Surgery News and Research

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Overdiagnosis of congenital long QT syndrome (LQTS)

Congenital long QT syndrome (LQTS) can be lethal if not diagnosed -- yet recent increased awareness of the disorder may lead to diagnosing patients when they don't have the syndrome and then prescribing treatments that restrict patients' lifestyles, a new Mayo Clinic study shows.

1 Jun 2007

Obese patients are at higher risk for pancreatic surgery complications

Obesity may contribute to a greater likelihood of post-operative complications for patients having pancreatic surgery, a surgeon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital has found.

1 Jun 2007

Review of small penis syndrome

Women are much more interested in a man's personality and looks than the size of his penis, but men can experience real anxiety even if they are average sized, according to a research review published in the June issue of the urology journal BJU International.

1 Jun 2007

Groundbreaking robotic pancreatectomy

Surgeons at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago performed a groundbreaking robotic pancreatectomy in a 39-year-old man to relieve him of debilitating pain.

1 Jun 2007

Cartilage shield restores hearing in some otitis media infection patients

Inserting a “shield” of cartilage into the inner ear is a less invasive and more cost-effective alternative to membrane reconstruction when treating hearing loss in selected patients suffering from chronic middle ear infections (otitis media), according to a new study published in the June 2007 edition of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery .

1 Jun 2007

Advances in epilepsy treatment

Epilepsy and seizures affect 2.5 million Americans, 181,000 new cases of epilepsy are diagnosed every year, and the disorder incurs an estimated $12.5 billion in annual direct and indirect costs.

1 Jun 2007

Back surgery or grin and bear it?

A couple of new studies by researchers in the U.S. and the Netherlands have found that though surgery is effective for people with a slipped or misaligned disk, it often is not necessary if patients can summon up enough patience and wait awhile.

31 May 2007

Proper use of aprotinin to reduce bleeding during heart surgery does not increase the risk of heart attack or stroke

The study was prompted by recent reports suggesting an increased risk of complications including heart attacks, strokes, and kidney problems in patients who received aprotinin to reduce bleeding during heart bypass or valve replacement surgery.

30 May 2007

MRI helps predict recovery after spinal cord injury

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), radiologists can better predict the likelihood of full or partial recovery of patients with acute spinal cord injuries (SCI), according to a study published in the June issue of the journal Radiology.

30 May 2007

Pharmacists play critical role in reducing medication discrepancies

Involving pharmacists in obtaining and assessing a patient's medication history before elective surgery can significantly reduce medication discrepancies upon hospital admission.

30 May 2007

Good news for women who choose mastectomy over lumpectomy

Radiation therapy after lumpectomy for early-stage breast cancer can be safely delivered in higher daily doses to greatly reduce treatment time.

30 May 2007

Magnetic resonance-guided, focused ultrasound surgery relieves fibroid symptoms in women

A noninvasive ultrasound procedure effectively shrinks uterine fibroids and significantly relieves fibroid-related symptoms in women, according to the results of a multicenter clinical trial reported in the June issue of the journal Radiology.

30 May 2007

Women with breast cancer do not get potentially life-saving information

New published data from a large pan-European survey indicate that the majority of postmenopausal women with early breast cancer taking post-surgical endocrine therapy are not involved in making key decisions about their treatment, nor are they given sufficient information to make informed treatment choices that could affect their long-term outcome.

28 May 2007

Researchers shed light on the link between chronic inflammation and atherosclerosis

Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and other inflammatory rheumatic diseases are associated with a high rate of death from heart disease.

28 May 2007

Wake-up call to physicians caring for hepatitis B patients

Many patients with chronic hepatitis B are deficient in their understanding of the lifelong disease and often do not comply with the drug regimens necessary to control it, according to a new UCLA survey that suggests improved patient involvement in disease management decisions could be the key to fixing this problem.

28 May 2007

Heart-assist device gives Culver City man a better quality of life

Mark Heiner of Culver City reads books, paints artistically, takes walks and does laundry – activities that would be considered routine except for the fact that a four-pound disk implanted in his abdominal cavity is keeping his blood flowing.

28 May 2007

Reversal of coma with an injection of glue

Neurosurgeons and neuroradiologists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center injected a biosynthetic “glue” to seal off a spinal fluid leak and restore a comatose patient to consciousness.

28 May 2007

New method predicts hip joint decay from chemotherapy

St. Jude investigators say they have found the best way for predicting when patients will need future surgery to repair hip joints that have deteriorated because of pediatric leukemia or lymphoma treatment.

27 May 2007

Study challenges conventional wisdom about cancer cells

A team of St. Jude investigators challenged conventional wisdom about the eye cancer retinoblastoma by using a mouse model that allowed them to study the tumors as they develop and grow.

27 May 2007

Very-low-birth-weight newborns face higher risk of death at community hospitals

More than 20 percent of very small babies who died in California between 1991 and 2000 might have lived had they been born in different hospitals, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System.

24 May 2007