The majority of cancer drugs approved in Europe between 2009 and 2013 entered the market without clear evidence that they improved survival or quality of life for patients, finds a study published by The BMJ. Even where drugs did show survival gains over existing treatments, these were often marginal, the results show. Many of the drugs were approved on the basis of indirect (‘surrogate’)…
Today, many congenital heart defects can be diagnosed in the unborn child – and even treated in utero. Monique Haak (46), gynaecologist-perinatologist and fetal surgeon at Leids University Medical Center (LUMC) in Leiden, The Netherlands, is an expert in the diagnosis and surgery of fetal heart defects.
Combining a new compound with old drugs could provide an effective remedy against malaria and drug-resistant parasites.
Pentax Europe, a healthcare industry leader in endoscopic imaging, and Hitachi Medical Systems Europe, a leading company in medical imaging, recently announced renewed joint collaborative efforts to enable further innovations in the development of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS). In this latest joint development, the two companies are launching a new ultrasound video bronchoscope for endobronchial…
Electrospun materials bring a spark of hope to a cardiovascular landscape darkened by setbacks for reabsorbable stents. It was famously said that implanting a device in a person to cure a disease is to implant a new disease. Simply put, the human body will continually fight against foreign materials, leading to chronic inflammations or repeated interventions.
Scientists in the United Kingdom are investigating the potential of a new regenerative and tissue engineering technique that could transform veins into arteries to improve the outcomes for patients undergoing heart bypass surgery.
Shielding cardiologists from harmful radiation is the goal for two systems capable of navigating the vascular highway.
A Spanish team has, for the first time, successfully placed a pulmonary valve using catheterisation through the hepatic vein in a paediatric patient. Specialists believe this type of intervention could become an interesting alternative when traditional access points are not available.
Which CRT patients can be ‘downgraded’ from a CRT-D device with defibrillator function to a CRT-P with just a pacemaker function? This, with two further current CRT issues – chronotropic incompetence and telemonitoring of CRT patients – featured prominently at the Europace-Cardiostim Congress in Vienna.
A formerly bitter competition between cardiology and cardiac surgery is increasingly replaced by constructive cooperation. The Austrian Society of Cardiology (ÖKG) even held its annual congress along with the Austrian Society of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery this year.
Coronary angioplasty is arguably the most revolutionary breakthrough in the history of cardiology. While the technique is today performed on millions of patients worldwide, its origins can be traced back to Zurich, Switzerland, in the late 1970s.
Every cancer is different and every patient is different. This insight gained in personalised medicine prompted oncology researchers to focus more on the individual patient’s immune system. It is particularly the immune system’s ability to destroy cancer cells that raised hope.
Computer scientist Stefanie Speidel, who became a Professor for Translational Surgical Oncology at the National Centre for Tumour Diseases, in Dresden in Germany this April, researches intelligent assistance systems for the operating theatre.
A team from Michigan Medicine developed a health behavioral intervention called Reach Out including mobile-messaging components, which they plan to use throughout a trial.
One in four patients in a university hospital suffers from diabetes (22 percent), and again as many suffer from prediabetes (24 percent), a current study finds. Furthermore, patients with diabetes have prolonged hospital stays and a higher risk of complications.
“When you’re told you have cancer, it’s not a light thing.” And when that diagnosis comes, patients and medical staff alike want to be able to focus on one thing: care that leads to the best outcome.
A protein found in the edible mushroom known as "shaggy ink cap" might be able to kill a type of leukemia cell, new research suggests.
Breast cancer patients who have radiotherapy targeted at the original tumour site experience fewer side effects five years after treatment than those who have whole breast radiotherapy, and their cancer is just as unlikely to return.
In more than 21% of complex anatomical osteosynthesis procedures, an intraoperative improvement of the implant position or a revision of reduction has to be performed (Recum von, J. et al., Unfallchirurg 2012, 115:196-201, Die intraoperative 3D-C-Bogen-Anwendung. State of the art).
Unlike the USA, Italy, Germany or the Netherlands, Spain does not include hyperthermia in its national health catalogue. Worse, many non-medical centres are increasingly offering hyperthermia as an alternative treatment, a situation that infuriates Spanish oncologic radiotherapists.
Biotronik’s Home Monitoring is an award-winning remote cardiac monitoring system that automatically collects data from a patient’s cardiac device, enabling the physician to review cardiac function independently of in-office visits.
In a review of half a dozen published studies in which patients self-reported use of opioids prescribed to them after surgery, researchers at Johns Hopkins report that a substantial majority of patients used only some or none of the pills, and more than 90 percent failed to dispose of the leftovers in recommended ways.
Findings suggest that modifying the cell replication cycle could make combined therapies more successful.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most frequent liver diseases worldwide and an estimated 20 million people in Germany are affected.
Early-stage colon cancer patients could benefit in the future from specific genetic tests that forecast their prognosis and help them make the right decision regarding chemotherapy.
