Neurosurgery News and Research

RSS

Innovative treatment may help prevent brain swelling, death in stroke patients

New research has provided more evidence that an innovative treatment strategy may help prevent brain swelling and death in stroke patients. J. Marc Simard, professor of neurosurgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, along with colleagues at Yale University and Massachusetts General Hospital, found that Cirara, an investigational drug, powerfully reduced brain swelling and death in patients who had suffered a type of large stroke called malignant infarction, which normally carries a high mortality rate.

19 Mar 2016

Aesculap plans to develop neurostimulators for lowering high blood pressure

The Tuttlingen medical technology company Aesculap AG has founded the Freiburg startup neuroloop GmbH in cooperation with the University of Freiburg and the Freiburg University Medical Center. Building on research work from a team led by Prof. Dr. Thomas Stieglitz at the university's Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) and a research group at the university medical center, the company plans to develop neurostimulators that will be capable among other things of lowering high blood pressure.

18 Mar 2016

Anticancer drug restores hearing in neurofibromatosis patients

In a small clinical study with an anticancer drug that halts blood vessel growth, a handful of people with neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) and hearing loss had restoration of hearing.

15 Mar 2016

Drinking more coffee may reduce risk of multiple sclerosis

Drinking a lot of coffee every day--more than 900 ml (30 fluid ounces) or around six cups--is linked to a reduced risk of multiple sclerosis (MS), finds research published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

7 Mar 2016

New pain management technique can reduce loss of muscle strength in ACL knee surgery patients

Anesthesiologists can significantly reduce loss of muscle strength in ACL knee surgery patients using a new pain management technique, a new study has found.

4 Mar 2016

UT Southwestern teams up with seven universities to develop new technologies to improve memory function

UT Southwestern Medical Center has joined a consortium of seven leading universities to develop new technologies to improve memory in people with traumatic brain injury, mild cognitive impairment, epilepsy, and Alzheimer's disease.

3 Mar 2016

U-M researchers develop novel mouse model of children's brain cancer

Children with brain cancer may soon get some help from mice with the same disease, thanks to new research from University of Michigan Medical School scientists and their colleagues.

3 Mar 2016

Number of male smokers in India rise by 36%

The number of men smoking tobacco in India rose by more than one-third to 108 million between 1998 and 2015, according to a new study published today in the journal BMJ Global Health.

26 Feb 2016

Neurosurgeons use laser probe to deliver chemotherapy drugs to patients with glioblastoma

Using a laser probe, neurosurgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have opened the brain's protective cover, enabling them to deliver chemotherapy drugs to patients with a form of deadly brain cancer.

26 Feb 2016

Immunotherapy emerges as promising strategy for treatment of brain tumors

For decades most cancers have been treated with a core standard of treatments that include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Now, immunotherapy—a type of treatment that harnesses the patient's immune system to combat the disease—represents the future of cancer treatment, with its efficacy being demonstrated in even the most aggressive types of cancer.

24 Feb 2016

UMMC surgeons develop a program to direct critically ill patients to appropriate treatment location

A team of surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center has developed a program that utilizes its Shock Trauma Center (STC) model to direct critically ill non-trauma patients to the appropriate treatment location and get them into an operating room and hospital intensive care unit (ICU) bed as quickly as possible.

24 Feb 2016

Two Johns Hopkins scientists named among 105 winners of Presidential Early Career Awards

Namandje Bumpus, Ph.D., and Jordan Green, Ph.D., of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine are among 105 winners of Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, which were announced by the White House on Feb. 18.

23 Feb 2016

Penn researchers use network science to gain new insights into torn ligament

When doctors diagnose a torn ligament, it's usually because they can see ruptures in the ligament's collagen fibers, visible on a variety of different scans. However, they also often treat patients with many of the symptoms of a tear, but whose ligaments don't show this kind of damage.

17 Feb 2016

Researchers find variability in definitions for reasonable medical threshold in child abuse cases

Physicians use different definitions of "reasonable medical certainty" when testifying as expert witnesses in child abuse cases. The variability is troubling because it could result in flawed rulings, according to researchers at Penn State College of Medicine.

12 Feb 2016

Pivotal IDE clinical trial results for Cerapedics' i-FACTOR bone graft in ACDF procedures published in journal Spine

Cerapedics, a privately-held orthobiologics company, announced today results from a pivotal FDA Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical trial for i-FACTOR Peptide Enhanced Bone Graft in anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) procedures have been electronically published in the peer-reviewed journal Spine.

8 Feb 2016

Novel non-invasive method of vagus nerve stimulation reduces depressive symptoms

Researchers of a new study published in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry report successful reduction of depressive symptoms in patients using a novel non-invasive method of vagus nerve stimulation, or VNS.

5 Feb 2016

New study finds steep decline in basic science publications

A new study has found a steep decline in the number of scholarly papers about basic science published in leading medical journals in the last 20 years.

3 Feb 2016

MYB-QKI fusion gene that drives pediatric low-grade gliomas poses a triple threat

Oncology researchers have discovered that an abnormal fused gene that drives pediatric brain tumors poses a triple threat, operating simultaneously through three distinct biological mechanisms—the first such example in cancer biology.

2 Feb 2016

MRI safe for patients with implantable cardiac devices

The findings of a major study led by cardiovascular imaging specialists at Allegheny General Hospital, part of the Allegheny Health Network, suggest that magnetic resonance imaging is a safe and effective diagnostic procedure for patients with implantable cardiac devices.

30 Jan 2016

Neuroprotection powers for phenytoin in acute optic neuritis

Selective sodium channel blockade with the anti-epileptic drug phenytoin protects against acute demyelinating optic neuritis, researchers report.

29 Jan 2016