Surgery News and Research

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Scientists isolate stem cells in womb tissue

Scientists in Australia have found a way of identifying probable stem cells in the lining of women's wombs. The finding opens up the possibility of using the stem cells for tissue engineering applications such as building up natural tissue to repair prolapsed pelvic floors.

13 Sep 2007

Vibrating catheters break through clogged arteries

A new vibrating catheter breaks through clogged arteries like a jackhammer, obliterating total blockages in patients with dangerous chronic total occlusions (CTOs).

13 Sep 2007

FDA committees recommend continued U.S. marketing for Trasylol

The Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a meeting to discuss the risk /benefit profile of Trasylol (aprotinin injection), a Bayer drug used in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.

13 Sep 2007

New devices and trials for the treatment and prevention of dialysis access stenosis

Having a healthy kidney is worth a billion dollars. But an unhealthy kidney costs more - about $16 billion more, according to Prabir Roy-Chaudhury, MD, PhD, associate professor in the division of nephrology and hypertension at the University of Cincinnati (UC).

13 Sep 2007

Insight into the role of cancer stem cells in cancer initiation, progression and metastasis

Scientists have identified a distinct subpopulation of cancer stem cells (CSCs) that is responsible for metastasis of a deadly human pancreatic cancer.

13 Sep 2007

Living, growing artificial heart-valve replacements for children

Infants and children receiving artificial heart-valve replacements face several repeat operations as they grow, since the since the replacements become too small and must be traded for bigger ones.

13 Sep 2007

Pocket guidelines for assessment and management of cardiovascular risk

A new book of pocket-charts that will help health workers to identify people at risk of heart attacks and strokes and save lives by prescribing the most appropriate treatment is published today by the World Health Organization (WHO). The charts can be adapted for use in any setting, in any country, with any patient.

12 Sep 2007

Insurance status, not race, linked to complications in patients with acute appendicitis

In what is being described as an "unexpected finding," new research suggests no correlation between a patient's race and complications with acute appendicitis.

12 Sep 2007

Glaucoma surgery with novel laser device

Prof. Ehud Assia, of Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine is, quite simply, a rock star in the field of eye surgery.

12 Sep 2007

Customized virus kills brain tumor stem cells that drive lethal cancer

A tailored virus destroys brain tumor stem cells that resist other therapies and cause lethal re-growth of cancer after surgery, a research team led by scientists at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the Sept. 18 edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

12 Sep 2007

Health spending in OECD countries in 2004 and trends in the health of older Americans

Health Spending In OECD Countries In 2004: An Update, by Gerard Anderson, Bianca Frogner, and Uwe Reinhardt. "In 2004, the U.S. health care system continued to provide less access to health care resources than the health systems in many other [industrialized] countries; however, the United States continued to have the highest level of spending," Anderson and coauthors report.

11 Sep 2007

Link between nicotine and atherosclerosis

It's well known that smoking cigarettes increases risk for a host of serious health problems from cancer to heart disease. Now a new study from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City looks at how they do their dirty work by contributing to atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. The evidence points to nicotine, the addictive chemical in cigarettes.

11 Sep 2007

Most chronic sinusitis cases are from fungal-induced inflamma

Accentia Biopharmaceuticals announces evidence that most, if not all cases of chronic sinusitis (CS), are due to a fungal-induced inflammation as originally proposed by investigators at the Mayo Clinic.

11 Sep 2007

Maximizing opportunities for personalized treatment

Scientists and clinicians from around the world will gather in Atlanta, Georgia next week at the American Association for Cancer Research's second International Conference on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development.

11 Sep 2007

Community superbug a growing menace

A strain of the superbug MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) is causing concern across the U.S. because it is becoming more common in the wider community.

11 Sep 2007

Eight things you need to know about ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer doesn't get the kind of attention breast cancer gets. It's not as common, and because survival rates are poor, it does not produce an army of survivors to raise awareness.

11 Sep 2007

New approaches to transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation studied

Current post-operative pain control methods have proved inadequate for those who have undergone total knee replacement (TKR), according to University of Iowa College of Nursing researcher.

11 Sep 2007

Scientists identify process that causes blood vessels to constrict during and after a heart attack

They've also demonstrated that delivering a vital molecule that is depleted during this process directly to those blood vessels can reverse damage and help restore blood flow.

11 Sep 2007

New minimally-invasive coated vascular stent graft in use at Methodist DeBakey Heart Center

Surgeons at the Methodist DeBakey Heart Center in Houston were among the first in the U.S. to implant a new, less-invasive stent graft designed to reduce the risk of blood clots in patients treated for peripheral arterial disease (PAD), which affects as many as 12 million Americans over the age of 50.

11 Sep 2007

Most comprehensive recommendations related to lung cancer

New evidenced-based guidelines from the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) recommend against the use of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) for the general screening of lung cancer.

11 Sep 2007