News • Hypothermic oxygenated perfusion
‘Heart-in-a-box’ to improve organ transport
Not just a Nirvana song, but also an effective way to keep a donor heart fresh for transplantation: New research shows the benefits of “heart-in-a-box” storage.
Studies
News • Time loss vs. life expectancy gains
Dialysis: Is the tradeoff always worth it?
New research sheds light on the tradeoffs between survival and time spent in inpatient care that dialysis might entail. This could help patients with kidney failure make more informed decisions.
News • Sustainability of a de-implementation strategy
Reducing inappropriate IV and catheter use, to reduce infections
Infections caused by both IVs and catheters occur in 10% of patients. However, up to a quarter are not necessary. New research shows how to reduce this use and, thus, infections.
News • COLO-DETECT trial
Bowel cancer: AI improves early detection
Artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to great effect in colonoscopies to spot abnormalities potentially leading to bowel cancer. This is the result of the recently completed COLO-DETECT trial.
News • Combined chemo and radiotherapy
Promising treatment for rectal cancer to avoid surgery
When a person is diagnosed with rectal cancer, part of the bowel is often removed, often resulting in the need for a stoma or problems with bowel control. A new therapy could help avoid this surgery.
News • Alternative to blood transfusion
Rhesus pregnancy: immunotherapy to protect the foetus
In rhesus pregnancy, antibodies from the pregnant mother can lead to anaemia for the foetus in the uterus. A new study suggests that a drug could serve as a non-surgical alternative.
News • Prevention of surgery complication
Sterilization: cut or remove fallopian tubes?
Women whose Fallopian tubes are removed during sterilization have only marginally more surgical complications than those whose tubes are simply cut, a study shows.
News • DTI for concussion patients
Advanced brain MRI to reveal ‘hidden disease’
Just a concussion? Head injury can lead to persistent symptoms, yet CT scans often fail to identify these cases. Researchers explore the potential of diffusion tensor imaging for better diagnostics.
News • Recurrence timeframe analysis
Breast cancer radiotherapy: new insights on duration of protective effect
After breast cancer surgery, radiotherapy helps prevent the cancer from returning. However, this protection does not last forever. A long-term study shows the duration of the treatment's benefits.
News • Research on fitness training
Exercise after stroke: intensity matters
Extensive and moderate, or short and intense? New research suggests which approach to physical exercise is more effective for improving fitness among people recovering after a stroke.
News • Non-invasive risk assessment
Prostate cancer: avoiding unnecessary biopsies with AI
Combining risk markers, systematic evaluation of MRI images and AI, researchers aim to predict the risk of prostate cancer more accurately than before. This could save many patients from a biopsy.
News • Promising study results
Cancer of Unknown Primary: on the way to targeted therapies
Metastases, but no sign of the original tumor: A large international study shows how this phantom cancer can nevertheless be treated.
News • Basal cell carcinoma diagnostics
BCC: AI helps identify aggressive types
Dermatologists could benefit from a new algorithm that can help recognize patients with a highly aggressive form of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) of the face.
News • Lower dose, improve tolerability, retain efficacy
Prostate cancer therapy: benefits of therapy deescalation
Radiotherapy of prostate cancer often comes with side effects, causing some patients to discontinue treatment. New research shows the benefits of at lowering the dose over subsequent treatment cycles.
News • Effects of smartwatch alerts
Heart rate monitoring: wearable devices can drive anxiety, possibly affect health
For patients with atrial fibrillation, using a wearable device can lead to higher anxiety about symptoms and treatment, doctor visits, and use of informal healthcare resources, a new study finds.
News • Machine learning forecast of MS
Multiple sclerosis: predicting progression with AI
Can an AI predict the progression of multiple sclerosis in a patient over the subsequent months and years? Researchers in Belgium used machine learning to do just that – with promising results.
News • Integration into medical decision-making
AI adept at answering medical questions – but fails to explain how
AI models perform increasingly well in answering medical questions. However, when it comes to explaining these answers, shortcomings become apparent, a new study shows.
News • Electronic prompt in the EHR
‘Nudging’ surgeons away from breast cancer overtreatment
Sentinel lymph node biopsies can help detect breast cancer – but not every patient benefits from the procedure. New research finds that a simple EHR prompt can prevent unnecessary surgery.
News • Total mesometrial resection (TMMR)
Cervical cancer: New surgical method brings benefits
A surgical technique called total mesometrial resection (TMMR) is associated with better outcomes than current treatments. A new study shows a significantly lower risk of disease recurrence and death.
News • What patients can expect
Alzheimer's: New method to predict cognitive decline
Researchers have developed a model to predict cognitive decline in patients with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. The next step is an app that uses this model.
News • Circulating tumor extracellular vesicles
Metastatic prostate cancer: better monitoring with new liquid biopsy method
A new study shows that extracellular vesicles shed by prostate cancer cells contain tumor-derived material that can be used as biomarkers of therapy response and resistance in metastatic disease.
News • Infection control
C. diff: diagnostic stewardship reduces unnecessary testing
A new study describes the outcome of a new approach to testing for Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) guided by the principles of diagnostic stewardship, to help rein in the overtreatment of patients.
News • Expression analysis
Smartphone tool detects stroke from face scan
A new smartphone face-screening tool could help paramedics to identify stroke in seconds – much sooner and more accurately than is possible with current technologies.
News • Digital support
New app triples chance to quit smoking
Finnish researchers found that using a mobile application based on cognitive behavioral therapy can significantly boost success rates of people attempting to stop smoking.
News • Impact on mammography performance
Breast cancer screening: better detection, fewer false positives with AI
Using artificial intelligence (AI), breast radiologists in Denmark have improved breast cancer screening performance and reduced the rate of false-positive findings.
