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Yale launches study of young women with heart attacks

The largest, most comprehensive study of young women with heart attacks - VIRGO (Variation in Recovery: Role of Gender on Outcomes in Young AMI patients) - was recently launched at Yale School of Medicine with a $9.7 million National Institutes of Health grant.

20 Dec 2007

Study finds outcomes of high-risk cancer operations in 80-year-olds worse than reported

New research published in the December issue of The Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that outcomes of high-risk cancer operations in 80-year-olds are considerably worse than reported in case studies and published survival statistics, which may lead to unrealistic expectations about the safety of these operations in the elderly.

20 Dec 2007

Study examines computed tomographic pulmonary angiography for diagnosing blood clots in the lung

New research indicates that a diagnostic strategy using computed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA) may be a safe alternative to conventional lungs scans (known as ventilation-perfusion scans) for excluding the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the lung vessels), although CTPA may detect more clots, according to a study in the current issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

20 Dec 2007

Simple measures to control spread of XDR TB

By using a combination of inexpensive infection control measures, hospitals around the world could prevent half the new cases of extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB), according to a new study in The Lancet by researchers at Yale School of Medicine.

20 Dec 2007

Safer, more accurate, and more effective radiation therapy for pregnant women

Developing fetuses are extremely sensitive to radiation, which poses an impossible dilemma for expecting mothers in need of screening or treatment for cancer.

20 Dec 2007

Robotic-assisted visceral arterial aneurysm surgery

Surgeons at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago have performed a landmark robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery to remove a renal arterial aneurysm and reconstruct the artery using a graft from a vein in the patient's leg.

20 Dec 2007

Health care savings, coverage for all could lower spending $1.5 trillion over 10 years

Guaranteed health insurance for all combined with several federal policy options to achieve health care system savings could result in $1.5 trillion in reduced spending over 10 years, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report prepared by Fund staff and the Lewin Group for study by the Fund's Commission on a High Performance Health System.

20 Dec 2007

Laser procedure may treat vasa previa

A University of South Florida fetal surgeon at Tampa General Hospital successfully treated in utero a rare but potentially devastating condition in which placental blood vessels block the birth canal and can rupture during labor, leaving the baby without vital blood and oxygen.

20 Dec 2007

Study looks at prevalence of "false-positive" catheterization laboratory activation for patients with suspected STEMI

Physicians caring for patients suspected of having a heart attack may trigger "false-positive" activation of the cardiac catheterization laboratory based on test results suggestive of a heart attack, according to a study in the December 19 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

20 Dec 2007

Early surgical treatment contributes to better outcomes in gallstone pancreatitis cases

Although delaying surgical treatment remains the standard of care for patients with severe gallstone pancreatitis, a new study published in the December issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that, contrary to widespread belief, early cholecystectomy -- or surgical removal of the gallbladder -- significantly reduces hospital stays in patients with mild to moderate gallstone pancreatitis with no increase in complications or mortality.

20 Dec 2007

Experts in Britain say give away free condoms in pubs, clubs and taxis

Experts in Britain say one way of reducing the soaring numbers of sexual transmitted infections would be to give away free condoms in pubs, clubs and taxis.

19 Dec 2007

Boy in a bubble gets leukaemia after gene therapy

A child who was born with a rare immunodeficient condition has developed leukaemia as a result of gene therapy he received at Great Ormond Street children's hospital in London.

19 Dec 2007

Breasts damaged by cancer surgery reshaped using stem cell injections

Japanese researchers have used stem cells to help reshape the breasts of women who have undergone surgery for a breast tumour.

19 Dec 2007

Where vets served affects frequency of ER visits but not hospital stays

Five years post-conflict, individuals who served in the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War were 25 percent more likely to visit an emergency department than veterans of the same era who were not deployed, but were no more likely to have a hospital stay or an outpatient visit, according to a study appearing in the December 2007 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

18 Dec 2007

Researchers initiate gene therapy trial in patients with advanced skin cancer

Researchers at the Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center are the first in the region to have joined a nationwide clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a gene therapy in patients with advanced melanoma which is aimed to help a patient ' s own immune system fight their cancer.

18 Dec 2007

How doctors deal with the risk embedded in the medical system

Risk is an inherent element of the hospital system and the resulting dangers are often normalised by medical staff to allow them to do their job, according to research by a University of Nottingham academic.

18 Dec 2007

New study looks at airway bypass treatment for emphysema

Researchers at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System have announced the start of the EASE (Exhale Airway Stents for Emphysema) Trial, an international, multi-center clinical trial to explore an investigational treatment that may offer a significant new, minimally-invasive option for those suffering with advanced widespread emphysema.

18 Dec 2007

Poultry workers at greater risk of carrying antibiotic-resistant E. coli

Poultry workers in the United States are 32 times more likely to carry E. coli bacteria resistant to the commonly used antibiotic, gentamicin, than others outside the poultry industry, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

18 Dec 2007

Pain treatment in the field: Good for soldiers' comfort and better for rebuilding troop strength

Noncombat-related acute and recurrent chronic pain are the leading causes of soldier attrition in modern war, with the return-to-duty rate as low as 2 percent when these soldiers are treated outside the theaters of operation.

18 Dec 2007

Medical technology in Sweden

Medical technology is an industry for the future in Sweden. However, to exploit the potential that exists, the industrial, academic and healthcare sectors will have to collaborate more closely on areas such as education and clinical research.

18 Dec 2007