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A reporter's PressPass is required to access this story until the embargo expires on 6/19/2013 5:00 PM EDT

EMBARGOED

A reporter's PressPass is required to access this story until the embargo expires on 6/19/2013 8:00 AM EDT

The Facebook Effect: Social Media Dramatically Boosts Organ Donor Registration

A social media push boosted the number of people who registered themselves as organ donors 21-fold in a single day, Johns Hopkins researchers found, suggesting social media might be an effective tool to address the stubborn organ shortage in the United States.

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New Alternative to Surgery Lets Doctors Remove Suspicious Polyps, Keep Colon Intact

A UCLA team of surgeons and gastroenterologists has been performing a new, minimally invasive procedure to remove large and hard-to-reach polyps while keeping the colon intact. The procedure, which combines two minimally invasive techniques, has currently been performed at only a handful of medical centers in the United States.

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Testosterone Therapy Improves Sexual Function After Uterus and Ovary Removal

High doses of testosterone significantly improve sexual function among women who have had their uterus and ovaries surgically removed, a clinical study demonstrates. The results were presented Sunday at The Endocrine Society’s 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

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Differences in Outcomes of Cervical Spine Surgery at Teaching versus Non-Teaching Hospitals

For patients undergoing surgery on the cervical (upper) spine, overall rates of complications and death are higher at teaching hospitals than at non-teaching hospitals, reports a study in the June 1 issue of Spine. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

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Study Assesses Impact of Rheumatoid Arthritis on Joint Replacement Surgery Outcomes

Two new studies by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery have shed light on joint replacement outcomes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

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New Surgical Technique for Bell's Palsy Facial Paralysis

A Loyola University Medical Center surgeon is using electrical stimulation as part of an advanced surgical technique to treat Bell’s palsy, a condition that causes paralysis on one side of a patient’s face.

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Transplant Patient Outcomes After Trauma Better Than Expected

In the largest study of its kind, Baltimore researchers find that traumatic injury outcomes in patients with organ transplants are not worse than for non-transplanted patients, despite common presumptions among physicians. Additionally, transplanted organs are rarely injured in traumatic events.

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Surgeons at Duke University Hospital Implant Bioengineered Vein

In a first-of-its-kind operation in the United States, a team of doctors at Duke University Hospital helped create a bioengineered blood vessel and implanted it into the arm of a patient with end-stage kidney disease. The procedure, the first U.S. clinical trial to test the safety and effectiveness of the bioengineered blood vessel, is a milestone in the field of tissue engineering. The new vein is an off-the-shelf, human cell-based product with no biological properties that would cause organ rejection.

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