In today’s operating rooms, increasing fluoroscopic procedures keep interventionists at work longer, wearing the hugely heavy lead aprons necessary for protection against radiation. Chronic back pain is often accepted as something that simply comes with the job. Relief has arrived at last in the form of Zero-Gravity, a suspended radiation protection system designed to increase radiation…
Weak, easily broken bones are an epidemic in the United States. They’re often tied to osteoporosis, a disease that causes bones to degenerate over time. This makes them less flexible, more brittle, and easier to break. According to the International Osteoporosis Foundation, more than 44 million Americans aged 50 and older either have or face the threat of developing osteoporosis due to low bone…
Schistosomiasis, a disease that is common in sub-Saharan Africa, is particularly widespread in Madagascar. The Schistosoma mansoni parasite responsible for the disease is linked to fibrotic changes in the liver which can be detected using point-of-care ultrasound.
The first patient in a multicenter pivotal trial using focused ultrasound to address the major motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease has been treated at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York. This randomized, double-blind clinical trial is evaluating the safety and efficacy of using Insightec’s Exablate Neuro device in more than 100 patients…
Many people accept deteriorating eyesight as an inevitable part of getting older, but blurry or distorted vision – such as when straight lines appear wavy – could be signs of age-related macular degeneration. The condition is the most common cause of severe vision loss in people age 50 and older in developed countries.
Gadolinium-containing/gadolinium-based contrast agents (GCCAs/GBCAs) and their usage was a major topic at ECR 2018. Fuelled by the current debate a number of presentations focused on possible impact, risks and necessities. Some were highly specific, others took a broader view. The only consensus, however, seems to be the need for more research and the focus on safety. Three ECR speakers, Joseph…
Experts in pediatric kidney disease have published a new staging system to help doctors better predict the length of time until a child with chronic kidney disease (CKD) will need to undergo a kidney transplant or start receiving dialysis. Although this type of prognostic guide exists for adults, this is the first such tool specific to children. “We designed a clinically useful, data-driven…
Technical innovations and the implementation of quality standards in anaesthesia have immensely increased patient safety. ‘Over the past 60 years, patient safety during anaesthesia has improved more than in any other medical discipline,’ according to Professor Achim von Goedecke MD MSc, Director of the Institute of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care at Landeskrankenhaus Steyr in Upper Austria.
Jan Walker, a retired administrative assistant to the superintendent of Boaz City Schools, was getting ready for her regular doctor visit and noticed a lump on her neck. Her primary care physician examined it and determined it was a simple swollen lymph node. Two months later, she began to lose feeling on the right side of her throat and noticed the lump had increased in size. After seeing other…
Cancer is a genetic disease caused by abnormal changes over time to genes that control cell function, typically starting in a single cell (an acquired mutation) and often not linked to an inherited genetic mutation. In other words, most cancers happen by chance. Only about 5 to 10 percent of cancers are due to an inherited genetic mutation, says Monique Lubaton, MGC, CGC, cancer genetic counselor…
Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers diagnosed nationally among men. The National Cancer Institute estimates 161,000 were diagnosed in 2017. While there are many treatment options for men with prostate cancer, a recent national study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association compared the effectiveness of treatments for high-risk prostate cancer. Said Daniel Krauss,…
Innovative ‘artificial lungs’, which help the patients to breathe, offer less traumatic treatment for severe diseases such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD/AECOPD). Respiratory failure is one of the most frequent causes of ICU admission. It may occur inter alia in patients with ARDS, a dangerous condition when the respiratory system…
The recently opened Uterine Repair Center (URC) in VUmc (Amsterdam) serves women suffering non-cancerous gynaecological disorders, such as myomas, adenomyosis (endometriosis of the uterus), niches (caesarean scar defects) or congenital uterine abnormalities. Gynaecologist Professor Judith Huirne leads the clinic – but has greater aspirations.
Diabetic eye disease is the leading cause of blindness among people ages 40 to 60. The longer you have diabetes, the greater your likelihood of developing vision problems increases. Keeping blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels under control can help people with diabetes maintain good eye health. They must also have a dilated eye exam once a year, says Dr. Malav Joshi, an…
Mologic Ltd, which develops powerful, personalised diagnostics to improve the lives of patients, and Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics (Fraunhofer CAP), a world-leading centre in the field of applied laser research and development, announced they are working together to develop a rapid, point-of-care test to immediately diagnose bacterial urinary tract infections (UTIs) and any associated…
Loyola Medicine is the first academic medical center in Illinois to use the TCAR system, which reduces stroke risk during carotid artery procedures by temporarily reversing blood flow. Carotid arteries on each side of the neck supply blood to the brain. In patients with carotid artery disease, a build-up of plaque can cause blockages. A common method to open the artery involves a balloon…
Newcastle stroke experts are backing a regional campaign launched by Public Health England (PHE). The Act F.A.S.T. stroke campaign launched in the North East urges the public to call 999 if they notice even one of the signs of a stroke in themselves, or in others. Current figures show there are over 64,500 people on GP registers in the North East who have had a stroke, and in 2016 1,765 people…
Early detection of mesenteric ischemia increases treatment options and the possibility of a full recovery, but the condition’s rarity may lead to a delay in diagnosis while more common causes of abdominal pain are explored. An article in the February 2018 issue of Critical Care Nurse (CCN) aims to heighten nurses’ knowledge of mesenteric ischemia and infarction (MI), which are infrequent but…
WHO’s first release of surveillance data on antibiotic resistance reveals high levels of resistance to a number of serious bacterial infections in both high- and low-income countries. WHO’s new Global Antimicrobial Surveillance System (GLASS) reveals widespread occurrence of antibiotic resistance among 500 000 people with suspected bacterial infections across 22 countries.
Breast cancer patients face complex decisions about their treatment. “Knowledge is a key component of decision making, and yet it’s consistently low even among patients who have received treatment. We need better tools to make these decisions more informed,” says Sarah T. Hawley, Ph.D., MPH, professor of internal medicine at Michigan Medicine. Hawley and colleagues from the Cancer…
Patients with cirrhosis should be screened regularly for liver cancer, though few are – in part because busy physicians often don’t order the screening tests, said UT Southwestern oncologists. “The frequency of liver cancer is increasing rapidly in the U.S. and liver cancer-related mortality has nearly doubled over the past decade. The poor prognosis of the disease is largely driven by the…
A patient walks slowly into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). He sits on a hospital bed, hears unfamiliar beeps and other sounds. Doctors and nurses arrive to talk about all the surrounding machines and how things work in an ICU. Everything is calm and without stress for the patient as he listens to them. Then the virtual reality (VR) glasses he is wearing are removed, and he returns to reality. The…
When it comes to the physical scars surgery leaves behind, a new study shows patients and doctors often don’t assess their severity the same way. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found patients and physicians disagreed in their scar evaluations 28 percent of the time, with patients more likely to focus on the depth of the scar while physicians…
Radiation therapy is a popular and effective treatment for many men with prostate cancer, and now a temporary gel offers greater protection for organs at risk during treatments. “Treating prostate cancer with radiation therapy can cause unintended injury to adjacent, healthy tissue, which can lead to bowel and urinary problems, as well as erectile dysfunction,” said Daniel Krauss, M.D., a…
Merivaara has unveiled one of the world’s most versatile operating tables for elective procedures. The new, smarter Practico was designed to improve ergonomics with the industry’s widest range of posture possibilities. “Customers have been asking for a table like this for years,” says Jyrki Nieminen, Merivaara’s R&D director. “It has been in development for two years and we have…
