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Noninvasive test can reduce feeding-related complications among premature infants

Tufts Medical Center researchers have shown that presence of a gene strongly linked to appetite regulation is highly predictive of a premature infant's readiness to feed orally. An analysis of just a drop of an infant's saliva could be the key to preventing many feeding problems and the expensive medical complications that can occur when infants are fed by mouth too early.

22 May 2012

FSU announces availability of Pacifier Activated Lullaby device

Many premature babies enter the world with a mountain of challenges in front of them. Even after they overcome any life-threatening issues, they face ongoing, and typically unpleasant, medical procedures, long hospital stays and increased chances of chronic health issues throughout their lives.

22 May 2012

FDA clears Teleflex’s ARROW PICC with Chloragard technology

Teleflex Incorporated announced today that in addition to broad-spectrum antimicrobial protection, the pressure-injectable ARROW PICC with Chloragard Technology provides antithrombogenic protection for at least 30 days.

22 May 2012

Nighttime intensivists not associated with reduced mortality

Nighttime intensivist physician staffing in intensive care units (ICUs) with a low-intensity daytime staffing model is associated with reduced mortality, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference in San Francisco.

21 May 2012

Foothills Medical Centre to receive ICU Design Citation Award from AACN

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) will present the ICU Design Citation to Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, Canada, during the 2012 National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition, Orlando, Fla., May 19-24.

19 May 2012

Specialized high volume centers linked with lower rates of death and disability from aSAH

People with bleeding brain aneurysms have the best chance of survival and full recovery if they receive aggressive emergency treatment from a specialized team at a hospital that treats a large number of patients like them every year, according to new guidelines just published by the American Stroke Association.

19 May 2012

Older, high-risk prostate cancer patients get better results in larger hospitals

Older, sicker, high-risk patients who undergo one of the most common treatments for prostate cancer get better results in larger, busier hospitals, according to new research by Henry Ford Hospital.

16 May 2012

Death risk for marathon runners remains low during or soon after race

Even though hundreds of thousands more people finished grueling 26.2 mile marathons in the United States in 2009 compared to a decade earlier, a runner’s risk of dying during or soon after the race has remained very low — about .75 per 100,000, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. Men, however, were twice as likely to die as women.

16 May 2012

BiO2 Medical receives CE Mark approval for Angel Catheter to prevent PE

BiO2 Medical, Inc. a Texas based medical device manufacturer with corporate offices in San Antonio, Texas, and R&D and manufacturing operations in Golden, Colorado, announced today that it has received CE Mark approval for the Angel Catheter, a Nitinol Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) filter, permanently attached to a central venous catheter (CVC) for the use of preventing Pulmonary Embolism (PE) in critically ill patients.

16 May 2012

Harvard cardiologist receives Cedars-Sinai’s Corday Prize in Heart Research

Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute is honoring Eugene Braunwald, MD, Distinguished Hersey Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, with The Eliot Corday, MD, International Prize in Heart Research. The Corday Prize has been established to recognize physicians and scientists conducting groundbreaking research that has, or very likely will, change the practice of heart medicine. Braunwald is the inaugural recipient of the annual prize.

15 May 2012

FDA clears MAQUET's new MEGA larger volume intra-aortic balloon catheters

MAQUET Cardiovascular LLC, a leading provider of cardiovascular technologies, today announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its new MEGA 7.5Fr. 30cc and 40cc intra-aortic balloon (IAB) catheters. These new, larger volume catheters will allow clinicians to provide patients with greater hemodynamic support, regardless of their height.

14 May 2012

New mom receives surprise heart transplant

New mom Windy Hill, 38, of Kingsport, Tenn., was given the ultimate Mother's Day gift a little early after she was wheeled into the operating room at Vanderbilt University Hospital on April 20 to receive a mechanical pump to aid her failing heart and save her life.

14 May 2012

Women more likely to suffer PTSD after being discharged from ICU

Women are more likely to suffer post-traumatic stress than men after leaving an intensive care unit (ICU), finds a new study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care. However, psychological and physical 'follow-up' can reduce both this and post-ICU depression.

14 May 2012

Factors associated with successful vaginal birth after Caesarean

Melissa Lunsford wants a vaginal delivery for her fourth child. Following a series of Caesarean and vaginal deliveries for her other children, she couldn't find a doctor or a hospital willing to give her the vaginal birth option for her current pregnancy.

11 May 2012

Review finds 74% decline in annual ICU admissions for asthma

A review of 30 years of life-threatening asthma cases in a San Antonio intensive care unit found that annual ICU admissions for the condition have dropped 74 percent. The study, by UT Medicine San Antonio physicians who reviewed cases at University Hospital between 1980 and 2010, also showed intubation in the emergency department to help patients breathe did not result in longer hospital stays.

11 May 2012

Women & Infants Hospital to receive Health Care Innovation award

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island is among the first batch of organizations selected for Health Care Innovation awards. Made possible by the health care law - the Affordable Care Act - the awards will support 26 innovative projects nationwide that will save money, deliver high quality medical care, and enhance the health care workforce. The preliminary awardees announced today expect to reduce health spending by $254 million over the next three years.

9 May 2012

Pall in-line filters can reduce severe complications, length of hospital stay in PICU

A recently published clinical study on infusion therapy indicates in-line filters from Pall Corporation can reduce severe complications and the length of a patient's stay in the pediatric intensive care unit.

From Pall Corporation 8 May 2012

TCFC completes two in-utero fetal cardiac interventions to treat HLHS

The team at Texas Children's Fetal Center, a national leader for treating fetal anomalies, has successfully completed two in-utero fetal cardiac interventions to treat hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a congenital heart defect that is one of the most complex heart defects to treat.

5 May 2012

American Anesthesiology acquires BAA

American Anesthesiology, a division of MEDNAX, Inc., today announced the acquisition of Brazos Anesthesiology Associates, P.A. (BAA), a physician group practice based in Bryan, Texas that provides anesthesia services, including cardiac, pediatric, obstetric, regional anesthesia and chronic pain management, throughout the Brazos Valley.

5 May 2012

Research roundup: Chronic disease interventions could save states money; Drilling into childhood cancer disparities; National heart emergency care system proposed

Urban Institute: Potential Savings Through Prevention Of Avoidable Chronic Illness Among CalPERS State Active Members -- California is one of many states in financial crisis, and according to this report, it could save millions of dollars on state employee health benefits by preventing chronic disease.

5 May 2012