An innovative fusion of MRI and ultrasound might be a better way to detect and assess prostate cancer, while helping men avoid unnecessary biopsies, researchers say.
The technology blends real-time imaging from both MRI and ultrasound devices, allowing doctors to more accurately direct the biopsy needle that draws cell samples from suspected tumours.
Adding head and neck cancer screenings to recommended lung cancer screenings would likely improve early detection and survival, according to a multidisciplinary team led by scientists affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI), a partner with UPMC Cancer Center.
In an analysis, the team provides a rationale for a national clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of adding examination of the head and neck to lung cancer screening programmes. People most at risk for lung cancer are also those most at risk for head and neck cancer.
The International Exhibition on Hospital, Diagnostic, Pharmaceutical, Medical & Rehabilitation Equipment & Supplies will take place from 10 to 12 September 2015 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC) in Bangkok.
MEDICAL FAIR THAILAND is part of the globally recognized and leading medical and healthcare trade event under the Messe D
A new study by UCLA researchers has found that Naltrexone, a drug used to treat alcoholism, may also be a promising treatment for addiction to methamphetamine.
For the patient, surgery involves extreme physical stress, and in older patients especially this can lead to disorders of consciousness or cognition. The acute confusional state known as delirium, however, can often be prevented by specialist nursing care after the operation, as Torsten Kratz and co-authors show. In their study delirium liaison nurses were employed to help care for surgical patients aged 70 years and over. In every patient, the risk of postoperative delirium was reduced compared to patients who received routine care.
Delirium is a frequent occurrence after surgery in older patients: among those aged 70 and older, up to one in two is affected. Besides age, risk factors for delirium include mental illness-such as dementia-and infections. The approach to care assessed by Torsten Kratz and co-authors focuses on patients’ cognitive problems. Specially trained nurses support patients to achieve early self-feeding, improved cognitive activity, and restorative sleep. In this study in a Berlin hospital, one patient in five receiving routine care suffered from postoperative delirium, whereas in the group receiving support from delirium liaison nurses, fewer than 1 in 20 developed cognitive disorders. The authors point out that the study was unable to identify which specific measures reduced the risk for delirium-that would require more studies in larger numbers of patients. EurekAlert
Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a leading source of vision loss around the world, affecting about a fifth of people with long-term diabetes. Drugs that target a protein known as VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) inside the eye have greatly improved the treatment options in recent years, but only about half of DME patients are fully responsive to these new therapies.
Edward P. Feener, Ph.D., Investigator in the Section on Vascular Cell Biology and Director of the Proteomics Core at Joslin Diabetes Center and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Research in the lab of Edward P. Feener, Ph.D., Investigator in the Section on Vascular Cell Biology and Director of the Proteomics Core at Joslin Diabetes Center and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, now has shown that a substantial percentage of patients with DME do not have high levels of VEGF in the fluid inside their eyes but do have high levels of a protein called PKal (plasma kallikrein) and associated molecules that are key players in an inflammatory molecular pathway involved in the disease.
The scientists also have demonstrated in animals that the PKal molecular pathway can induce retinal edema through mechanisms that are independent of the VEGF pathway, which at normal levels helps to build and maintain blood vessels but at high concentrations can induce abnormal vessel growth and contribute to DME.
Outlined in a paper, the discoveries boost the evidence that agents targeting PKal eventually may be useful in treating DME that is not fully responsive to VEGF inhibitors.
In August 2014, KalVista Pharmaceuticals Ltd. launched an early phase clinical trial of a PKal inhibitor to treat DME, with Jennifer Sun, M.D., Ph.D., of Joslin
Patients with liver cancer can be cured with a liver transplant. But because of the shortage of donated organs, these patients often die waiting for a liver. That
The best remedy for severe salicylate poisoning is haemodialysis, according to a comprehensive systematic review of the medical literature. Salicylate is an active ingredient in aspirin as well as hundreds of over-the-counter medications, and contributes to approximately 20,000 accidental or intentional poisonings and nearly 30 deaths reported to US Poison Control Centers every year.
A technique called auditory brainstem implantation can restore hearing for patients who can’t benefit from cochlear implants. A team of US and Japanese experts has mapped out the surgical anatomy and approaches for auditory brainstem implantation.
Dr. Albert L. Rhoton, Jr., and colleagues of University of Florida, Gainesville, and Fukuoka University, Japan, performed a series of meticulous dissections to demonstrate and illustrate surgical approaches to auditory brainstem implant placement. Their article shares exquisitely detailed anatomic colour photographs, along with step-by-step descriptions of two alternative routes for neurosurgeons performing these demanding implant procedures.
Auditory brainstem implants can restore varying degrees of hearing to patients with ‘retrocochlear’ hearing loss. These patients have deafness caused by damage to the cochlear nerves — sometimes called the acoustic or auditory nerves — which transmit sound information from the inner ear to the brain. The cochlear nerve damage most commonly results from brain tumours associated with a genetic condition called neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2).
Auditory brainstem implants are similar in principle to the more commonly placed cochlear implant, used in patients with damage to the cochlea — part of the inner ear. Because of the need to place the implant and electrodes in the brainstem, rather than the inner ear, the surgery required for auditory brainstem implantation is much more complex.
In a series of ten cadaver brainstem dissections, the researchers explored the anatomy of the region that the neurosurgeon must navigate to perform auditory brainstem implantation. They also mapped out the best neurosurgical approaches, both for surgery to remove the tumours and for auditory brainstem implant placement.
Based on their findings, Dr. Rhoton and colleagues detail two surgical approaches: a ‘translabyrinthine’ and a ‘retrosigmoid’ approach. They outline a step-by-step route for both approaches, designed to provide safe access to the area while minimizing trauma to the brainstem and surrounding structures. The authors highlight the value of using endoscopes to help in visualizing and accessing the target area for implant placement.
More than 1,000 auditory brainstem implant procedures have been performed worldwide so far. The procedure was previously approved only for patients with NF2 aged 12 years or older. Recently, clinical trials were approved for children with congenital malformations or other causes of retrocochlear deafness.
Minimizing damage to the brainstem and associated blood vessels appears to be a critical factor in achieving good speech recognition after auditory brainstem implantation. The hearing results are also better in patients with a shorter duration of deafness.
Dr. Rhoton and colleagues hope that their descriptions and illustrations will help to increase understanding of the anatomy and surgical approaches to auditory brainstem implantation, contributing useful hearing to adults and children with NF2 and other causes of retrocochlear deafness. EurekAlert
An existing anti-stroke drug is an effective treatment for middle-ear infections, showing the ability to suppress mucus overproduction, improve bacterial clearance and reduce hearing loss, according to researchers at Georgia State University and the University of Rochester.
The findings could result in a novel, non-antibiotic treatment for otitis media, or middle-ear infection, possibly through topical drug delivery. Vinpocetine, the drug involved in the study, has long been used to treat neurological disorders such as stroke.
The study found topical administration of Vinpocetine suppressed inflammation and the overproduction of mucus induced by Streptococcus pneumonia bacteria, improved hearing loss in the middle ear and significantly improved bacterial clearance in animal studies.
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