Surgery News and Research

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New hope for emphysema sufferers

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are now studying an investigational treatment that may offer a significant new, minimally-invasive option for those suffering from advanced widespread emphysema.

5 Apr 2007

Women unaware of health risks of surgical adhesions

Although more than half of the country's women will have some type of pelvic surgery and are therefore at risk for surgical adhesions, a survey released this month by the not-for- profit National Women's Health Resource Center (NWHRC) finds that women are largely unaware of the health risks associated with adhesions.

5 Apr 2007

Almac announces study on colorectal pre-malignancies

Almac Diagnostics has announced a major study analysing colorectal polyp tissue samples using its novel Colorectal Cancer DSA microarray.

5 Apr 2007

UT Metroplex institutions to collaborate on biomedical research

Researchers from the three University of Texas campuses in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area are combining their expertise in biomedical science, engineering and physical sciences on projects aimed at solving real-world medical problems.

5 Apr 2007

New understanding of the motivations that underlie acts of altruism

Beyond the lineage of primates, according to scientific gospel, social behavior is dictated primarily by competition for resources such as food, territory and reproduction.

4 Apr 2007

Although breast cancer mortality has declined as a whole, declines are greatest for women under 70

A new study shows that recent declines in breast cancer mortality rates have been most significant among women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive tumors and women younger than 70.

4 Apr 2007

Need for a national database of epidural complications

Researchers have called for a national database to be set up to identify major complications arising from epidural pain relief after a small number of serious problems were identified during a six-year UK study, according to the April issue of Anaesthesia.

4 Apr 2007

Leg pain can mean peripheral arterial disease

David Dow thought he was having back problems, and that his legs were hurting as a result. As it turns out, that pain may have saved his life.

4 Apr 2007

Treatment options for endometriosis

Jan Ruma's pain was getting worse, but she wrote it off as just a part of growing older and a normal side-effect of "that time of the month."

4 Apr 2007

Voluntary living liver donors should undergo a careful, but quick, workup

...and their desire for altruism should not be hampered by negativism from the transplant community, say the authors of a new study in the April issue of Liver Transplantation, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS).

4 Apr 2007

Researchers document rare case of hepatitis B virus transmission

Researchers have documented a case of hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmission between two patients at a dentist's office in the United States.

4 Apr 2007

Research holds promise for new techniques for pancreas cell manipulation

Replacing faulty or missing cells with new insulin-making cells has been the object of diabetes research for the last decade. Past studies in tissue culture have suggested that one type of pancreas cell could be coaxed to transform into insulin-producing islet cells.

3 Apr 2007

Hand-assisted radical nephrectomy study

Since the 1960's, radical nephrectomy through an open surgical approach has been the accepted standard of care for patients with localized and locally advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

3 Apr 2007

Recognition for cancer researchers

World-class cancer researchers whose science has significantly contributed to progress in the fight against cancer will be recognized April 14-18, 2007, by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) at its 2007 Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, Calif.

3 Apr 2007

Cochlear implants increase risk of bacterial infections that can cause meningitis

Confirming what physicians have long speculated, a new study published in the April edition of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery determines that the presence of cochlear implants increases the risk of bacterial infections that can cause meningitis in recipients.

3 Apr 2007

Obstetric fistula, impact on women

Reuters on Friday examined obstetric fistula and its impact on women living with the condition (Ringler, Reuters, 3/30). Obstetric fistulas develop when a fetus becomes lodged during labor in the narrow birth canal of a girl or young woman, causing pressure that blocks the flow of blood to vital tissues and tearing holes in the bowel, urethra or both, causing incontinence.

3 Apr 2007

Filtering white cells from donor blood before transfusion is much safer for patients

The practice of removing the white cells from blood is called leukoreduction. But despite the recommendations of two national advisory committees in 10 years that voted in favor of all patients in the United States receiving leukoreduced blood, ("universal leukoreduction"), the practice is still not wholly supported in the medical community, nor recommended by the Food and Drug Administration. Part of the reason is fear of increased cost.

3 Apr 2007

Fungal compound galiellalactone may combat prostate cancer

Can a substance from a fungus that grows on decaying trees provide a cure for aggressive prostate cancer? This is the hope of researchers at Lund University in Sweden.

3 Apr 2007

Long-term safety of drug-eluting stents in off-label use

Research presented at the American College of Cardiology's Innovation in Intervention: i2 Summit 2007 in New Orleans, La, paints a picture of the "real world" use of drug-eluting stents and offers new insight into the connection between blood clotting, or thrombosis, in the stent - a dangerous complication - and adherence and responsiveness to anti-clotting medication.

3 Apr 2007

Advances in clinical cardiology

Three studies being presented at the American College of Cardiology's Innovation in Intervention: i2 Summit 2007 in New Orleans, La., highlight the breadth of research propelling advances in clinical cardiology.

3 Apr 2007