Feature Channels: Surgery

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Heart experts at Johns Hopkins have begun testing a new device designed to replace blocked aortic valves in patients for whom traditional open-heart surgery is considered too risky, such as elderly patients and those with other serious medical conditions. The testing is part of a nationwide study to evaluate the device, which is deployed in a minimally invasive way. The first two Maryland patients to receive the device had it put in place by Johns Hopkins doctors on July 8, 2011.

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Despite changes in standard treatment practice guidelines issued by the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association and the European Society of Cardiology several years ago, there has been no meaningful change in the nation’s practice of opening completely blocked coronary arteries with balloons and stents in the days after a heart attack, according to a new study published in the July 11, 2011, issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

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Researchers have discovered that obese adults undergoing surgery are less frequently developing respiratory insufficiency (RI) and adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and that when they do, they are less likely to have fatal outcomes.

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Arthroscopic treatment of a common hip problem that leads to arthritis is successful in terms of restoring range of motion, according to results from a recent Hospital for Special Surgery study. The study will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, held July 7-11 in San Diego.

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Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery have identified a group of patients who may have increased difficulty for surgical treatment of a snapping psoas, a condition that usually develops because a teenager or young adult has a pelvis that grows faster than their psoas tendon.

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Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery have found that in comparison to open surgery, arthroscopic treatment of a common hip problem that leads to arthritis produces similar outcomes in terms of repairing structural problems in most patients.

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NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital has two new treatment options for patients with brain tumors and other cancers -- a next-generation radiosurgical Gamma Knife® and linear accelerator.

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Bariatric surgery patients can undertake a rigorous exercise program after the procedure, in order to continue to lose weight and avoid regaining weight, according to a UT Southwestern Medical Center study.

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As more baby boomers reach retirement age, there will be a big increase in fragility fractures related to age and osteoporosis. Fragility fractures can be caused by falls and ordinary activities such as sneezing or even rolling over in bed.

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A multi-center clinical trial is evaluating an alternative to traditional open-heart surgery for patients who have diseased aortic valves. An artificial replacement valve is delivered and deployed with a catheter.

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New data in the July 2011 issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery®, the official publication of the Society for Vascular Surgery®, compares the effects of gender on long-term survival in different types of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair.

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Between injuries from severe storms that ripped across the country this spring, to the typical blood donation shortage seen each and every summer, experts say that the nation’s blood supply is running low. At Nationwide Children’s Hospital, doctors are helping to offset that demand by what’s known as “bloodless” techniques.

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Now a UT Southwestern Medical Center urologist has developed a new “hidden” minimally invasive procedure that makes scarring virtually invisible yet is just as effective as more common surgical methods.

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Generally healthy patients who undergo total hip replacement (THR) can be fast tracked to be discharged in two days compared with the standard three to six days, according to a new study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery.

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In the first study to consider the impact of gender on patient outcomes in major gastrointestinal surgeries, researchers at UC San Diego Health System have found that women are more likely to survive after the procedure than men. The pattern is even more pronounced when comparing women before menopause with men of the same age.

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Reducing the intervals between giving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and an electronic defibrillator shock after cardiac arrest significantly improves survival, according to UT Southwestern Medical Center emergency medicine doctors involved in an international study.

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The last decade has been challenging for Billy R. Williams. The former Pentagon employee, who survived the 9/11 terrorist attack, has suffered from essential tremor (ET), a progressively debilitating condition. In February 2011, he became the first ET patient in the world to receive MR-guided focused ultrasound therapy. Results have been dramatically positive.

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Obese patients are nearly 12 times more likely to suffer a complication following elective plastic surgery than their normal-weight counterparts, according to new research by Johns Hopkins scientists.

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A half-paralyzed face with a motionless, drooping side can be alarming at any age, but when it occurs in a child it can be especially devastating.

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A landmark editorial in the nation's leading spine journal is challenging the integrity of published industry-sponsored research involving a bone-growth product. The unusually blunt editorial notes that in 13 trials involving 780 patients, industry-funded researchers did not report a single adverse advent involving Medtronic's Infuse® Bone Graft.