Surgery News and Research

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Estech receives FDA IDE approval to initiate enrollment in TCRF ablation trial for AF

Estech, a leader in minimally invasive and endoscopic cardiac ablation, announced today that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given conditional Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) approval to initiate patient enrollment in the Estech-sponsored ATTAC-AF trial.

3 Apr 2012

Early appendectomy can reduce length of stay, medical interventions and hospital charges

Pediatric surgeons can lower health care costs if they remove a young patient's perforated appendix sooner rather than later, according to new study results published in the April issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

3 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: 'Outrageously high fee' for emergency services; Mysterious rise in autism cases

The calculus for medical charges in general is beyond comprehension, with outrageously high fees used as a starting point in a bizarre game of bargaining. Glenn Melnick, who teaches hospital finance at USC, told me it's as crazy as if he asked to buy the TV in my living room, and I gave him a price of $1 million to start the conversation.

3 Apr 2012

Expensive robotic-assisted bladder cancer surgery results in fewer deaths, in-patient complications

With technological advancements opening the door to less invasive medical procedures, robotic-assisted surgery is becoming increasingly popular, despite being more expensive than traditional surgery. Robotic-assisted surgical removal of the bladder due to cancer is a new approach to the traditional "open" - or more invasive - operation called a radical cystectomy.

3 Apr 2012

Avedro, ACOS commence accelerated corneal cross-linking Phase 3 study

ACOS and Avedro, Inc. jointly announced today the initiation of a Phase 3, multi-center, randomized, controlled evaluation to study accelerated corneal collagen cross-linking in eyes with keratoconus or corneal ectasia after refractive surgery.

3 Apr 2012

PET allows survival predictions in sarcoma after initial cycle of neoadjuvant chemo

An early Positron Emission Tomography (PET) response after the initial cycle of neoadjuvant chemotherapy can be used to predict increased survival in patients with soft tissue sarcomas, according to a study by researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

3 Apr 2012

Only few cancer patients are referred to orthopedic services

There is a disconnect between the number of cancer patients estimated to have bone metastases and the number of patients who are sent for orthopedic care each year, states an article in the Canadian Journal of Surgery (CJS).

3 Apr 2012

Melanoma on the rise especially amongst the young

Women under 40 are hit hardest by the escalating incidence of melanoma, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in the April issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, out today. Researchers examined records from a decades-long database of all patient care in Olmsted County, Minn., and looked for first-time diagnoses of melanoma in patients 18-39 from 1970 to 2009. Melanoma cases increased eightfold among women in that time and fourfold for men, the authors say. However, death rates from melanoma fell during the same period, suggesting that early interventions may be helping to save some lives, said the researchers.

2 Apr 2012

Regular walking regimen can benefit cancer survivors

Researchers have affirmed that pancreatic cancer patients can literally take a step-by-step approach to combat fatigue. A study published in the April issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons reports that patients who underwent an operation as part of their cancer treatment and then started a regular walking regimen experienced less fatigue than cancer survivors who did not do the walking program.

2 Apr 2012

Successful aneurysm treatment may not improve quality of life

Patients with unruptured brain aneurysms have significant reductions in several areas of quality of life—especially physical functioning, reports a study in the April issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

2 Apr 2012

AngioDynamics presents NanoKnife System clinical study results at SSO 2012

AngioDynamics, a leading provider of innovative, minimally invasive medical devices for vascular access, surgery, peripheral vascular disease and oncology, announced presentations on NanoKnife System clinical experience were given at the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) 2012 conference that took place March 21-24, 2012, in Orlando, Fla.

2 Apr 2012

Encision completes private placement of 1,500,000 shares of common stock

Encision Inc., a medical device company owning patented surgical technology that is emerging as a standard of care in minimally-invasive surgery, announced today that it had completed a private placement of 1,500,000 shares of its common stock.

2 Apr 2012

Scientists use DNA sequencing to identify 'driver' mutations in cancer

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are using powerful DNA sequencing technology not only to identify mutations at the root of a patient's tumor - considered key to personalizing cancer treatment - but to map the genetic evolution of disease and monitor response to treatment.

2 Apr 2012

Genetic variations could be linked with meconium ileus in CF patients

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers working as part of the International Cystic Fibrosis Consortium have discovered several regions of the genome that may predispose cystic fibrosis (CF) patients to develop an intestinal blockage while still in the uterus.

2 Apr 2012

Survivin protein could be a useful tool in understanding pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer kills more than 40,000 people every year, and among cancers it's particularly insidious. For 80 percent of patients, the disease is already so advanced at the time of diagnosis that treatment is unlikely to provide significantly life-extending benefits. For patients diagnosed with localized pancreatic cancer, the five-year survival rate remains barely above 20 percent, according to the National Cancer Institute.

2 Apr 2012

Aurora-A protein plays an important role in head and neck cancer

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia have found that a protein associated with other cancers appears to also be important in head and neck cancer, and may consequently serve as a good target for new treatments. The findings will be reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 on Sunday, April 1.

2 Apr 2012

New paradigm for immunotherapy against cancer

Scientists may have discovered a new paradigm for immunotherapy against cancer by priming antibodies and T cells with cancer stem cells, according to a study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

2 Apr 2012

Hypoxia in tumors can predict prostate cancer recurrence in men

Low oxygen levels in tumors can be used to predict cancer recurrence in men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer even before they receive radiation therapy.

2 Apr 2012

Johns Hopkins Hospital's new home to open on May 1

The Johns Hopkins Hospital's new home, set to open on May 1, will redefine the very essence of the hospital experience, and cutting-edge technology designed to improve care, streamline workflow and encourage efficiencies will play a central role.

31 Mar 2012

Home walking program can improve QOL, fatigue levels in post-surgery pancreatic cancer patients

Participation in a home walking program can lead to a significant improvement in quality of life, fatigue levels and physical functioning of post-surgery pancreatic cancer patients, according to findings from a randomized, controlled study by researchers at Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson School of Nursing - set to appear in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons on April 1.

31 Mar 2012