Women who took more control over choosing their breast cancer surgeon were more likely to be treated by more experienced breast surgeons and at a hospital affiliated with an accredited cancer program, compared to women who were referred by another doctor or their health plan, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
About 3.4 percent of patients treated in rural trauma centers appear to be recidivists, meaning that they have visited the facility more than once for separate injuries, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Substance abuse appears to be the common feature among urban and rural recurrent trauma patients.
UCLA researchers report that for patients hospitalized with acute heart failure, a higher body mass index (BMI) was associated with a substantially lower in-hospital mortality rate. The finding offers more insight into an observed phenomenon in chronic heart failure called the “obesity paradox.”
Regular use of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins is not associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer, according to a population-based case-control study.
Four of five hospital performance measures for heart failure do not appear to accurately reflect the quality of care provided, according to a study in the January 3 issue of JAMA.
Researchers reported that all five standard hospital-based performance measures used to gauge quality-of-care for hospitalized heart-failure patients may not be the best benchmarks since none were significant predictors of patient mortality during the critical first 60 to 90 days immediately following hospital discharge.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved a first-of-a-kind medical device for the treatment of babies born with moderate to severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a potentially fatal injury to the brain caused by low levels of oxygen.
Following kidney transplantation, some recipients may face a three-fold increased risk of certain cancer types, according to a study in the Dec. 20 issue of JAMA.
Patients who have low to moderate blood alcohol levels may be less likely to die after arriving at the hospital with a traumatic brain injury than those with no alcohol in their bloodstream, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. However, those with the highest alcohol levels appear to have an increased risk of dying in the hospital.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved Celebrex (celecoxib) for a new use ? the relief of the signs and symptoms of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA) in patients two years of age and older. Today’s approval follows the November 29 meeting of FDA’s Arthritis Advisory Committee, in which the committee voted 15 to 1 in favor of approval of this product.