Surgery News and Research

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Simulation-based training is an effective way to teach medical and health professionals

An analysis led by Mayo Clinic researchers found that simulation-based training is an effective way to teach physicians, nurses, dentists, emergency medical technicians and other health professionals.

7 Sep 2011

Anthem proposes double-digit rate increase in Conn.; Mass. bill would cut payments to high-cost providers

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Connecticut's largest health insurer and a favorite target of advocates for more stringent regulation of rate increases, is seeking to raise premiums by 12.9 percent next year for more than 45,000 individual-market customers, including some whose plans were the subject of a controversial request that got denied last year.

7 Sep 2011

Leading cancer journals publish OncoGenex's custirsen pre-clinical and Phase II study data

OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that data from two studies, a Phase II clinical study and a pre-clinical study, evaluating the investigational compound custirsen, were published in the September issues of the journals Clinical Cancer Research and Cancer Research.

7 Sep 2011

New blood test could help identify babies at risk of sickle cell disease

A new blood test is being developed by researchers in Cambridge and Oxford, which, for the first time, could help identify babies at risk of a severe form of sickle cell disease, allowing immediate and more intensive treatment to be given, thanks to a grant from children's charity Action Medical Research.

7 Sep 2011

Breast cancer patients with BRCA1 mutation experience pCR after neoadjuvent chemotherapy

Nearly half of breast cancer patients carrying the BRCA1 gene mutation experience a complete pathological response (pCR) - the disappearance of all evidence of disease from the breast tissue and lymph nodes - regardless of disease stage after standard neoadjuvent chemotherapy, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

7 Sep 2011

Fujirebio Diagnostics receives FDA 510(k) clearance for Risk of Ovarian Malignancy Algorithm test

Fujirebio Diagnostics, the industry leader in oncology biomarker assays, announced today that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the company's HE4 Test in an algorithm called ROMA (HE4 EIA + ARCHITECT CA 125 II) to aid in assessing whether a premenopausal or postmenopausal woman who presents with an ovarian adnexal mass is at high or low likelihood of finding malignancy on surgery.

7 Sep 2011

Duodenal switch may lead to more weight loss but more complications: Study

A less usual and common type of obesity surgery may spur more weight loss than its far more popular cousin, gastric bypass - but at the price of greater long-term risks, researchers reported.

6 Sep 2011

FDA stalls the blood-thinner Xarelto’s approval citing inadequate evidence

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in a staff report released today that “there is insufficient information about the drug to determine whether it is safe for use with its proposed labeling.” Their report questions its safety and effectiveness, saying a new study is needed.

6 Sep 2011

Enrollment complete in DURECT's POSIDUR Phase III study for post-surgical pain

DURECT Corporation announced today the dosing of the last patient in the U.S. pivotal Phase III clinical study for POSIDUR known as BESST.

6 Sep 2011

Latest Consumer Reports Index: 16.3% of Americans unable to pay medical bills

When we visit our doctors, we don't typically think of ourselves as "consumers" or buyers of health care, but in these tough times, that is precisely the role a patient needs to play to avoid drowning in a sea of medical bills.

6 Sep 2011

Bariatric surgery is cost-effective but has long-term complications

The majority of people who undergo bariatric weight-loss surgery benefit from the procedure, but long-term complications and further surgery are not uncommon, according to a UK paper on late postoperative complications in the October issue of BJS, the British Journal of Surgery.

6 Sep 2011

AMA releases new Current Procedural Terminology codes

Friday September 2, 2011 the AMA released new Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes that will be reported by hospitals, physicians and ambulatory centers providing coverage for additional treatment options for cancer patients.

6 Sep 2011

Loyola surgeons use new, less invasive catheter technique to treat cystic fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis patient Daniel Sammons had undergone a successful double lung transplant at Loyola University Medical Center, but he still had one major health issue.

3 Sep 2011

Early treatment of chronic hip pain in young athletes may have long term impact on health

Treating young athletes with chronic hip pain may be the key to slowing or halting the progression of degenerative hip disease.

3 Sep 2011

SWOG selects four cancer researchers for 2011 Young Investigator Training Course

SWOG has selected four talented, early-career researchers for its 2011 Young Investigator Training Course. These four will attend a three-day workshop September 19 - 21 in Seattle, Wash., for intensive training in how to design and conduct cancer clinical trials.

3 Sep 2011

New tool to predict survival after heart transplant

Johns Hopkins researchers say they have developed a formula to predict which heart transplant patients are at greatest risk of death in the year following their surgeries, information that could help medical teams figure out who would benefit most from the small number of available organs.

2 Sep 2011

First Edition: September 2, 2011

On Kaiser Health News' blog, staff writer Julie Appleby writes: "Insurers who offer 'association health plans,' which are often sold through trade groups or other organizations of affiliated members, will face the same scrutiny of premium rate hikes as other types of insurance, federal officials said Thursday."

2 Sep 2011

Practice on virtual reality system may enhance surgical skills

A task simulator with 3D and tactile feedback can provide neurosurgeons in training with valuable practice in developing essential surgical skills, suggests a study in the September 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 Sep 2011

Hospitals with higher surgical volumes less likely to cause unintentional serious injuries

Are you scheduled for heart bypass surgery or weight loss surgery? You might want to find out just how frequently different hospitals in your area are performing those procedures before deciding where to go. A new study finds that hospitals with higher surgical volumes for certain procedures are less likely to cause unintentional serious injuries to hospitalized patients when compared to those hospitals that perform the procedures less often.

2 Sep 2011

Short-term glucocorticoid treatment may prevent osteoarthritis after joint injury

Joint injury can result in irreversible damage of cartilage which, despite treatment and surgery, often eventually leads to osteoarthritis (OA) in later life. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Arthritis Research & Therapy demonstrates that short term treatment of damaged cartilage with glucocorticoids can reduce long term degenerative changes and may provide hope for prevention of OA after injury.

2 Sep 2011

Surgery News and Research

Simulation-based training is an effective way to teach medical and health professionals

Anthem proposes double-digit rate increase in Conn.; Mass. bill would cut payments to high-cost providers

Leading cancer journals publish OncoGenex's custirsen pre-clinical and Phase II study data

New blood test could help identify babies at risk of sickle cell disease

Breast cancer patients with BRCA1 mutation experience pCR after neoadjuvent chemotherapy

Fujirebio Diagnostics receives FDA 510(k) clearance for Risk of Ovarian Malignancy Algorithm test

Duodenal switch may lead to more weight loss but more complications: Study

FDA stalls the blood-thinner Xarelto’s approval citing inadequate evidence

Enrollment complete in DURECT's POSIDUR Phase III study for post-surgical pain

Latest Consumer Reports Index: 16.3% of Americans unable to pay medical bills

Bariatric surgery is cost-effective but has long-term complications

AMA releases new Current Procedural Terminology codes

Loyola surgeons use new, less invasive catheter technique to treat cystic fibrosis

Early treatment of chronic hip pain in young athletes may have long term impact on health

SWOG selects four cancer researchers for 2011 Young Investigator Training Course

New tool to predict survival after heart transplant

First Edition: September 2, 2011

Practice on virtual reality system may enhance surgical skills

Hospitals with higher surgical volumes less likely to cause unintentional serious injuries

Short-term glucocorticoid treatment may prevent osteoarthritis after joint injury

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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