Articles
Two-Chamber Pacing Comes Of Age
August 1, 2012 6:51 am | by Chris Kaiser | CommentsA new consensus document on pacemaker device and mode selection for patients where the decision for pacing has already been made reflects the accumulating evidence for the efficacy of dual-chamber pacemakers. The most important recommendations regarding patients with sinus node dysfunction but intact atrioventricular conduction are that dual-chamber pacing is preferred over single-chamber ventricular pacing (Class I, level of evidence A) and single-chamber atrial pacing (Class I-B), Anne M.
More Is Not Always Better In Medicine
August 1, 2012 6:37 am | by Sanjay Gupta | CommentsAugust 1, 2012 (CNN) -- Doctors make mistakes. They may be mistakes of technique, judgment, ignorance or even, sometimes, recklessness. Regardless of the cause, each time a mistake happens, a patient may suffer. We fail to uphold our profession's basic oath: "First, do no harm." According to a 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine, as many as 98,000 Americans were dying every year because of medical mistakes.
Training Lags In Structural Heart Procedures
July 31, 2012 6:25 am | by Chris Kaiser | CommentsAlthough the number of structural heart disease procedures has increased over the last decade, the number of academic training programs in the field has not kept pace, according to a survey. Among the 50 respondents to a survey of accredited interventional cardiology programs, 86% said they had some involvement with percutaneous treatment of structural heart disease, but only a few offered a dedicated structural heart disease fellowship program, reported Konstantinos Marmagkiolis, MD, from William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.
Distractions In The OR
July 31, 2012 6:19 am | CommentsLast week was not a good one for the advancement of surgical research. I’ve already blogged about two studies that attempted to mystify the teaching of laparoscopic surgery. On Thursday, MedPage Today devoted over 700 words to reporting on a study from Archives of Surgery called “Realistic distractions and interruptions that impair simulated surgical performance by novice surgeons.
Peruvian Teen To Undergo Genital Reconstruction
July 30, 2012 7:11 am | CommentsAfter an accident with his father's rifle when he was 9 years old left him without a penis, 17-year-old Luis Canelos of Peru will soon be undergoing genital reconstruction surgery, thanks to the efforts of a Miami plastic surgeon and a Florida nonprofit organization that provides medical care to children in need.
Burned-out Nurses Linked To More Infection
July 30, 2012 5:13 am | CommentsHeavy patient loads and chronic burnout have long been among the top complaints of nurses at the nation’s hospital bedsides. But a new study shows that those problems affect not only the nurses themselves, but also the number of infections in the people they care for. For every extra patient added to a nurse’s workload, there was roughly one additional hospital-acquired infection logged per 1,000 patients, according to researchers from the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.
Surgery Teaching Methods Same As 40 Years Ago
July 30, 2012 5:10 am | CommentsWhen I was a surgical residency program director, I often wondered what the establishment, you know those guys who ran surgical education, was thinking. Some may remember the rule that a resident had to see at least 50% of the patients he operated on in the clinic or the private surgeon’s office in order to claim credit for having done the case.
FDA Greenlights First Robotic PCI System
July 27, 2012 4:54 am | CommentsThe FDA has approved the first robotic-assisted percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) system, the CorPath 200, according to manufacturer Corindus Vascular Robotics. The 510(k) clearance by the FDA comes on the strength of the PRECISE trial, a prospective, single-arm, multicenter study whose results were presented in May at the annual meeting of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI).
Why Do Malpractice Claims Take So Long To Be Resolved?
July 27, 2012 4:52 am | CommentsTwo recent papers have prompted me to ask myself the question, “Why do malpractice suits take so long to be resolved?” One was by a group from Harvard, USC and the RAND Corporation. They looked at more than 10,000 closed malpractice cases for all specialties and found the average length of time it took to close a case was 19 months, with litigated claims taking a little over twice as long as non-litigated claims, 25.
Oral Cancer On The Rise In Men
July 26, 2012 6:50 am | CommentsResearchers say HPV is behind the increased rates of throat cancer in men. WKYC's Monica Robins reports.
Dr. Oz Performs Heart Surgery In 'NY Med'
July 26, 2012 6:38 am | Commentsvideo platform video management video solutions video player The TV host and surgeon, Dr.
Many Livers 'Too Fat' For Transplant
July 25, 2012 6:37 am | by Kristina Fiore | CommentsIncreases in factors associated with fatty liver disease may be leading clinicians to discard more donated organs, researcher found. In an analysis of data from the United Organ Sharing Network (UNOS), age, obesity, diabetes, and hypertension were associated with an increased risk of a liver being discarded, Eric Orman, MD, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues reported during a press briefing at Digestive Disease Week here.
The Role Of IVs And Central Lines In Critical Care
July 25, 2012 5:58 am | by Mark E. Nunnally | CommentsAs a critical care anesthesiologist, I care for patients when they are most vulnerable. Critical care patients require intravenous (I.V.) fluids and medications, frequently through central venous access. These are catheters inserted into larger veins with a special procedure. I believe managing I.
Why Can't Medicine Seem To Fix Simple Mistakes?
July 23, 2012 6:58 am | CommentsNYU's Langone Medical Center announced this week that it was adopting new procedures after the death of a 12-year old boy from septic shock. The hospital's emergency room sent Rory Staunton home in March and then failed to notify his doctor or family of lab results showing he was suffering from a raging infection.
Over-thinking Laparoscopic Surgery Training
July 23, 2012 6:46 am | CommentsAre we over-thinking the training of residents in minimally invasive surgery? Two recent papers in prominent surgical journals suggest to me the answer is “Yes.” In the July 2012 issue of Surgery, a paper entitled “Cheating experience: Guiding novices to adopt the gaze strategies of experts expedites the learning of technical laparoscopic skills” investigated whether teaching novices to perform simulated tasks on a laparoscopic surgery training system by using the gaze strategies of experts would improve performance.
