http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (HealthDay) -- Patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing an HLA-mismatched unrelated donor (MMUD) reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) may benefit from a prophylactic, short-course, bortezomib-based regimen to reduce the incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), according to research published online Aug. 6 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-bortezomib-beneficial-graft-versus-host-disease-prophylaxis.html Cancer Wed, 08 Aug 2012 13:40:04 EST news263651987 (Medical Xpress) -- A 69-year-old man became the first patient enrolled and treated in an ongoing study at Yale School of Medicine of BB3, a molecule that promises to preserve heart muscle, promote healing and improve clinical outcomes in heart attack patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-yale-enroll-patient-heart-preserving-molecule.html Cardiology Tue, 24 Jul 2012 08:59:51 EST news262339181 Patients' non-adherence to prescribed medication costs the U.S. health care system an estimated $290 billion annually and can lead to poor clinical outcomes, increased hospitalizations and higher mortality. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-physicians-dont-adequately-patients-medication.html Health Mon, 16 Jul 2012 16:59:07 EST news261676738 (Medical Xpress) -- Endoscopic therapy was found to be effective for patients with chronic pancreatitis, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, whose findings appear in the July issue of the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-endoscopic-therapy-effective-treatment-chronic.html Inflammatory disorders Mon, 16 Jul 2012 10:09:13 EST news261652059 A common, painful hip condition in elite athletes may be able to be repaired with an improved surgical technique, according to researchers presenting their work at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-hip-reconstruction-technique-good-outcomes.html Other Sat, 14 Jul 2012 05:42:42 EST news261463354 (HealthDay) -- For patients with infective endocarditis and large vegetations, early surgery reduces death from any cause and embolic events, compared with conventional treatment, according to a study published in the June 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-early-surgery-ups-outcomes-infective.html Surgery Thu, 28 Jun 2012 04:30:01 EST news260075718 (HealthDay) -- Universal hepatitis B virus (HBV) screening before chemotherapy for lymphoma reduces costs in most settings, according to a study published online June 18 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-hepatitis-screening-chemo-deemed-cost-effective.html Cancer Wed, 20 Jun 2012 17:10:01 EST news259429983 In a study that included nearly 2 millions adults in Canada, the rate of progression to untreated kidney failure was considerably higher among older adults, compared to younger individuals, according to a study in the June 20 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-significantly-higher-untreated-kidney-failure.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:00:03 EST news259340206 (HealthDay) -- For younger adults with premature coronary artery disease (CAD), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is associated with excellent short- and long-term outcomes, according to a study published in the June 15 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-pci-excellent-outcomes-younger-adults.html Cardiology Wed, 06 Jun 2012 13:50:10 EST news258207849 (HealthDay) -- Acellular dermal matrices provide good outcomes for patients undergoing breast reconstruction following mastectomy, but the human AlloDerm matrix has a higher seroma rate than porcine Strattice matrix, according to a study published in the June issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-acellular-dermal-matrix-safe-breast.html Surgery Sat, 02 Jun 2012 05:30:01 EST news257829880 Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who become infected with the bacterium Pseudomonas aerguinosa are more likely to have worse clinical outcomes and experience more hospitalizations during the course of their disease than COPD patients who are not infected, according to researchers from Buffalo, N.Y. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-p-aeruginosa-bacteria-hospitalizations-copd.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 23 May 2012 14:00:15 EST news256996604 Frank M. Brunkhorst, M.D., of Friedrich-Schiller University, Jena, Germany, and colleagues conducted a study to compare the effect of the antibiotics moxifloxacin and meropenem with the effect of meropenem monotherapy on sepsis-related organ dysfunction. Early appropriate antimicrobial therapy leads to lower mortality rates associated with severe sepsis. The authors hypothesized that maximizing the potential benefit and appropriateness of initial antibiotics by using 2 antibiotics would improve clinical outcomes compared with monotherapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-combination-antibiotic-treatment-result-failure.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 21 May 2012 11:00:22 EST news256812317 (HealthDay) -- For patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, treatment with an autologous bone marrow-derived, expanded multi-cell product, ixmyelocel-T, is well tolerated and associated with improved symptoms at one year, according to a study presented at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions 2012 Scientific Sessions, held from May 9 to 12 in Las Vegas. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-scai-ixmyelocel-t-dilated-cardiomyopathy.html Cardiology Tue, 15 May 2012 05:50:01 EST news256276097 Cancer therapies targeting specific molecular subtypes of the disease allow physicians to tailor treatment to a patient's individual molecular profile. But scientists are finding that in many types of cancer the molecular subtypes are more varied than previously thought and contain further genetic alterations that can affect a patient's response to therapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-molecular-subtypes-genetic-response-lung.html Cancer Fri, 11 May 2012 15:12:55 EST news255967873 Treatment is faster and outcomes are better at stroke centres dealing with a high volume of patients, finds research published online in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-speedier-treatment-outcomes-high-volume.html Surgery Wed, 09 May 2012 18:30:04 EST news255784147 While active monitoring of serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels in men over 50 has greatly improved early detection of prostate cancer, prediction of clinical outcomes after diagnosis remains a major challenge. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have found that a genetic abnormality known as copy number variation (CNV) in prostate cancer tumors, as well as in the benign prostate tissues adjacent to the tumor and in the blood of patients with prostate cancer, can predict whether a patient will experience a relapse, and the nature of the relapse — aggressive or indolent. Their report is published in the June issue of The American Journal of Pathology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-genetic-abnormalities-benign-malignant-tissues.html Cancer Mon, 07 May 2012 04:21:22 EST news255583271 (HealthDay) -- The use of Oxiplex gel (containing carboxymethylcellulose, polyethylene oxide, and calcium) to coat the surgical site during discectomy procedures for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation is associated with improved clinical outcomes, according to a study published in the April 15 issue of Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-oxiplex-outcomes-lumbar-discectomy.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:20:01 EST news254490795 (HealthDay) -- Medicare patients who have advanced non-small cell lung cancer appear to get no survival benefit from adding the drug Avastin to standard chemotherapy, researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-avastin-benefit-older-lung-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:47:39 EST news253892752 Pediatric surgeons can lower health care costs if they remove a young patient's perforated appendix sooner rather than later, according to new study results published in the April issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-surgery-outcomes-children-perforated-appendicitis.html Surgery Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:03:43 EST news252586993 Hospitals that adopt strategies to reduce errors and meet government requirements face an initial tradeoff between improved clinical quality and a decline in the quality of individual patients' experiences, according to new research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-hospitals-tradeoff-clinical-quality-good.html Health Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:38:23 EST news251980696 Non-cardiac co-morbidities such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease and frailty are the main predictors of late mortality after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), suggesting that patients with these conditions merit closer evaluation and follow-up, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 61st Annual Scientific Session. The Scientific Session, the premier cardiovascular medical meeting, brings cardiovascular professionals together to further advances in the field. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-long-term-outcomes-tavi-non-cardiac-co-morbidities.html Cardiology Mon, 26 Mar 2012 09:10:03 EST news251971787 Administration of a bolus dose of the anticoagulant drug abciximab into the coronary artery involved in causing a certain type of heart attack among patients who were undergoing a percutaneous coronary intervention and also receiving another anticoagulant resulted in reduction in the size of damage to the heart muscle at 30 days, while a procedure that involved use of a catheter to remove the blood clot blocking that coronary artery did not produce these results, according to a study appearing in JAMA. The study is being published early online to coincide with its presentation at the American College of Cardiology's annual scientific sessions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-infusion-drug-coronary-artery-size.html Cardiology Sun, 25 Mar 2012 16:30:01 EST news251904424 Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have demonstrated for the first time that the metabolic biomarker MCT4 directly links clinical outcomes with a new model of tumor metabolism that has patients "feeding" their cancer cells. Their findings were published online March 15 in Cell Cycle. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-cancer-paradigm-shift-biomarker-links.html Cancer Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:33:38 EST news251051606 Researchers at the Rothman Institute at Jefferson have shown that patients who receive surgery less than 24 hours after a traumatic cervical spine injury suffer less neural tissue destruction and improved clinical outcomes. The results of their study, the Surgical Timing in Acute Spinal Cord Injury Study (STASCIS) are available in PLoS One. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-surgery-hours-traumatic-cervical-spinal.html Surgery Tue, 06 Mar 2012 17:29:02 EST news250277336 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans with mental health diagnoses, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder, are more likely to receive prescription opioid medications for pain-related conditions, have higher-risk opioid use patterns and increased adverse clinical outcomes associated with opioid use than veterans with no mental health diagnoses, according to a study in the March 7 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-war-veterans-mental-health-prescription.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 06 Mar 2012 16:00:05 EST news250268714 UC Davis Health System dermatologists, using videoconferencing technology known as teledemedicine, have determined that live interactive consultations can improve clinical outcomes for patients because they usually involve beneficial changes in medical diagnosis and disease management that otherwise might not occur. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-dermatologists-telemedicine-effective-patient.html Health Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:10:02 EST news246103202 Patients hospitalized after a heart attack who had blood potassium levels of between 3.5 and less than 4.5 mEq/L (milliEquivalents per liter) had a lower risk of death than patients with potassium levels that were higher or lower than this range, according to a study in the January 11 issue of JAMA. Clinical practice guidelines recommend maintaining serum potassium levels between 4.0 and 5.0 mEq/L in patients after a heart attack. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-blood-potassium-heart-in-hospital-mortality.html Cardiology Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:10:01 EST news245436553 Researchers at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have shown that loss of the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene (RB) in triple negative breast cancer patients is associated with better clinical outcomes. This is a new marker to identify the subset of these patients who may respond positively to chemotherapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-sabcs-loss-rb-triple-negative.html Cancer Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:19:36 EST news242680748 As people age, their immune system becomes less robust. This makes them more susceptible to serious and frequently life-threatening infections with viruses that affect the respiratory tract such as influenza A virus (IAV). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-boosting-aged-immune-response-flu.html Medical research Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:38:46 EST news241101518 Among patients who experienced an ischemic stroke, systolic blood pressure levels of less than 120 mm Hg, or higher than 140 mm Hg, were associated with an increased risk of subsequent stroke, according to a study appearing in the November 16 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cardiovascular disease. This issue is being released early online to coincide with the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-range-systolic-bp-ischemic-recurrent.html Cardiology Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:24:21 EST news240575054