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Long-term alcoholics are at a higher risk for postoperative infections following elective cardiac surgery

Previous research has shown that post-surgery rates of disease and death are two-to-five times greater among long-term alcoholics than nonalcoholic patients. Of all the possible complications, infection can be the most serious.

22 Sep 2005

Family-centered approach improves communication and care in intensive care unit

A nationwide hospital program developed to support families visiting loved ones in the intensive care unit (ICU) has significant benefits for families, patients, and team members in the ICU, shows a new study.

20 Sep 2005

New tool to measure coma depth

Mayo Clinic neurologists have created the first new, reliable and easy-to-use clinical tool in 30 years for measuring coma depth, a proposed replacement for the Glasgow Coma Scale. The new scoring system, called the FOUR (Full Outline of UnResponsiveness) Score, will be described in the October issue of Annals of Neurology.

10 Sep 2005

New device for removing liver tumours with virtually no blood loss

The revolutionary new device uses radiofrequency energy to 'seal' tissue around a tumour site, allowing the tumour to be removed while preventing blood loss and other complications. The device has enabled surgeons to operate where previously it would have been too risky.

10 Sep 2005

Heart failure patients are "a country" in Europe, there are so many

The number of hospitalizations for heart failure is about the same as for acute myocardial infarction. Our knowledge over acute heart failure patients treated at hospitals for heart failure is based on surveys. In Europe the information is still scarce but emerging especially through the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Euroheart survey program.

5 Sep 2005

MRSA risk doubled in critically ill patients with glucose in their airways

Critically ill patients with glucose in their airways seem to be at double the risk of picking up serious hospital acquired infections, including MRSA, suggests research in Thorax.

1 Sep 2005

Scientists convert human embryonic stem cells into lung cells

According to research to be published in the journal Tissue Engineering, the team from Imperial College London, took human embryonic stem cells and 'directed' them to convert into the type of cells needed for gas exchange in the lung, known as mature small airway epithelium.

24 Aug 2005

Researchers test experimental drug Neuprex on infants undergoing heart surgery

UT Southwestern Medical Center is the only institution in the nation approved by the Food and Drug Administration to test an experimental drug on infants undergoing heart surgery to see whether it can help them avoid potentially lethal infections and improve survival.

22 Aug 2005

Heart surgery safe and successful for many 80 year olds

According to a new report, cardiac surgery can be safely performed in octogenarians and may improve their life expectancy.

21 Aug 2005

Global prevalence of kidney failure among critically ill patients

A multinational study has found that 5 to 6 percent of patients in intensive care units experience acute kidney failure, and about 60 percent of these patients die in the hospital, according to an article in the August 17 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

18 Aug 2005

Doctors should not shy away from giving 80 year olds heart bypass surgery

...suggests research published ahead of print in Heart. Most of those who received the treatment were still alive five years later and had half the risk of death of their peers in the general population, the research reveals.

17 Aug 2005

Brain-dead mother has baby girl

Twenty six year old Susan Torres, who has been has been kept alive for almost three months, since a stroke in May, has given birth to a baby girl, two months prematurely.

3 Aug 2005

Study addresses critical GVHD complication - limitations of bone marrow transplants

Together with 16 other institutions in the United States, University of Minnesota researchers led the largest study to date in patients with leukemia and related disorders undergoing bone marrow transplantation from unrelated donors.

2 Aug 2005

Millions of hospital patients could be spared the humiliation and infection risk that come with a urine-collecting catheter

...a new study finds, if hospitals used a simple reminder system to prompt doctors to remove the devices after two days.

29 Jul 2005

Large precentage of extremely low-birth-weight children develop chronic problems

A new study published this week has found that babies who weigh only 2.2 pounds (1 kg) or less at birth are much more likely than those with normal weight to develop chronic physical and mental problems by the age of eight.

21 Jul 2005

Good quality of life for cardiogenic shock patients after emergency procedures

Emergency bypass surgery or angioplasty procedures to counteract deadly complications that follow some heart attacks not only improve survival odds for cardiogenic shock patients, but the quality of life after such emergency revascularization procedures appears to be better than that of survivors who received less aggressive treatment, according to a new study in the July 19, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

21 Jul 2005

Doctors showed the lowest compliance levels and the smallest improvement in hand washing study

Hand washing among healthcare staff working in a large urban hospital improved by an average of 32 per cent after a six-week hygiene programme, according to a paper in the latest Journal of Advanced Nursing.

20 Jul 2005

Important find will help design appropriate screening and therapy for women carrying fetuses impaired in their growth

In her research, Dr. Andree Gruslin encountered many pregnant women who could not carry their fetuses to term because the placenta, and in turn the fetus, were too small. In once case, she followed a woman who had had eight consecutive miscarriages due to this condition. Thanks to this latest discovery, she now understands why.

19 Jul 2005

Emergency physicians' fear of malpractice in evaluating patients with possible acute cardiac ischemia

A new survey of emergency physicians finds those most concerned about lawsuits are more likely to admit patients with cardiac symptoms and to order more tests. The results will be published by Annals of Emergency Medicine as an early online release July 13 (Emergency Physicians' Fear of Malpractice In Evaluating Patients With Possible Acute Cardiac Ischemia).

13 Jul 2005

BMA says Health Minister Gibbons has better understanding of NHS

According to Dr Tony Calland, the British Medical Association's (BMA) chairman in Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government's understanding of the NHS is better under Health Minister Dr Brian Gibbons.

29 Jun 2005