical Center has launched the nation's first fellowship program in Women's Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (WPM&R), and established a new clinical program in this specialty.

6 Aug 2012

Sanofi-aventis receives FDA approval for Zaltrap to treat colorectal cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Zaltrap (ziv-aflibercept) for use in combination with a FOLFIRI (folinic acid, fluorouracil and irinotecan) chemotherapy regimen to treat adults with colorectal cancer.

6 Aug 2012

Allergies may reduce risk of brain cancer

New research adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting that there's a link between allergies and reduced risk of a serious type of cancer that starts in the brain. This study suggests the reduced risk is stronger among women than men, although men with certain allergy profiles also have a lower tumor risk.

3 Aug 2012

Giving antibiotics just before cesarean section prevents infections

Giving antibiotics before cesarean section surgery rather than just after the newborn's umbilical cord is clamped cuts the infection rate at the surgical site in half, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

3 Aug 2012

State roundup: N.Y. law requires coverage for partial mastectomy

New York's newest laws include one that will require health insurance to cover reconstructive surgery after partial mastectomies. Health insurers in New York must already cover the cost of reconstructive surgery after a full mastectomy (8/2).

3 Aug 2012

Advice to stay active promotes recovery in patients with low back pain

For workers on medical leave because of low back pain, giving advice to stay active increases the chances of returning to work, reports a study in the August 1 issue of Spine.

3 Aug 2012

Survey results of adoption and implementation of therapeutic hypothermia in hospitals

National guidelines recommend the use of therapeutic hypothermia to improve outcomes in patients who suffer a heart attack outside of a hospital. The results of a survey of all 73 acute care hospitals in New Jersey evaluating the adoption and implementation of this life-saving treatment from 2004-2011 is published in Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

3 Aug 2012

$Cataract surgery reduces hip fracture, as well as improving eye sight$

Cataract surgery reduces hip fracture, as well as improving eye sight

Surgery for cataract removal significantly reduces the rate of hip fracture in the year after the procedure compared with no surgery, show study results involving over a million Medicare beneficiaries aged over 65 years.

3 Aug 2012

Home is where the heart is for congenital defect children

The American Heart Association recommends that children with a congenital heart defect deemed as being at high risk for developmental disorders are treated under a “medical home” model of care.

3 Aug 2012

Viewpoints: Orszag on CAP cost-control proposals; High-tech and health costs

The Center for American Progress proposals thus wisely recognize that there is no single strategy to continue the recent progress in slowing the growth in health-care costs. In contrast, the Republican budget plan put forward by Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin seems based on a belief that all that's needed is to shift risks: from Medicare to beneficiaries through a premium-support program, and from the federal government to state governments by turning Medicaid into block grants.

3 Aug 2012

Mammography oversold by breast cancer charity

The world’s largest breast cancer charity comes under fire from experts today for using misleading statistics to persuade women to undergo mammography.

3 Aug 2012

UI Hospital implants NeuRx Diaphragm Pacing System in a patient with ALS

The University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System is one of only a dozen hospitals nationwide to implant the NeuRx Diaphragm Pacing System in a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

3 Aug 2012

Weill Cornell Medical College receives NCATS grant to fund Clinical and Translational Science Center

Weill Cornell Medical College has received $49.6 million from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to fund its Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC).

3 Aug 2012

Study analyzes drop-out rates and predictors of attrition within adult weight management program

More than 1.7 billion people worldwide may be classified as overweight and need appropriate medical or surgical treatment with the goal of sustainable weight loss. But for weight management programs to be effective, patients must complete them, states a study published in the Canadian Journal of Surgery (CJS) that analyzed drop-out rates and predictors of attrition within a publicly-funded adult weight management program.

2 Aug 2012

FDA clearance - scoliosis - DePuy synthes spine

DePuy Synthes Spine announced it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use of its EXPEDIUM®, VIPER®, and VIPER®2 Spine Systems on patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), an abnormal curvature of the spine that typically affects children between the ages of 10 and 18.(1) This expands the scoliosis indication for the pedicle screw systems, which now are indicated for both adolescents and adults.

2 Aug 2012