After four years of confinement to a wheelchair, Rick Constantine, 58, is now walking again after undergoing an unconventional surgery at University of California, San Diego Heath System to restore the use of his leg. Neurosurgeon Justin Brown, MD, performed the novel 3-hour procedure.
A team led by Dr. Marie-Josée Hébert from the University of Montreal Hospital* Research Centre (CRCHUM) has discovered a new cause of organ rejection in some kidney transplant patients. Her team has identified a new class of antibodies – anti-LG3 – which when activated lead to severe rejection episodes associated with a high rate of organ loss.
In an analysis of data on patients who underwent bariatric surgery 2004-2009, there was no significant difference in the rates of complications and reoperation for Medicare patients before vs. after a 2006 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services policy that restricted coverage of bariatric surgery to centers of excellence, according to a study appearing in the February 27 issue of JAMA.
An estimated 300,000 U.S. patients get surgical site infections every year, and while the causes are varied, a new University of Utah study suggests that some who get an infection can blame it partly on their genes.
A study published February 21st in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) provides clinical evidence of the safety and effectiveness of a new magnetic medical device to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Santiago Horgan, MD, professor of surgery at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and study co-author, was the first surgeon in the United States to implant the FDA-approved device.
A routine step in preparing for cleft palate surgery in a child led to an unusual—but not unprecedented—case of lung inflammation (pneumonitis), according to a report in the The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery. The journal, edited by Mutaz B. Habal, MD, FRCSC, is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
When a young child has surgery, parents rely on doctors and nurses for advice on how to prepare and support children during the procedure and immediately afterwards. But once that child gets home, parents are left with little guidance on how to best help their children cope with pain.
A team of researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and School of Medicine recently undertook a multi-year analysis of health insurance claims data to examine this question and found that although the procedure’s success rate is well documented, it does not have a similar impact on health care costs.
In a study of mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified a new molecular pathway involved in the growth of tiny air sacs called alveoli that are crucial for breathing. The scientists say their experiments may lead to the first successful treatments to regrow the air sacs in people who suffer from diseases such as emphysema in which the air sacs have been destroyed by years of smoking. The work may also suggest new therapy for premature infants born before their lungs are fully developed.
Repeat midurethral sling surgery can improve quality of life in women with recurrent stress urinary incontinence who have already undergone the procedure.
An abdominal aortic aneurysm — a bulge in the large artery that carries blood away from the heart — can be immediately life-threatening if it grows large enough to rupture. The chance of survival when it ruptures is less than 10 percent. Many who find out they have that risk are able to have a minimally invasive repair. But up to 30 percent instead face a major open operation because of the location of the aneurysm. This new customized graft allows them, too, to have a quick recovery.
Two patients freed from severe to disabling effects of dystonia through deep brain stimulation therapy continued to have symptom relief for months after their devices accidentally were fully or partly turned off, according to a report published online Feb. 11 in the journal Movement Disorders.
A study by researchers from Hospital for Special Surgery has shown that platelet-rich plasma (PRP) holds great promise for treating patients with knee osteoarthritis. The treatment improved pain and function, and in up to 73% of patients, appeared to delay the progression of osteoarthritis.
Strokes that occur during or shortly after surgery can be devastating, resulting in longer hospital stays and increased risks of death or long-term disability, but prompt identification and treatment can improve neurologic outcomes.
Patrick D. Lyden, MD, chair of Cedars-Sinai’s Department of Neurology and director of the Stroke Program, is available to comment on breaking news from the International Stroke Conference and the New England Journal of Medicine.
Two new studies from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggest ways to improve surgical treatment for a debilitating condition caused by compressed nerves in the neck and shoulder.
Injury to the subcortical structures of the inner brain is a major contributor to worsening neurological abnormalities after "awake craniotomy" for brain tumors, reports a study in the February issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
For women with aneurysms involving the brain blood vessels, pregnancy and delivery don't appear to increase the risk of aneurysm rupture, reports a paper in the February issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
Roughly a quarter of recreational skiers who tear their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) while hitting the slopes can be successfully treated without surgery, according to a new study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
Patients undergoing major vascular surgery procedures are at increased risk of stroke, leading to a high mortality rate and prolonged hospitalization, according to a study in the February issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).
University of California, San Diego Health System is one of only a few hospitals in the nation to offer computer-assisted navigation technology with the direct anterior hip replacement technique, potentially resulting in less pain, faster recovery and fewer dislocations for patients with osteoarthritis and other forms of degenerative joint disease.
• African Americans and individuals without private health insurance are less likely to receive a kidney transplant before needing dialysis. • Geographic region is not a major factor in determining whether a patient receives a kidney transplant before starting dialysis.
Performing heart surgery on the same day as angiography is now confirmed as a risk factor for acute kidney injury (AKI), and hospital policy limiting the practice for elective cardiac surgery has significantly reduced the rate of AKI.
A novel genetic test can help identify small but aggressive lung tumors associated with poor survival, according to a study released today at the 49th Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Lungs from carefully selected donors with a heavy smoking history can be used with good results in adult, double-lung transplants, according to a study released today at the 49th Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Los Angeles—Patients who undergo coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery have a lower overall composite risk for heart attack, stroke, and death in the 4 years following the procedure compared to patients who undergo stenting or balloon procedures, according to a study released today at the 49th Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The “July Effect” -- the notion that the influx of new residents and fellows at teaching hospitals each July makes that the worse time of year to be a patient -- seems to be a myth, according to new Mayo Clinic research that examined nearly 1 million hospitalizations for patients undergoing spine surgery from 2001 to 2008. Among those going under the knife, researchers discovered that the month surgery occurred had an insignificant impact on patient outcomes.
Two studies from the February issue of Anesthesiology address the relief of pain. As pain physicians, anesthesiologists are committed to conducting research to better understand and treat patients suffering from acute and chronic pain.
Researchers have found that dissecting a spinal tumor away from the spinal cord and then delivering radiation to the remaining metastatic tumor using stereotactic radiosurgery is a safe, effective method to control spinal metastases - regardless of the radiosensitivity of the tumor that has invaded the spine.
According to a recent study published in the January print issue of the Journal of Pediatric Surgery, bariatric surgery in extremely obese adolescents also was shown to be beneficial in helping to reverse previously undiagnosed cardiovascular abnormalities believed to be linked to severe obesity.
Two heads are better than one, as the saying goes – and a new study by a duo at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) demonstrates how having two attending surgeons in the operating room during spinal surgeries can benefit patients in multiple ways.
Despite receiving blood thinners and other clot prevention treatment, some patients still develop potentially lethal blood clots in the first month after their operations anyway, especially if they developed a surgical-site infection while in the hospital, according to results of a study at Johns Hopkins.
TV personality Al Roker and author of a book about his life after bariatric surgery, shared that he pooped his pants at the White House. "It's a phenomenon known as 'dumping' that occurs when a high sugar load causes intestinal influx of fluid," says Bipan Chand, MD, director of Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care.
Women who undergo surgical menopause at an earlier age may have an increased risk of decline in memory and thinking skills, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego, March 16 to 23, 2013. Early surgical menopause is the removal of both ovaries before natural menopause and often accompanies a hysterectomy.
Saint Louis University researchers examine outcomes for obese kidney transplant recipients.
A team of surgeons and scientists at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have developed a new technique that will allow surgeons to identify during surgery which lymph nodes are cancerous so that healthy tissue can be saved. The findings will be published in the January 15 print edition of Cancer Research.
The use of a new brain tumor-targeting contrast agent that differentiates between normal and cancer cells in conjunction with a high-powered microscopy system could potentially lead to a method of more precise neurosurgery for brain tumors, according to research paper published as a cover story in the December issue of Translational Oncology. Developed by researchers in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at Stony Brook University, the contrast agent adheres to a molecular marker of medulloblastoma, a form of brain cancer, and can be seen by the optical microscope system, also developed by the research team.
Patients at NorthShore University HealthSystem are now better protected against potentially deadly infections, according to a newly published study.
• Smoking causes dysregulation of enzymes in leg vein used for coronary bypass grafts. • Smoking cessation does not completely return vein health to normal, even after 1 year. • Patients who may require bypass surgery should stop smoking immediately to help preserve health and function of graft.
Ten years ago in 2002, Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth performed its first kidney transplant with a surgical team led by Marlon Levy, MD, surgical director, transplantation, Baylor All Saints.
Kevin Riepl arrived at Cedars-Sinai in October 2010, suffering from sudden heart failure that left him fighting for his life. Surgeons swiftly installed a heart pump and later transplanted a new heart, saving his life and turning him into an unexpected ambassador for organ donation. Now he is preparing to represent Cedars-Sinai‘s Comprehensive Transplant Center on the 2013 Donate Life Rose Parade float.
Many of the most common inpatient surgeries in the United States are performed electively. These surgeries are expected to significantly increase with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. In a new perspectives article, published in the Dec. 27 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine, a team of Weill Cornell Medical College researchers are recommending the nation's health care leaders and medical community join forces to establish evidence-based appropriateness criteria to determine which patients are most in need of elective procedures, such as joint replacement surgery, to slow the projected surge in demand and rising costs. Currently, there are no appropriateness criteria for most of the common elective procedures.
Leonidas Hill recently made history at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, when the 5-year-old became the first pediatric patient in the western United States to undergo transoral robotic surgery (TORS) — a minimally invasive surgery performed with the help of a robot — to repair a rare congenital condition known as a laryngeal cleft.
Patients who quit smoking and took an aspirin and statin before undergoing treatment for blocked leg arteries were less likely to suffer a complication six months later, according to new research led by the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center.
Robotic technologies have the potential to help neurosurgeons perform precise, technically demanding operations, together with virtual reality environments to help them navigate through the brain, according to a special supplement to Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
After a cautious and rigorous analysis of national malpractice claims, Johns Hopkins patient safety researchers estimate that a surgeon in the United States leaves a foreign object such as a sponge or a towel inside a patient’s body after an operation 39 times a week, performs the wrong procedure on a patient 20 times a week and operates on the wrong body site 20 times a week.
Patients who want to limit the amount of life support they receive after surgery might have a hard time finding a surgeon willing to do the procedure, according to a new study from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Despite earlier signs that a less-invasive surgery is safer and better than “open” operations to repair potentially lethal abdominal aortic aneurysms, a study led by a Johns Hopkins professor shows survival rates after four years are similar for both procedures.
A study led by University of Chicago researcher Patrick A. Singleton, Ph.D. and published in the journal Anesthesiology has shown that, even without the addition of further opioids such as morphine, opioids already in the body can enhance the malignant tendencies of human cancer cells.
Yassar Youssef, M.D., is the first surgeon in Baltimore City to perform gallbladder surgery using just one incision and the da Vinci® Surgical System, leaving patients without a noticeable scar.
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