Surgery News and Research

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Health Research International publishes reports on opportunities presented by transcatheter and minimally invasive surgical valve technologies

Transcatheter heart valve technologies are positioned to become the next disruptive influence in cardiovascular medicine and drive a multi-billion dollar market. However, questions remain about the timing of adoption of these new technologies, the numbers and types of patients ultimately benefitting from them, the impact of reimbursement, and where transcatheter technologies pose the greatest threat to the current surgical caseload, especially in light of developments in minimally invasive heart valve surgery technologies.

19 Aug 2009

Forty-six uninsured San Diego County patients to receive free surgeries, procedures

Forty-six uninsured San Diego County patients will receive donated outpatient surgeries and procedures on Saturday, August 22, 2009, through an ongoing partnership between Project Access San Diego (PASD), a program of the San Diego County Medical Society Foundation, Kaiser Permanente and the Alliance Healthcare Foundation. PASD mobilizes medical volunteers to provide free surgeries and procedures to uninsured San Diegans.

19 Aug 2009

Solta Medical launches new Thermage Comfort Pulse Technology system

Solta Medical, Inc. (Nasdaq: SLTM) today announced the launch of its new Thermage CPT(TM) system, representing a significant leap forward in skin tightening and body contouring technology. The Thermage CPT system incorporates proprietary Comfort Pulse Technology(TM) in every aspect of the system including a new ergonomic vibrating hand piece and scientifically advanced Face Tip 3.0 and Body Tip 16.0 treatment tips.

19 Aug 2009

US Spine awarded patent for Facet Fixation System

US Spine® announced today that it has been awarded the first patent in a series for its Facet Fixation System. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has assigned patent number 7,563,275 to the Facet Fixation System. US Spine began commercial launch of the system in 2008, which features the Facet Gun™ and Facet Bolt®.

19 Aug 2009

Brooks Rehabilitation's new specialty clinic to provide advanced treatments for back and neck

Brooks Rehabilitation's newest specialty clinic, the Brooks Center for Back & Neck Health, offers patients advanced treatments for both acute and chronic conditions of the spine, including whiplash, lumbar stenosis, cervical or lumbar radiculopathy, cervical or lumbar instability, sciatica, TMJ, osteoarthritis, degenerative disc disease, and more. According to the National Institutes of Health, back pain is the second most common reason Americans go to the doctor (headaches are the first), and among the most common reasons for surgery. Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of physical therapy for affecting outcomes in patients with spinal conditions.

19 Aug 2009

Compete rates Healthgrades.com number one doctor-ratings web site

HealthGrades.com is the #1 doctor-ratings Web site – by an enormous margin – according to an analysis of Web traffic by Compete, a TNS Media company. HealthGrades.com, long known for its hospital-quality ratings, is the public Web site of the leading healthcare ratings company, featuring quality reports and ratings of every practicing doctor, hospital and nursing home in the country.

19 Aug 2009

CryoLife's SynerGraft technology effective in removing donor cells and cellular remnants from the tissue

CryoLife, Inc., an implantable biological medical device and cardiovascular tissue processing company, today announced the first three implantations of the CryoPatch((R)) SG pulmonary human cardiac patch since FDA clearance.

19 Aug 2009

Nonsurgical, quick and accurate test for diagnosing endometriosis discovered

A quick and accurate test for endometriosis that does not require surgery has been developed by researchers from Australia, Jordan and Belgium, according to new research published online today (Wednesday 19 August) in Europe's leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction.

19 Aug 2009

Neurofeedback 'brain training' helps surgeons improve skills

A team of researchers have found that trainee eye surgeons can significantly improve their surgical skills by regulating their own brainwave activity, using a process called neurofeedback.

18 Aug 2009

Weight training reduces lymphedema symptoms after breast cancer surgery

Breast cancer survivors who lift weights are less likely than their non-weightlifting peers to experience worsening symptoms of lymphedema, the arm- and hand-swelling condition that plagues many women following surgery for their disease, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research published in the August 13 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

18 Aug 2009

Biologist demystifies Acinetobacter baumannii

Tao Weitao, a researcher in the College of Sciences' Department of Biology at the University of Texas at San Antonio is making great strides in a project that was funded one year ago by the San Antonio Area Foundation. The professor in the South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases is researching Acinetobacter baumannii, a soil-dwelling bacterium that threatens the health of military personnel in the Middle East and can also infect their family members once the soldiers have returned home following battle.

17 Aug 2009

Disabled woman assaulted at health care town hall meeting

After releasing our article on Friday discussing how violence at health care town hall meetings could escalate, we attended a health care protest at Senator Dianne Feinstein's office in West Los Angeles, where we met a disabled woman, Kimberly King.

17 Aug 2009

Novel treatment reduces swollen livers

Viruses need living cells for replication and production of virus progeny. Thus far, antiviral therapy primarily targets viral factors but often induces therapy resistance. New improved therapies attempt to targets cellular factors that are essential for viral replication.

16 Aug 2009

New immune therapy for kidney cancer tested

Researchers at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) have opened a clinical trial to evaluate whether the standard treatment for a common form of kidney cancer works better by itself or when combined with a certain type of blood cell that comes from a patient’s relative. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

14 Aug 2009

Obesity leads to worse prostate cancer in both black and whites equally

A new look at a large database of prostate cancer patients shows that obesity plays no favorites when it comes to increasing the risk of recurrence after surgery: Being way overweight is equally bad for blacks and whites, say researchers at Duke University Medical Center.

13 Aug 2009

How to stop osteoarthritis pain

When arthritis affects the hands, a range of treatments may reduce pain and preserve joint mobility. The August issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter provides an overview.

13 Aug 2009

Wine may offer radioprotective effect for breast cancer patients

Drinking wine while undergoing radiation treatment for breast carcinoma may reduce the incidence of skin toxicity in breast cancer patients, according to a study in the August issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

13 Aug 2009

Possible neurological complications of heart surgery detailed in new report

In the most comprehensive and up-to-date review of its kind, researchers list possible nervous system complications of bypass surgeries, aortic surgery, cardiac catheterizations, valve replacements, heart transplants and surgeries for congenital heart disease and heart tumors.

13 Aug 2009

Scientists grow new blood vessels to combat heart disease

Although open-heart surgery is a frequent treatment for heart disease, it remains extremely dangerous. Now groundbreaking research from Dr. Britta Hardy of Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine has shown the potential for an injected protein to regrow blood vessels in the human heart ― eliminating the need for risky surgery altogether.

13 Aug 2009

MRI increases chances of more extensive surgery over conservative approaches in breast cancer diagnosis

A new review says using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before surgery to assess the extent of early breast cancer has not been shown to improve surgical planning, reduce follow-up surgery, or reduce the risk of local recurrences.

13 Aug 2009