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Apple iPad 2 can affect programmable shunt valve in children with hydrocephalus

Researchers at the University of Michigan have found that the Apple iPad 2 can interfere with settings of magnetically programmable shunt devices, which are often used to treat children with hydrocephalus.

27 Jun 2012

Mazor Robotics successfully completes first robot-guided brain surgical procedures

Mazor Robotics Ltd., a developer of innovative surgical robots and complementary products, today announced the successful completion of the first robot-guided brain surgical procedures, which were performed with Mazor Robotics' technology.

11 Jun 2012

Innate patient factors, overall morbidity affect neurodevelopment in infants with single-ventricle disease

In the largest multicenter clinical trial of children undergoing early-stage surgery for single-ventricle heart defects, differences in intraoperative management did not significantly affect neurodevelopmental outcomes at 14 months of age. Instead, the strongest influences were innate patient characteristics and general medical morbidity during the child's first year of life.

6 Apr 2012

USPTO issues patent to NJIT's unique device for treatment of brain injury

NJIT Professor Gordon Thomas and NJIT Research Professor Reginald Farrow, both in the department of physics, and NJIT alumnus Sheng Liu, formerly a doctoral student of both researchers and now an engineer at a biotech company, were awarded a patent today for the NJIT SmartShunt-, a unique device to help patients with brain injuries.

4 Jan 2012

KPT-SINE shows promise against CLL

An experimental drug that works by blocking the export of key control molecules from the nucleus of cancer cells shows promise as a treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and other incurable B-cell malignancies, according to a new study by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.

13 Dec 2011

UCLA School of Nursing faculty members to present at AHA 2011

A failing heart's effect on the short-term memory. The impact of telephone interventions on behaviors in Latinos. Depression and heart disease. Risk factors contributing to premature coronary atherosclerosis in premenopausal women. These are just a few of the research findings that will be presented by faculty members of the UCLA School of Nursing at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions, being held November 12 - 16 in Orlando, FL.

14 Nov 2011

US markets for neurosurgical and neurovascular devices to grow to $240 million by 2016

According to Millennium Research Group, the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, the market for the specialized devices used for neurosurgical and neurovascular treatments will grow to $240 million by 2016, driven largely by an aging population in the United States that will suffer an increasing incidence of conditions such as stroke, cerebral aneurysms and intracranial atherosclerosis disease.

From Medtronic 24 Oct 2011

Abnormal levels of lysophosphatidic acid can trigger congenital hydrocephalus

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have found what may be a major cause of congenital hydrocephalus, one of the most common neurological disorders of childhood that produces mental debilitation and sometimes death in premature and newborn children.

8 Sep 2011

Novel combined technique for treating neoplastic meningitis, hydrocephalus

Approximately five to ten percent of patients with primary or metastatic cancer suffer from devastating neurological complications such as headaches, seizures, confusion, difficulty swallowing and visual disturbances. These deficits are caused by a life-threatening form of brain invasion from cancer called neoplastic meningitis.

15 Jul 2011

Tissue-engineered blood vessels from donor skin cells successfully implanted in patients

For the first time, blood vessels created in the lab from donor skin cells were successfully implanted in patients. Functioning blood vessels that aren't rejected by the immune system could be used to make durable shunts for kidney dialysis, and potentially to improve treatment for children with heart defects and adults needing coronary or other bypass graft surgery.

28 Jun 2011

First artificial lung transplantation in toddler performed at St. Louis Children's Hospital

Two-year-old Owen Stark came to St. Louis Children's Hospital in the summer of 2010 near death from heart failure and dangerously high blood pressure in his lungs.

17 Jun 2011

Liver stiffness measurement could replace liver biopsy for evaluation of hepatitis C

Non-invasive tests for liver fibrosis, such as liver stiffness measurement or the FibroTest, can predict survival of patients with chronic hepatitis C, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.

15 Jun 2011

Endolymphatic sac shunt surgery improved hearing loss symptoms in flight attendant

When fluctuating hearing loss, with frequent bouts of nausea and vertigo caused New York flight attendant Patricia Gilbert to miss several work shifts, she sought answers from the medical community.

4 Mar 2011

New insight: p53 protein controls molecular crossroads in glucose metabolic pathway

The gene for the protein p53 is the most frequently mutated in human cancer. It encodes a tumor suppressor, and traditionally researchers have assumed that it acts primarily as a regulator of how genes are made into proteins.

3 Mar 2011

Artificial blood vessel could be available ‘off the shelf’ soon

Soon artificial blood vessels could be available ‘off the shelf’. This would mean that heart bypass patients would not have to be subjected to a minor operation to graft veins from other parts of their body. This would also make life easier for surgeons as well.

20 Feb 2011

GW plays key role in NIH's Management of Myelomeningocele Study

Researchers at The George Washington University Medical Center played a key role in a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study of a surgical procedure to repair a common birth defect of the spine, which if undertaken while a baby is still in the uterus, greatly reduces the need to divert, or shunt, fluid away from the brain. The study was published online in the New England Journal of Medicine on February 9, 2011.

14 Feb 2011

Surgical procedure to repair spina bifida while still in the uterus may help the baby walk after birth

More than two thousand physicians, some of the top obstetric/gynecologists in the world who specialize in maternal-fetal medicine, especially high risk pregnancies, gathered today for their annual meeting in San Francisco to begin four days of intensive research presentations. Presentations each year at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's (SMFM) annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting -, represent major findings in reducing high-risk pregnancies and complications.

11 Feb 2011

Seven-year study demonstrates clear benefits of fetal surgery to treat spina bifida in babies

Results of a landmark, seven-year National Institutes of Health-funded trial, Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS), demonstrate clear benefit for babies who undergo fetal surgery to treat spina bifida, the most common birth defect in the central nervous system.

11 Feb 2011

New study: Fetal surgery for spina bifida greatly improves child's mobility

Performing delicate surgery in the womb, months before birth, can substantially improve outcomes for children with a common, disabling birth defect of the spine. Experts at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia co-led a new landmark study showing that fetal surgery for spina bifida greatly reduces the need to divert fluid from the brain, improves mobility and improves the chances that a child will be able to walk independently.

9 Feb 2011

Pediatric physicians present 12 research abstracts, posters at Cardiology 2011

Pediatric cardiology researchers and clinicians gather this week in Scottsdale, Ariz. for Cardiology 2011, the 15th Annual Update on Pediatric and Congenital Cardiovascular Disease, sponsored by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Original research from more than 30 cardiac programs in the U.S. and abroad is being presented throughout the meeting.

7 Feb 2011