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UI Hospital surgeons perform first robotic-assisted kidney transplant and sleeve gastrectomy

Surgeons at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System are developing new treatment options for obese kidney patients.

1 Sep 2012

Study assesses post-coronary artery bypass graft surgery atrial fibrillation and long-term survival

Atrial fibrillation is a common complication of cardiac surgery, occurring in 10 percent to 40 percent of patients. Recent studies show it to be associated with poorer health following surgery and poorer long-term survival. Furthermore, development of atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery leads to average additional health care costs of $15,000 to $20,000.

1 Sep 2012

NFAT protein plays a part in development of acute pancreatitis

It is likely that the protein is also highly significant for other inflammatory diseases. The research results have been published in the American journal Gastroenterology.

1 Sep 2012

Boosting immune system can help reduce asthma attacks due to viral infections

Details of a treatment that could help asthmatics fight infections that trigger 80% of asthma attacks, developed by University of Southampton spin-out company Synairgen, will be presented to European respiratory experts on Sunday 2 September.

1 Sep 2012

MRI detects high prevalence of abnormalities associated with knee osteoarthritis

A study conducted by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) shows that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) detected a high prevalence of abnormalities associated with knee osteoarthritis in middle-aged and elderly patients that had no evidence of knee osteoarthritis in X-ray images.

1 Sep 2012

ConvaTec enters definitive agreement to acquire 180 Medical

ConvaTec, a world-leading developer and marketer of innovative medical technologies for community and hospital care, announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all of the capital stock of 180 Medical Holdings, Inc. for $321 million.

1 Sep 2012

Researchers define new treatment for potentially fatal lung disease in patients with CVID

A team of researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin Research Institute defined a new treatment for a potentially fatal lung disease in patients with a primary immunodeficiency known as common variable immunodeficiency (CVID).

1 Sep 2012

The safety of trainee surgeons: an interview with Prof Calvin Coffey

Surgical training begins at an undergraduate medical student level where students are involved in operations to a minor degree, and educated using a combination of didactic and problem-based approaches.

31 Aug 2012

Research roundup: Readmission risks after surgery; Assessing Medicaid applicants' eligibility; Satisfaction among health plan types

General Surgeons Identify Postoperative Complications Posing Strongest Readmission Risks -- Researchers found that about 11 percent of patients in a study of 1,442 individuals who underwent general surgery were readmitted to the hospital within 30 days.

31 Aug 2012

Study reports flaws in design, analysis, and interpretation of Lyme disease

Most doctors treat Lyme disease with antibiotics for two to four weeks after diagnosis, but if symptoms persist after that, medical guidelines recommend against antibiotic retreatment. That recommendation may not be warranted. A newly published statistical review of the four studies upon which those guidelines are based reports flaws in design, analysis, and interpretation that call into question the strength of the evidence against retreatment.

31 Aug 2012

Well-known protein plays central role in development of acute pancreatitis

There is now a clear target for the treatment of acute pancreatitis, according to researchers at Lund University in Sweden, who have discovered that a well-known protein plays a central role in the development of the disease. It is likely that the protein is also highly significant for other inflammatory diseases.

31 Aug 2012

Doubt cast on LABA withdrawal in combination asthma therapy

Researchers have urged doctors to be cautious over withdrawal of long-acting beta-2 agonist therapy in patients with asthma controlled by this type of bronchodilator in combination with an inhaled corticosteroid, after finding the approach often results in destabilization of their condition.

31 Aug 2012

Subsyndromal symptoms hasten relapse in BD

The presence of subsyndromal affective symptoms is associated with a significantly shorter time to relapse among euthymic patients with bipolar disorder, Spanish research shows.

31 Aug 2012

Excessive daytime sleepiness during pregnancy should raise the alarm

Excessive daytime sleepiness is a common occurrence in pregnant women, particularly during the third trimester, but researchers warn that it might not always be physiologically normal.

31 Aug 2012

Quitting could cut SAH risk for some smokers

Stopping smoking may help to attenuate people’s risk for subarachnoid hemorrhage, say researchers.

31 Aug 2012

LCZ696 could be of PARAMOUNT importance in heart failure

The first-in-class angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor LCZ696 could improve treatment of heart failure, report researchers who conducted a phase II trial of the drug and found it had superior results to an alternative therapy already in use.

31 Aug 2012

Ga. Gov. signals willingness to discuss Medicaid expansion compromise

After the Georgia governor seemed to rule out Medicaid expansion in a convention speech, a spokesman qualified that it might change if the state had options not now on the table.

31 Aug 2012

Weill Cornell Medical College receives three new research grants for translational blood cancer study

Weill Cornell Medical College has been awarded three new research grants from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society totaling $1.8 million. The funds will support critically-needed translational research for blood cancers, accelerating promising discoveries from the laboratory to the patient's bedside.

31 Aug 2012

Renal artery stent revascularization reduces blood pressure in patients with severe hypertension

Patients with uncontrolled renovascular hypertension saw a significant improvement in their blood pressure with renal artery stent deployment. The multicenter HERCULES trial, evaluating the safety and effectiveness of the RX Herculink Elite Stent, found that patients with higher blood pressure levels at baseline had the most dramatic reduction in blood pressure following intervention.

31 Aug 2012

Researchers discover new immune response mechanism during infection

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered a new "first response" mechanism that the immune system uses to respond to infection. The findings challenge the current understanding of immunity and could lead to new strategies for boosting effectiveness of all vaccines. The study, conducted in mice, published online today in the journal Immunity.

31 Aug 2012