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Two families having premature baby visit White House to share their inspiring stories with President Obama

Two families who know all too well the trauma of having a baby born prematurely visited the White House today to share their inspiring stories with President Obama. The Hall family from Leesburg, Va., and the Hoffman family from Weston, Fla., are ambassadors for the March of Dimes, a nonprofit foundation that works to prevent premature birth, birth defects, and infant mortality.

15 Feb 2010

Members of interventional cardiology community wish former President Bill Clinton a quick recovery

Members of the interventional cardiology community wish former President Bill Clinton a quick recovery following his recent hospitalization for angioplasty and stenting.

15 Feb 2010

Discharged VAD implanted pediatric patient receives successful heart transplant after eight months

The wait is over for 16-year-old Francesco "Frank" De Santiago. On January 29, De Santiago received a donor heart in a nine-hour transplant operation at Texas Children's Heart Center De Santiago made news last October as the first child ever discharged from a pediatric hospital with an implanted mechanical heart pump, or ventricular assist device (VAD). Until then, pediatric patients with VADs remained in the hospital, often in ICU, while awaiting a donor heart.

15 Feb 2010

Surgical outcomes for hip and knee replacement better at specialized hospitals

The more specialized a hospital is in orthopedic surgical care, the better the outcomes appear to be for patients undergoing hip and knee replacement surgery, University of Iowa researchers report in a new study of Medicare patients.

15 Feb 2010

Research roundup: Bundled payments, PTSD incidence, cost of treating immigrants

This paper examines the spending for health care of adult naturalized citizens and immigrant noncitizens (including some undocumented immigrants) compared to U.S. natives, as documented in data from the 1999-2006 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys (MEPS): "inflation and age-adjusted health care expenditures among noncitizen immigrants were consistently … lower than those of naturalized citizens and U.S. natives during 1999-2006."

15 Feb 2010

HSS creates Quality Research Center for applying research methodologies to health-care quality issues

Patients with orthopedic and autoimmune conditions expect Hospital for Special Surgery --because of its leadership role--to deliver the highest quality care. To further accomplish this mission, HSS is announcing the creation of a Quality Research Center with an innovative structure for applying research methodologies to health-care quality issues.

15 Feb 2010

Diabetic retinopathy: 5.3M U.S adults suffer

Despite major progress in diagnosis and treatment, diabetic retinopathy remains the major cause of blindness in adults under 60 in the U.S., said Thomas C. Lee, director, Retina Institute in The Vision Center at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, associate professor of clinical ophthalmology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and attending physician at Doheny Eye Institute.

12 Feb 2010

Adult stem cell transplant therapy may help prevent amputations from PAD

Grant Medical Center recently completed the nation's first published study of a new procedure that may give hope to millions of patients facing lower limb amputations from peripheral arterial disease (PAD). PAD is a painful circulatory problem in the legs that affects 10 million Americans. If left untreated, it can lead to serious complications such as stroke, amputation and death.

12 Feb 2010

President Bill Clinton undergoes stent insertion procedure: American Heart Association comments

Volunteers and staff of the American Heart Association extend their thoughts and well wishes to former President Bill Clinton upon the reports that he has undergone a procedure to insert stents to widen narrowed coronary arteries. President Clinton, who underwent quadruple coronary bypass surgery in 2004, partnered with the Association through his Foundation to jointly form the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States.

12 Feb 2010

Patients receiving female-donor plasma did better than patients receiving male-donor plasma: Study

Three years after the U.S. blood banking industry issued recommendations that discourage transfusing plasma from female donors because of a potential antibody reaction, Duke University Medical Center researchers discovered that female plasma actually may have advantages.

12 Feb 2010

New pain management options for patients undergoing knee or hip replacements

Patients undergoing knee or hip replacements recover more quickly when treated with targeted pain-blocking medications that may eliminate the need for general anesthesia during surgery and intravenous narcotics drugs after surgery.

12 Feb 2010

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals' Cotara specifically targets solid tumors and anti-tumor activity

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PPHM) today reported publication of data in the online edition of the journal Current Cancer Therapy Reviews that supports the clinical potential of the company's novel brain cancer agent Cotara® for the treatment of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the deadliest form of brain cancer. Cotara specifically targets cells at the center of brain tumors, so its radioactive payload is able to kill cancer cells while leaving healthy tissue largely unaffected. Cotara is currently being tested in a Phase II clinical trial in recurrent GBM patients.

12 Feb 2010

Study shows benefits of stent grafts over balloon angioplasty for patients who undergo dialysis

A randomized multicenter study of 190 patients at 13 medical centers shows-- for the first time-- the "superior" benefit of stent grafts over balloon angioplasty for maintaining function of dialysis access grafts in kidney failure patients who undergo dialysis. Until now, no other therapy has proven more effective than angioplasty.

12 Feb 2010

Third party reexamination of Phase III study of Ereska meets primary endpoint

Javelin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that a reexamination conducted by a third party of pain score measurements from its Phase III study of Ereska™ (intranasal ketamine) showed that top line results for its primary endpoint were statistically significant. Previously, Javelin had reported that the top line results for its primary endpoint were not statistically significant.

12 Feb 2010

Center for Adolescent Bariatric Surgery performs 100th LAGB procedure

Few treatments are available to help obese adolescents who are unable to lose weight and are already suffering from obesity-related health problems. Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), an option for adults in the United States since 2001, is showing promise for teens. The Center for Adolescent Bariatric Surgery, which opened at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital in 2006, recently performed its 100th LAGB procedure.

12 Feb 2010

Article features pelvic health problems, risk factors and treatment options for women

Pelvic health concerns in women are common -- yet how the issues impact sexuality and childbearing is not often discussed, according to Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource.

12 Feb 2010

Proving value a challenge for comparative effectiveness and pharmaceutical technologies

The Wall Street Journal reports that "an examination of one of the best-known examples of a comparative-effectiveness analysis shows how complicated such a seemingly straightforward idea can get" as officials look for savings in the health care system." One study, called Courage, "found that the most common heart surgery -- a $15,000 procedure that unclogs arteries using a small scaffold or stent -- usually yields no additional benefit when used with a cocktail of generic drugs in patients suffering from chronic chest pain."

12 Feb 2010

Ulcerative colitis drug market to grow up to $2.1 billion in 2018

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that the ulcerative colitis drug market will nearly double from $1.2 billion in 2008 to $2.1 billion in 2018 in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan.

12 Feb 2010

RTI Biologics supports Haiti relief efforts with Matrix HD sterilized dermis allografts donation

RTI Biologics Inc., the Florida-based processor of orthopedic, dental, hernia and other biologic implants, has donated Matrix HD™ sterilized dermis allografts to use in limb salvage procedures for victims of the recent natural disasters in Haiti.

12 Feb 2010

Cancer drug could be effective for treating recurrent nose bleeds

Patients suffering from hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), an inherited vascular condition characterized by profuse nosebleeds, may find hope in a cancer-fighting drug called bevacizumab, also known as Avastin.

12 Feb 2010

Surgery News and Research

Two families having premature baby visit White House to share their inspiring stories with President Obama

Members of interventional cardiology community wish former President Bill Clinton a quick recovery

Discharged VAD implanted pediatric patient receives successful heart transplant after eight months

Surgical outcomes for hip and knee replacement better at specialized hospitals

Research roundup: Bundled payments, PTSD incidence, cost of treating immigrants

HSS creates Quality Research Center for applying research methodologies to health-care quality issues

Diabetic retinopathy: 5.3M U.S adults suffer

Adult stem cell transplant therapy may help prevent amputations from PAD

President Bill Clinton undergoes stent insertion procedure: American Heart Association comments

Patients receiving female-donor plasma did better than patients receiving male-donor plasma: Study

New pain management options for patients undergoing knee or hip replacements

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals' Cotara specifically targets solid tumors and anti-tumor activity

Study shows benefits of stent grafts over balloon angioplasty for patients who undergo dialysis

Third party reexamination of Phase III study of Ereska meets primary endpoint

Center for Adolescent Bariatric Surgery performs 100th LAGB procedure

Article features pelvic health problems, risk factors and treatment options for women

Proving value a challenge for comparative effectiveness and pharmaceutical technologies

Ulcerative colitis drug market to grow up to $2.1 billion in 2018

RTI Biologics supports Haiti relief efforts with Matrix HD sterilized dermis allografts donation

Cancer drug could be effective for treating recurrent nose bleeds

Industry Focus eBook - Forensics & toxicology (2nd edition) eBook

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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