October 1st, 2011 by RamonaBatesMD in News, Opinion
Tags: American Cancer Society, Bilateral Breast Reduction, Breast Cancer, Breasts, Cancer, Comedian, DCIS, Diagnosis, Ellen Degeneres, Family History, Mammograms, Mastectomy, MRI, Risk Factors, Wanda Sykes
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When Wanda Skyes, 47, had a bilateral breast reduction in February, the pathology returned with DCIS present in the left breast specimen. Recently the comedian appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and during the interview revealed her breast cancer diagnosis and her decision to have a double mastectomy.
Sykes continued, “It wasn’t until after the reduction that in the lab work, the pathology, that they found that I had DCIS [ductal carcinoma in situ] in my left breast. I was very, very lucky because DCIS is basically stage-zero cancer. So I was very lucky.”
But, she added, “Cancer is still cancer. I had the choice of, ‘You can go back every three months and get it checked. Have a mammogram, MRI every three months just to see what it’s doing.’ But, I’m not good at keeping on top of stuff. I’m sure I’m overdue for an oil change and a teeth cleaning already.”
Because she has a history of breast cancer on her mother’s side of the family, Sykes explained she opted to have a bilateral mastectomy.
“I had both breasts removed, because now I have zero chance of having breast cancer,” she said. “It sounds scary up front, but what do you want? Do you want to wait and not be as fortunate when it comes back and it’s too late?”
The American Cancer Society Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
September 30th, 2011 by MatthewKuehnertMD in News
Tags: CDC, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Federal Register, HBV, HCV, Hepatitis, HIV, Infection, Organ Transplant, Patient Protection, Patient Safety, Public Health Service, Recommendations, Transmission, Unexpected, Unknown Infections
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Over the past few years, my team at the CDC looked into more than 200 reports of unexpected disease transmission through organ transplantation. Of the cases that were confirmed, some had fatal outcomes. Clearly, transmission of infections through organ transplants remains a patient safety concern that calls for action.
To help address the problem, CDC recently led a team of experts to develop the Draft 2011 Public Health Service (PHS) Guideline for Reducing Transmission of HIV, HBV, and HCV through Solid Organ Transplantation. The guideline was posted to the Federal Register last week, and I encourage your review and comment.
While recognizing the critical need for organs, our team also wants Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Safe Healthcare*
September 28th, 2011 by Emergiblog in News, Opinion
Tags: A&E, BBC, Doctors, ED, Emergency Department, Emergency Room, ER, Great Britain, Nurses, Patients, Real Life, Television Show, Trauma, TV
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You know me.
I’m all over anything that is from the BBC.

But this is different.
There is no TARDIS. And there are nurses along with the doctor. Lots of nurses.
And the only people flying through time and space are the trauma patients before they hit the bus or the ground.
24 Hours in the ER premiered last night on BBC America. I received a copy of the first two episodes from BBC America unedited for American television. Of course in Great Britian, this was called “24 Hours in A&E”.
On a personal level, I like it. It reminds me of the old “Trauma in the ER”.
On a professional level, Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Emergiblog*
September 27th, 2011 by Iltifat Husain, M.D. in News
Tags: Apple, Apps, Eye Exam, Eye Pathology, iExaminer, Intraocular Pressure, iPhone, Live View, Medical School, Ophthalmologists, ophthalmoscope, Teaching, Time Saving, Visual Acuity, Welch Allyn PanOptic
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There are a variety of tools available to help Ophthalmologists with eye examinations. A new hardware and medical apps solution turns the iPhone into an ophthalmoscope. Called the iExaminer, this simple iPhone 4 peripheral connects the popular Welch Allyn PanOptic ophthalmoscope to the iPhone 4, and then a native medical app helps you perform a fundus exams and share videos and images right from the iPhone.
Two key applications for this:
1) Teaching: For medical schools that are teaching eye examinations — instead of having to look at static pictures of eye anatomy, this “live view” could be an optimal and innovative way to teach. This could also be a great way for an ophthalmology attendings to save key eye pathology that they visualize in the mobile setting for teaching purposes.
2) Use in mobile clinics: This could be a good screening tool for various eye pathology — Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at iMedicalApps*
September 26th, 2011 by Medgadget in News, Research
Tags: Abdomen Movement, Anesthesiology, Breathing, Carbon Dioxide Monitor, Chest Movement, Critical Care, Medicine, Non-invasive, Pediatrics, Post Surgery, Radio Waves, sids, Signal Strength, Sleep Apnea, Surgery, University of Utah, Wireless Network, Wireless Transceiver
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A couple years ago, a team of researchers from the University of Utah managed to create a wireless network made from standard home automation devices to “see” through walls.
Now, the engineers are using the same technology to monitor breathing in patients with sleep apnea, post surgery, and babies at risk for SIDS. The system consists of Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*