The frequency of post-operative complications following surgery for liver cancer is associated with a hospital having a low volume of liver surgery. Investigators at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) are presenting that finding at the 63rd Annual Society of Surgical Oncology Symposium taking place this week in St. Louis. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School…

For some Canadians, any cut such as from dental work or surgery can cause days or more of bleeding. Although they are not hemophiliacs, for some an ordinary bruise can balloon into the size of an orange. For others, knees, elbows and ankles are crippled when bleeding seeps into joints. In very serious cases, hundreds of blood transfusions are required for recovery. Now a team led by McMaster University hematologist Dr. Catherine Hayward has discovered the genetic cause of Quebec Platelet Disorder (QPD)…

Porter Adventist Hospital is among the first in the country to receive designation as Blue Distinction Centers in two surgical services that have recently been added to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association’s expansion of its Blue Distinction® designation. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield has designated Porter as a Blue Distinction Center for Spine SurgerySM and as a Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip ReplacementSM for demonstrating commitment to quality care in surgery and better overall outcomes for patients. St…

Psychosurgery is making a comeback. Recently published case series have shown encouraging results of so-called deep brain stimulation (DBS) in treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder, depressive disorders, and Tourette syndrome. In the current issue of Deutsches Arzteblatt International, authors Jens Kuhn (University of Cologne) and Theo P J Gründer (Max Planck Institute, Cologne) and their co-authors provide an introduction to the method (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107(7)105-13)…

A new procedure for treating pancreatic and liver cancers using electrical fields to poke holes in tumors was used for the first time anywhere to fight pancreatic cancer at Stony Brook University Medical Center by Kevin Watkins, M.D., Chief of the Upper Gastrointestinal and General Oncologic Surgery Group. The procedure, performed at SBUMC in December 2009, is called “irreversible electroporation (IRE),” a minimally invasive surgical technique (also referred to as a “NanoKnife®”) that selectively kills the cancer by using electrical fields to generate pores in tumor cells. Dr…

ReShape Medical™, Inc. announced that it has initiated a U.S. Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical study to assess the safety and effectiveness of its non-surgical, dual-balloon device for weight loss. The ReShape Balloons are designed to be a treatment for the millions who want support with weight loss, without the invasiveness of surgery. The ReShape device occupies existing space in the stomach to reduce its capacity for food. The balloons remain in place for six-months and are then removed. The first U.S…

The Kansas Health Institute has a package of stories about a malpractice case being considered by the Kansas Supreme Court in which the justices could determine if the state’s caps on medical malpractice awards are constitutional. The case involves Amy Miller, who underwent surgery to have an ovary removed. But the surgeon took the wrong ovary and later she had the second one taken out. She sued the doctor and a jury “awarded her $760,000 in damages — $360,000 for past and future medical expenses and $400,000 for past and future non-economic losses…

Freezing a cancer kills it in its place, and also appears to generate an immune response that helps stop the cancer’s spread, leading to improved survival rates over surgery, according to a new study in mice from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. Researchers looked at two different cryoablation techniques, which both involve applying a cold probe to a tumor to freeze it. The study was done in mice with breast cancer. One method involves freezing the tumor rapidly, in about 30 seconds; the other freezes the tumor slowly, taking a few minutes…

Like silkworm moths, butterflies and spiders, caddisfly larvae spin silk, but they do so underwater instead on dry land. Now, University of Utah researchers have discovered why the fly’s silk is sticky when wet and how that may make it valuable as an adhesive tape during surgery. “Silk from caddisfly larvae - known to western fly fishermen as ‘rock rollers’ - may be useful some day as a medical bioadhesive for sticking to wet tissues,” says Russell Stewart, an associate professor of bioengineering and principal author of a new study of the fly silk’s chemical and structural properties…

BioMedix Vascular Solutions, Inc. announced that the company has partnered with Howard University Hospital, Department of Surgery to participate in a Community Health Project and Demonstration focused on diagnosing and treating the potentially life-threatening condition called Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD). There was a two-part goal to the project: reach patients in need of care for PAD and lay out a high-quality, cost-effective plan for evaluating a range of diseases utilizing a telemedicine approach…