During the transition from child to adult many teens with chronic diseases somehow slip through the healthcare cracks between paediatric and adult medicine. Compliance deteriorates, regular check-ups are missed – an international problem, as many studies indicate. A promising programme, launched in Berlin, helps teens to manage this difficult change. Report: Bettina Döbereiner
The German care system for patients with acute and unspecific chest pain is unique in Europe. The closely knit and countrywide network of accredited Chest Pain Units (CPUs) ensures fast and targeted diagnosis of acute cardiac events. The German CPUs may soon serve as a blueprint for other European countries. The German Cardiac Society (DGK) has already accredited the first institutions – others…
Nowadays the concept of personalised medicine is usually applied to oncology. However, there are other clinical disciplines in which therapies tailored to the individual patient are within reach, viz. ophthalmology. In the researchers’ limelight is intravitreal drug delivery since the outcomes of injections into the vitreous differ from patient to patient. Ophthalmologists in Vienna, Austria,…
A research paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) today confirms earlier findings that a procedure called endovascular therapy (ET) for ischemic stroke is the best treatment option for many patients by reducing the incidents of disability. This is the fourth research paper published this year that confirms the efficacy of the treatment.
Research published in the open access journal Microbiome offers new evidence for the success of fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) in treating severe Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), a growing problem worldwide that leads to thousands of fatalities every year.
The recently launched Respironics V680 ventilator, from Philips Healthcare EMEA, was guided onto the market by Arne Cohrs, its Sales and Marketing Director of Therapeutic Care in Patient Care and Monitoring. We asked him about his department and the merits of non-invasive and invasive ventilators. Report: Chrissanthi Nikolakudi
Professor Hedvig Hricak MD PhD, Chair of the Department of Radiology at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre, New York, and Professor of Radiology at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, is a notable expert on crosssectional anatomic and molecular imaging, particularly of gynaecologic and prostate cancers. EH interviewed her about the potential and impact of more precise viewing of inter-…
‘There are still only 24 hours in a day – even for surgeons,’ said Professor Vogt MD during our interview. The Director of the clinic for plastic, hand and reconstructive surgery at Hanover Medical School and President of the DGCH (German Society of Surgery) is calling for solutions to the dilemma trainee surgeons face: undergoing high-quality specialist medical training while completing…
Before 2013, when Professor Dietmar Dinter became partner of Radiologie Schwetzingen, a multi-discipline group practice specialised in radiology and nuclear medicine, he was senior resident at the Institute of Clinical Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at University Hospital Mannheim (2003-2012) and head of its Nuclear Medicine Department (2009-2012). Was his work in nuclear medicine altered by the…
Australian researchers have found that so-called 'triple-negative breast cancers' are two distinct diseases that likely originate from different cell types. This helps explain why survival prospects for women with the diagnosis tend to be either very good or very bad.
For people living in Chamonix-Mont Blanc medical services at the nearby community hospital have been reduced to little more than a stopover visit before being referred down the mountain to larger facilities in the network of the Hospitals of Mont Blanc Country. Report: John Brosky
Dr Ahmed Abd El Wahed, research associate in the Department of Infection Models at the German Primate Centre (DPZ) in Göttingen, has developed a portable laboratory for fast diagnosis of Ebola. The new procedure is six to ten times faster than the one currently used, and equally sensitive. Report: Anja Behringer
Electricity is not the only thing that should come out of an electrical socket; ideally so should cold atmospheric plasma, according to Dr Georg Daeschlein, at the Dermatology Department, University of Greifswald, who has investigated its medical properties for years. Report: Ralf Mateblowski
Researchers at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) and the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, have described for the first time the molecular mechanism of cancer development caused by well-known "resistance" mutations in the gene called epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR).
Held every year in March, for the past 35 years, the International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine has been organised by the Departments of Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine at Erasme University Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, in association with the Belgian Society of Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (SIZ). For three and a half decades, the event’s main…
The ‘Robert Koch’ plane for medical evacuations (MedEvac) is the winged equivalent of a German hospital isolation ward. Within it, medics with viral haemorrhagic fever while working on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, receive intensive medical care during any stages of the disease, while being evacuated. Report: Anja Behringer
Only a single treatment produced what researchers describe as 'rapid, substantial, and durable clinical improvement'.
Iron deficiency and resulting anaemia cause fatal comorbidities worldwide. Despite this, they are generally underestimated. Professor Lothar Thomas, specialist in laboratory medicine at the Central Laboratory in the Frankfurt/Main University Hospital, is seeking more information about new laboratory parameters for diagnosis and monitoring of iron deficiency and iron substitution therapy. The…
No alcohol, but exercise and a healthy diet – that’s what women can do to help prevent breast cancer recommends Prof. Thomas Helbich (Director of Molecular and Gender Imaging at the Medical University of Vienna) who hosted the European Institute for Biomedical Imaging Research (EIBIR) session ‘The complexity of personalized breast care’ at ECR 2015. Report: Chrissanthi Nikolakudi
The ‘MRI of the Adnexa, Essentials and Beyond’ session from at the MR 2015 symposium held in Garmisch, Austria, presented tips and tricks in clinical routine before moving to research that combines imaging and genomic data to better evaluate ovarian cancer. Report: John Brosky
Nanoparticles are extremely small particles that can be modified for a variety of uses in the medical field. For example, nanoparticles can be engineered to be able to transport medicines specifically to the disease site while not interfering with healthy body parts.
In breast cancer care each patient receives personalised, highly effective diagnosis and treatment procedures. In breast diagnostics this mainly revolves around new MRI scanning procedures that allow the quantification of biological and physiological processes on a cellular and molecular level.
Spring can be felt, though many visitors of ECR 2015 probably only have time to enjoy the floral decorations in the conference center. The program of the conference is packed full of topics that promise exciting days and many discussions.
Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Medical Faculty in Mannheim at Heidelberg University are searching for new approaches to prevent liver fibrosis. They have identified a surface molecule on special liver cells called stellate cells as a potential target for interfering with this process. When the researchers turned off the receptor, this led to reduced liver…
Around one in three Dutch doctors would be prepared to help someone with early dementia, mental illness, or who is ‘tired of living’ to die, reveals a small survey published online in the Journal of Medical Ethics.