Surgery News and Research

RSS

Treatment of cardiac lesions without anaesthesic

Navarre University Hospital has introduced a novel technique for the treatment of congenital heart defects and involving the percutaneous closure of the patent foramen ovale (PFO) with monitoring through intracavernous ecography.

23 Mar 2005

Risky surgery not always necessary to treat cervical disease

Revolutionary advancements in the treatment options for diseases associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) now include nonsurgical options such as chemoprevention and vaccines. A review of these methods is published in the latest issue of the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer.

23 Mar 2005

Tiny scaffolding allows stem cells to become working fat cells

Researchers here have used a new microscopic, three-dimensional scaffolding to coax mouse stem cells to transform themselves into fat cells, and then to function identical to how fat cells naturally do in the body.

22 Mar 2005

Three risk factors have the greatest impact on patient and graft survival rates for liver transplantation

Three risk factors: donor age; the length of time an organ is cooled between procurement and transplantation; and how urgently the recipient needs the transplant; have the greatest impact on patient and graft survival rates for liver transplantation, according to an article in the March issue of Archives of Surgery.

22 Mar 2005

Federal database used to track trends in cochlear implant complications

Changes in the format of a federal database for mandatory reporting of major and minor complications for medical devices, including cochlear implants, could make it a valuable resource, according to an article in the March issue of Archives of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery.

22 Mar 2005

Safe, effective, and reliable procedure for straightening of crooked nose

A surgical technique offers improved outcomes for straightening the middle third of the nose, a difficult to manage deformity, according to an article in the March issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery.

22 Mar 2005

Drinking two to three glasses of red wine daily is good for the heart

A review article of the latest studies looking at red wine and cardiovascular health shows drinking two to three glasses of red wine daily is good for the heart, according to a Yale School of Medicine researcher in the Journal of American College of Surgeons.

21 Mar 2005

Calls to regionalize the care of patients with heart attacks are premature

Calls to regionalize the care of patients with heart attacks are premature, and do not account for potential unintended consequences, according to a commentary by Yale researchers published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

21 Mar 2005

Genomic analysis may one day be a primary diagnostic tool for physicians deciding on a course of treatment for trauma

The researchers showed that state-of-the-art techniques for rapidly analyzing changes in activity of all human genes will likely produce useful insights into the health of critically ill patients. The findings, which are available online and will be published in the March 29 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, make it possible for physicians to begin answering important questions about critical care through genomic analysis.

21 Mar 2005

Disfigured patients may be forced to forego surgery

Increasing insurance company denials, restrictions on covered procedures and a new tactic of excluding specific procedures may be forcing some adults and children to live with painful medical conditions or disfigurement. This restrictive access to care contributed to a 10 percent decline in reconstructive plastic surgery procedures in 2004, according to the latest statistics by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

21 Mar 2005

Massive weight loss patients continue to drive the growth in body contouring

More than 106,000 body contouring procedures were performed in 2004, up 77 percent over the last five years according to statistics released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

21 Mar 2005

Reality TV may be attributed to the growth in cosmetic surgery

Reality TV shows are creating a greater public awareness of cosmetic surgery and may attribute to the growth in procedures, however, these shows have not caused a rampant increase.

21 Mar 2005

Demonstrating cost and clinical benefits critical to expansion of European seed brachytherapy markets

The nascent European seed brachytherapy market has been grappling with issues of high procedural and investment costs and a lack of local clinical evidence. However, growing evidence of the overall clinical and cost benefits of seed brachytherapy coupled with rising patient awareness is set to boost market expansion.

21 Mar 2005

Risk of cardiac death after radiation for breast cancer has dramatically decreased

In the largest and most comprehensive prospective study of its kind, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have concluded that the risk of ischemic heart disease and, ultimately, cardiac death following radiation treatment for breast cancer has steadily declined over the last quarter century.

16 Mar 2005

Uncertainty about the need for prostate cancer

Initial results from an ongoing study evaluating the benefit of prostate cancer screening practices demonstrate that the combined use of both standard tests - the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test and the digital rectal exam (DRE) - is optimal for detecting cancer.

16 Mar 2005

Risky surgery not always necessary to treat cervical disease

16 Mar 2005

Heart valve transplant through leg quicker and benefits high risk cases

An experimental procedure marks the launch of a research study approved by the Food and Drug Administration in January. The breakthrough technology could save the lives of thousands of people with heart valve disease who have no other treatment options. In a new clinical trial the first U.S. patient has received a heart valve implant without open-heart surgery.

15 Mar 2005

Risk of ischemic heart disease associated with radiotherapy for breast cancer has substantially decreased in the last 25 years

The risk of ischemic heart disease that is associated with radiotherapy for breast cancer has substantially decreased in the last 25 years, according to a new study in the March 16 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

15 Mar 2005

Drug therapy may be comparable to invasive cardiac procedures for elderly patients with heart attack

Although the type and intensity of treatment for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) [heart attack] varies widely across the country, elderly patients who receive intensive medical treatment may have comparable survival as those who undergo invasive cardiac procedures (such as angioplasty and bypass surgery), according to a study in the March 16 issue of JAMA.

15 Mar 2005

Patients can now swallow pill-sized, disposable cameras to help diagnose diseases of the esophagus

Patients can now swallow pill-sized, disposable cameras to help gastroenterologists diagnose and evaluate diseases of the esophagus, or swallowing tube. This new diagnostic tool is a further modification of capsule endoscopy, which has been used clinically since late 2001 to examine the small intestines.

15 Mar 2005