Surgeons at the University Hospitals Leuven have used a new technique for two recent liver transplants. In both cases the organ was preserved prior transplantation in a device that mimics the environment of that in the human body, making sure the liver stays
MEDICAL FAIR THAILAND 2015 reaffirms its leadership position as Thailand
The results of a study indicate that Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Diffusion-Tensor Imaging (DTI) could be used for the prognosis and treatment of sports injuries in athletes. The researchers obtained DTI Three-dimensional (3-D) measurements of the upper leg from the hip to the knee, including the hamstring and other susceptible muscles, in a single imaging session. The technique revealed changes that qualitative T2-weighted MR imaging with fat suppression was not able to show, and could be used to help clinicians detect long-term changes in the upper leg from sports-related muscle injuries.
The researchers evaluated five male amateur long-distance runners using a 3-T MR examination of both upper legs at three points in time. The exams took place one week before, two days after, and three weeks aft er the runners took part in a marathon. A musculoskeletal radiologist used three grades to evaluate the level of muscle injury using T2-weighted images with fat suppression. The radiologist noted the specific muscle and its location, the craniocaudal, and axial length of the hemorrhage and/or edema, and manually segmented six muscles in both upper legs based on T1- and T2-weighted images.
Lead author of the study, Martijn Froeling, PhD, at the University Medical Centre Utrecht (Utrecht, Netherlands), said,
Tiny gas microbubbles can enhance the delivery and absorption of cancer drugs in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, according to a new pilot study. The study was described at the International Contrast Ultrasound Society (ICUS) annual conference in Chicago.
One year after their last treatment cycle, two of 10 patients are still alive. 74 percent of pancreatic cancer patients die within the first year of diagnosis. The average life expectancy after diagnosis with metastic pancreatic cancer is just three to six months.
In the future, TAVIs can only be carried out in German hospitals with cardiac surgery departments and cardiac wards, as decided by the German Government
Results from an interim analysis of the Guinea Phase III efficacy vaccine trial show that VSV-EBOV (Merck, Sharp & Dohme) is highly effective against Ebola. The independent body of international experts – the Data and Safety Monitoring Board
Combining optical coherence tomography (OCT) with another advanced imaging technology may more accurately identify coronary artery plaques that are most likely to rupture and cause a heart attack. In a report, investigators from the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) describe the first use in patients of a catheter-based device utilizing both OCT and near-infrared autofluorescence (NIRAF) imaging.
A teenage girl faced with sudden rapid heart deterioration, a man in the prime years of his life suffering from debilitating heart failure and a former NFL athlete crippled by end-stage heart failure were all successfully treated with a surgical approach pioneered by cardiac experts at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.
The work demonstrated significant benefits of implanting a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) in the right atrium to provide better blood flow through the lungs, giving complete biventricular circulatory support and fully replacing the heart’s function.
An LVAD is a small mechanical pump traditionally placed inside the left ventricle – one of four chambers of the heart, located in the lower left of the organ – to help restore blood flow throughout the body. Unlike an artificial heart, the LVAD doesn’t replace the heart, but it can mean the difference between life and death for a person waiting for a transplant or suffering from advanced heart failure.
‘An LVAD relieves symptoms, such as being constantly tired or short of breath in patients with advanced heart disease,’ said Victor Pretorius, MBchB, lead author of the report and surgical director of cardiac transplant and mechanical circulatory support at UC San Diego Health. ‘The caveat is that the LVAD still depends on the right side of the patient’s heart to function optimally, and right ventricle failure is a common condition after an LVAD implantation, leaving some patients only partially treated. It is difficult to predict and increases mortality.’
Pretorius said biventricular support is required for up to 30 percent of LVAD recipients. Currently, no durable, long-term right ventricular assist device (RVAD) has received Food and Drug Administration approval, and placing an LVAD in the right ventricle, for which it was not designed, may jeopardize the device and heart function.
‘An alternative strategy would be to remove the heart completely and replace it with a total artificial heart, but this strategy does not allow for the failing heart to potentially recover, and there is the risk of the device malfunctioning,’ said Pretorius. ‘All three patients involved in the study were in desperate need of right-sided circulatory support. Our team placed an additional HeartWare HVAD, the smallest available LVAD, in the right atrium, the upper chamber of the heart, to provide right heart support.’
The right atrium is considered a more ideal chamber for placing a mechanical pump to support right-sided circulation. The absence of valve structures ensures unobstructed blood flow into the pump, and the location next to the right lung makes accommodation for the pump’s motor in the chest cavity more feasible.
An LVAD is composed of a computer controller, a power pack and a reserve power pack that remain outside the body and are recharged at night. Patients with the innovative BiVAD approach have to carry a duplicate set for each pump, but Pretorius said this is generally well tolerated.
Two of three patients in the study received successful heart transplants after receiving right-sided circulatory support, and the third patient remains in good condition with both LVADs still implanted.
University San Diego Healthhttp://tinyurl.com/zsjjwuh
New research demonstrates that the six-step hand-hygiene technique recommended by the World Health Organization is superior to a three-step method suggested by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in reducing bacteria on healthcare workers
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