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UTSW reports successful delivery of quintuplets

Three boys and two girls were born Thursday, Aug. 9, to missionaries Carrie and Gavin Jones at UT Southwestern Medical Center, among the first sets of quintuplets delivered nationally so far this year.

13 Aug 2012

Maternal obesity and neonatal death: an interview with Dr. Jenny Cresswell

It is important to say that levels of maternal obesity in sub-Saharan Africa are low by global standards, but obesity is projected to increase over the next two decades.

13 Aug 2012

Hydrocephalus dictates age-related SAH outcomes

Age is only predictive of poor outcome after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage because of its association with hydrocephalus, say researchers.

10 Aug 2012

Patient cognition may affect EOL care intensity

Mild cognitive impairment in patients with advanced cancer may affect the intensity of end-of-life treatment and promote decision-making by caregivers, rather than patients, show US study results.

9 Aug 2012

Organ donation: an interview with David Shaw

Most donors die in intensive care units, frequently after car accidents. Once it is clear that recovery is out of the question, families will be told that further treatment is futile and the issue of donation can be sensitively raised.

9 Aug 2012

Berlin Heart EXCOR Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device proves effective and life-saving

A tiny heart pump that maintains blood flow in babies and small children with serious heart failure proved effective and life-saving in a pioneering study involving 17 institutions led by Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM).

9 Aug 2012

FDA approves Codman’s MEDSTREAM Programmable Infusion System

Codman & Shurtleff, Inc. (Codman), the global neurological device company, has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval through a PMA supplement for its MEDSTREAM Programmable Infusion System, an implantable infusion pump and catheter system used in the treatment of spasticity, a movement disorder often caused by stroke, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury.

9 Aug 2012

Manning ICU with 24-hour specialist staff does not improve long-term survival

Having round-the-clock rather than on-demand presence of an intensivist does not increase intensive care unit patients’ long-term survival rates, report US researchers.

6 Aug 2012

Intraluminal protection device outperforms negative-pressure split septum IV connector

An IV connector known as an intraluminal protection device (IPD) outperformed a negative-pressure split septum IV connector, in a prospective clinical study that compared the occlusion rates of two IV connectors.

3 Aug 2012

Health care systems explain why they did not participate in CMMS ACO program

Many health care systems across the US have declined to participate in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMMS) Accountable Care Organization (ACO) program, developed under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), to improve efficiency and quality of health care delivery.

3 Aug 2012

Researchers report one-third cut in the rate of lethal SSIs after colorectal operations

A patient safety team including researchers in the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality reported a one-third cut in the rate of costly and potentially lethal surgical site infections (SSIs) following colorectal operations after requiring use of a simple safety checklist and urging caregivers to speak up if they see potentially unsafe practices.

2 Aug 2012

Fifth link to complete chain for cardiac arrest care?

Adding a fifth link to the “Chain of Survival” concept for management of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest significantly improves their survival and positive neurologic outcome chances, a study suggests.

31 Jul 2012

MEDNAX acquires Loudoun Anesthesia Associates

MEDNAX, Inc., today announced the acquisition of Loudoun Anesthesia Associates, a physician group practice that provides anesthesia services at Inova Loudoun Hospital and Inova Loudoun Ambulatory Surgery Center in Leesburg, Va.

31 Jul 2012

'Fifth link' associated with increase in survival rate among survivors of sudden cardiac arrest

Fewer sudden cardiac arrest survivors had neurologic impairment after a novel regional system of care was implemented, according to research published in Circulation, an American Heart Association journal.

31 Jul 2012

A touch may go a long way for preterm babies

Therapeutic touch may have a protective effect on the autoregulation of cerebral blood flow in preterm neonates in response to pain, report researchers.

30 Jul 2012

Grant provides funding for i.v.STATION Robot at Mangiagalli Clinic

Health Robotics today announced that i.v.STATION and Mangiagalli's Clinic won a national grant from the Vodafone Foundation, as selected by Vodafone customers' votes from a group of potential projects, all of which were focused on children's welfare.

30 Jul 2012

MEDNAX acquires Anesthesia Medical Alliance of East Tennessee

MEDNAX, Inc., today announced the acquisition of Anesthesia Medical Alliance of East Tennessee a physician group practice based in Knoxville, Tenn. that provides anesthesia services at 16 practice locations throughout the East Tennessee region.

30 Jul 2012

Scientists decipher molecular causes of life-threatening candida fungal infections

With infectious diseases, it is often not the pathogen itself, but rather an excessive inflammatory immune responses death, for instance as a result of organ damage. On intensive care units, sepsis is the second-most common cause of death worldwide. In patients with a severely compromised immune system specially, life-threatening candida fungal infections represent a high risk of sepsis.

30 Jul 2012

Research roundup: Slowdown in medical imaging; Hospitals' efforts mixed on reducing readmissions

Recent research showed a slowdown in the use of medical imaging for people enrolled in Medicare. This article follows up and finds that annual imaging growth slowed down from an average of 14 percent between 2000 and 2005 to 2.6 percent between 2006 and 2009. An analysis of commercial insurance claims shows a similar trend outside of Medicare. Based on

28 Jul 2012

Discrepancies in ICU use identified

An analysis of intensive care unit use in the USA reveals that many patients admitted to this specialist department are at low risk for mortality, while more than half of patients with a high mortality risk are admitted to other departments.

27 Jul 2012