Surgery General
May 22, 2012
About 80,000 lower-extremity amputations (LEAs) are performed each year on patients with diabetes in the United States. Statistical analyses have shown that the annual incidence of LEA in older patien...
May 22, 2012
Coronary artery disease (CAD) appears to be significantly associated with a 35% increased risk for a prostate cancer diagnosis, according to findings from an American study. CAD was also associated wi...
May 22, 2012
According to CDC research conducted between 2000 and 2010, the percentage of adults whose healthcare providers recommended exercise or physical activity increased from 21.0% to 30.3% in men and from 2...
May 22, 2012
Among Medicare recipients, PCI is one of the most commonly performed cardiac procedures in the United States, with more than 1 million procedures being performed each year. Research has shown that the...
May 15, 2012
Of the 13,000 Americans diagnosed with laryngeal cancer in 2010, 3,660 were projected to die from the disease. Traditionally, early-stage disease has been treated using radiation therapy (RT) or surgi...
May 08, 2012
The advent of antibiotic therapy has led to dramatic reductions in mortality and morbidity due to bacterial infections and sepsis. The overuse of antibiotics to treat infections, however, may expose p...
May 08, 2012
New research was recently presented at ACC.12, the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Cardiology, from March 24-27 in Chicago. The features below highlight just some of the studies t...
May 08, 2012
Valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve implantation (viv-TAVI) in patients with degenerated, surgically implanted bioprosthetic heart valves appears to achieve high technical success rates, accordi...
May 08, 2012
A Canadian study has found that vascular and bleeding complications following percutaneous aortic valve replacement (PAVR) appear to be markedly reduced with careful patient selection, advanced interv...
May 08, 2012
The FDA has approved a surgical ablation system (Synergy, AtriCure) for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). It is indicated for use in patients with persistent and long-standing persistent AF d...
May 08, 2012
Results of a large national study of older patients undergoing PCI suggests that those aged 85 or older appear most likely to decline use of drug-eluting stents (DES). However, the investigation showe...
May 01, 2012
When PCI is used to treat multivessel coronary artery disease (CAD), single-vessel or multivessel interventions can be performed in one or more stages. About half of all patients with CAD have blockag...
Apr 24, 2012
In the United States, more than 90% of 25.8 million adults with diabetes have type 2 disease, according to the CDC. More than 1.9 million cases were diagnosed in 2010 alone among adults aged 20 and ol...
Apr 24, 2012
More than 1 million cardiac catheterizations are performed in the United States annually, and most of these procedures are performed via the femoral arteries through the groin. With transfemoral c...
Apr 24, 2012
A small German investigation has found that preprocedural PCI in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) appears to be both feasible and safe. When compared with isolated TA...
Apr 24, 2012
According to a national survey of vascular, neurologic, and cardiothoracic surgeons, almost half (48%) appear to not routinely discuss advanced directives prior to surgery. All respondents of the surv...
Apr 24, 2012
Preoperative aspirin therapy appears to be associated with a significantly lower risk of major cardiocerebral complications and renal failure, according to results from a large study of patients under...
Apr 24, 2012
Using a liberal transfusion strategy following hip fracture surgery in elderly patients with high cardiovascular risks appears to result in similar outcomes to those using a more restrictive transfusi...
Apr 16, 2012
The quality of care coordination is important to the United States healthcare system as hospital readmission rates are being further scrutinized. When hospital readmission rates are high, it is often ...
Apr 12, 2012
Much of health information technology (IT) focuses on patient documentation, compliance, and coding. While this is clearly a valuable service, there is still much more that can be garnered from health...