Study identifies part of brain responsible for tone deafness
...metry (VBM), which is a computerized and automated procedure that allows one to search throughout the whole brain for structural differences in terms of brain tissue concentration," explained Dr. Krista L. Hyde of the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University and the Department of Psychology at the ...Common cold may be just a fingertip away due to environmental contamination
...Then participants repeated the hand washing/drying procedure before using their fingertips to touch the three contaminated sites as instructed to simulate natural daily life activities. Following touching, the investigators tested the participants' fingertips for virus. Throughout the study, investigators use...Predictors of undergoing joint replacement surgery among patients with severe osteoarthritis
...ty (TJA) is a highly successful and cost-effective procedure for managing OA of the hip and knee. Despite this, analyses of hospital records show variations in the rates of TJA by region, gender, race, and socioeconomic status. While these studies tell us about who is undergoing hip and knee replacement surg...Ethnic disparities in Medicare claims?
... are more likely to report receipt of a preventive procedure in the absence of a submitted Medicare claim, thus minimizing the gap in these procedures between different ethnic groups. The authors write: "It is not clear whether higher rates of self-report in the absence of a claim represent a greater tendency...Early results indicate radiofreqency ablation useful in treating ovarian cancer metastasis
Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation, a procedure that uses a high frequency electric current to kill tumor cells, is effective in achieving local control in selected patients with metastasis from ovarian cancer, according to a preliminary study conducted by the department of radiology at Massachuse...Mesh can make weight-loss surgery safer
...geons should now consider using mesh as a standard procedure in these sorts of operations. They believe this is particularly the case as the epidemic of obesity is likely to drive this form of surgery from specialist centres to general hospitals....Edmonton Protocol clinical trial shows islet transplantation shows promising results
...hapiro, shows islet transplantation is a promising procedure for certain patients with severe Type 1 Diabetes. This research is published in the September 28, 2006 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine. "This is the very first time a multicentre, international trial has been done in islet research,"...Clinical trial shows islet transplantation is a promising procedure
...d producing insulin to control it. This is a safer procedure than a pancreas transplant and can be done in a fe...ter islet transplantation following a standardized procedure that he designed, which became known as the Edmonton Protocol. The Edmonton Protocol standardizes th...Women given liver transplants outlive male recipients by around 4 years
...r transplant recipients outlive men given the same procedure by an average of 4.5 years, suggests research publ...red significantly better than those undergoing the procedure because of hepatitis C infection, cirrhosis, or cancer. The authors note that while one year survi...Landmark study of islet transplantation reveals potential benefits in uncontrolled type 1 diabetes
...inue to assess the effects of the islet transplant procedure on their diabetes and overall health. In their p... no serious side effects related to the transplant procedure itself. Study related complications were generally a result of the immunosuppressive medications tha...Spinal cord stimulators tested as treatment for patients with migraine headaches
...headaches: occipital nerve stimulation, a surgical procedure in which an implanted neurostimulator delivers ele... week later, the patient returns for the 45 minute procedure in which the neurostimulator is placed on one side in the lowest part of the back, and the leads are...Music helps patients tune out test anxiety
...lug into their favorite tunes during a colonoscopy procedure may be able to relax enough to require less sedation, without sacrificing comfort. Results of the double-blind study by doctors at Temple University in Philadelphia were presented at this year's American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy nationa...For super-obese patients, duodenal switch beats gastric bypass
...rgery. "While there is no single ideal bariatric procedure that can be applied to all severely obese patients...002, to 171,000 in 2005. The most common surgical procedure for these patients--more than 80 percent of all bariatric operations in 2002--is the gastric bypass,...A world first in the treatment of a young patient with a completely blocked yet vital heart artery
...ed coronary arteries. This heart catheterization procedure was successfully completed at the Montreal Heart I... an alternate solution to double bypass surgery, a procedure her condition initially warranted. After reading about the results, in the specialized medical journ...Coronary surgery -- keeping the way clear
...inside, the artery is successfully held open. This procedure often causes damage to the artery wall; scar tissue forms around the stent and blocks the artery. The current technology consists in coating the stent with a biodegradable polymer bound with a drug to control this unwanted cell growth. Less drug ne...Same mortality but higher suicide rate among women with breast implants
... rate is not the result of the breast augmentation procedure itself, but rather of a double selection bias. "First, a woman must be in relatively good health to undergo breast implant surgery," points out Dr. Brisson. "Also, women who receive breast implants tend to be of higher-than-average socioeconomic stat...MRIs made safe for people with modern defibrillators and pacemakers
...e the body. "We have turned a once exceptional procedure into one that is now a routine at Hopkins," Halperin says. Among other things, the Hopkins group reprograms the devices, fixing them to a specific sequence. This makes the implanted devices "blind" to their external environment, reducing the pot...Nasal plastic surgery improves airway function
...mined groups of patients according to the specific procedure performed--including spreader grafting, septoplasty and turbinectomy--and found similar rates of improvement. "Functional rhinoplasty techniques are effective in improving nasal airway function as measured by a patient-based, disease-specific, quali...Transfusion-free surgical program reduced use of blood products for all liver transplant patients
... resources, which consequently reduces the overall procedure cost. "Surgeons are the leading consumers of blood products, and it is important that we are leaders in promoting transfusion-free techniques. In conclusion, we propose that the recognized need to minimize the use of blood products be elevated to t......roduces as flawless an image as possible. During a procedure that typically might last anywhere from 15 to 60 s...ntafoil. MacRae credits the new formula, part of a procedure he calls second-generation customized ablation, with slashing the need for repeat treatments in pati...