Implantation | SilverScorpio.Com

Cochlear implants ‘less beneficial’ for the elderly

May 18, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Cochlear implants are less beneficial for older adults as compared to younger patients who have similar levels of hearing impairment before surgery, according to a report.

The study has been published in the May issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Cochlear implants have become an accepted treatment for adults with age-related hearing loss or the progression of early-onset hearing loss, according to background information in the article.

David R. Friedland, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, studied the medical records of patients who received cochlear implants at age 65 or older between 1999 and 2008. Each of 28 older patients was matched to a younger patient (receiving an implant at ages 18 to 64) with similar pre-implantation hearing test scores.

One year after implantation, 55 of the 56 total patients showed improvement on hearing testing. Regardless of their age at implantation, higher test scores before surgery predicted higher test scores afterward. However, the older patients performed more poorly than younger patients on some speech perception tests at the one-year follow-up.

“One explanation for these results is that the elderly patient may have a prolonged adaptation phase and reach levels attained by younger users at one-year postimplantation at a later point,” the authors write. “Alternatively, elderly patients may have inherent limitations in processing the high-rate stimulation paradigms used in current cochlear implants. Central cognitive or associative processes may also influence the performance in the population of elderly patients.” (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: adaptation, background information, cochlear implants, Elderly Patient, Elderly Patients, Friedland, hearing impairment, hearing loss, Hearing Test, implantation, JAMA, Medical College Of Wisconsin, Medical College Of Wisconsin Milwaukee, medical records, Neck Surgery, older adults, Paradigms, Perception Tests, Speech Perception, test scores

Cochlear implantation in kids linked to improved language skills

April 21, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, April 21 (ANI): Children with hearing loss can benefit immensely if they receive a cochlear implant before 18 months of age, a new study has revealed.

The research, led by Johns Hopkins scientists, has appeared in the April 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The surgery involves placing a small electronic device into the ear that bypasses the inner ear”s damaged nerve cells and transmits sound signals to the brain.

The scientists followed 188 children, ages 6 months to 5 years, with profound hearing loss for three years after receiving cochlear implants at six U.S. hospitals.

They tracked the children”s newly emerging ability to recognize speech after the implant, and compared their levels of language development to those of 97 same-age children with normal hearing.

While speech and language skills improved in all children regardless of age after they received a cochlear implant, age emerged as a powerful predictor in just how much improvement was seen.

Lead investigator John Niparko, director of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery at Johns Hopkins, said: “We identified a clear pattern where implantation before 18 months of age conferred a much greater benefit than later implantation, allowing children to catch up fast, sometimes to nearly normal levels.

“Delaying intervention until a child loses every last bit of hearing deprives the brain of much-needed sound and speech stimulation that is needed to develop language.”

Each year of delay, the investigators say, can put a child a year behind in language development.

Therefore all young infants with suspected hearing loss, and those with family history, should be monitored vigilantly and referred for treatment immediately.

While the children in the study never reached the language levels of their hearing counterparts, those who received cochlear implants developed a decidedly better ability to understand and speak than they would have without the device, the researchers found.

When researchers looked at children of all ages, their ability to understand speech grew twice as fast as it would have been expected to without the device.

Their ability to communicate back, either with words or other age-appropriate modes of expression, grew nearly one and a half times faster than it would have without an implant.

Children who received a cochlear implant before age 18 months nearly caught up with their normal-hearing counterparts over the subsequent three years.

Children who received implants after age 3 had language gaps that corresponded directly to the length of delay before receiving the implant.

The study also showed that children implanted before age 18 months managed to reach speech and language developmental milestones much faster than those who received their implants later, revealing gaps between a child”s chronological and language ages.

Niparko said: “The impact of early cochlear implantation was greatly augmented in children whose caregivers use language to engage them.

“And we cannot overestimate the importance of caregiver communication with babies at a very early age, whether they have some degree of hearing loss or normal hearing.” (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: american medical association, cochlear implant, cochlear implants, counterparts, electronic device, family history, Hopkins Scientists, hospitals, implantation, inner ear, investigators, Johns Hopkins, journal of the american medical association, language development, Language Levels, language skills, Neck Surgery, nerve cells, Profound Hearing Loss, Sound Signals

Gene breakthrough could banish inherited diseases

August 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug 26 (ANI): Researchers at Oregon Health and Science University’s Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) have developed a new technique that could banish a host of crippling inherited diseases forever.

The landmark research raises the prospect of wiping out diseases passed on from mothers to their children through mutated DNA in cell mitochondria.

“We believe this discovery in nonhuman primates can rapidly be translated into human therapies aimed at preventing inherited disorders passed from mothers to their children through the mitochondrial DNA, such as certain forms of cancer, diabetes, infertility, myopathies and neurodegenerative diseases,” said Shoukhrat Mitalipov, from Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU).

Mitochondria are structures that are found in all cells that provide energy for cell growth and metabolism, which is why they are often called the cell’s “power plant.”

The structures produce energy to power each individual cell. Mitochondria also carry their own genetic material.

When an egg cell is fertilized by a sperm cell during reproduction, the embryo almost exclusively inherits the maternal mitochondria present in the egg. This means that any disease-causing genetic mutations that a mother carries in her mitochondrial DNA can be passed on to her offspring.

OHSU researchers’ method transfers the mother’s chromosomes to a donated egg that has had its chromosomes removed, but which has healthy mitochondria, thereby preventing the disease from being passed on to one’s offspring.

During the research, scientists collected groups of unfertilized eggs from two female rhesus macaque monkeys (monkeys A and B). They then removed the chromosomes, which contain the genes found in the cell nucleus, from the eggs of monkey B, and then transplanted the nuclear genes from the eggs of monkey A into the eggs of monkey B.

Then the eggs from monkey B, which now contained their own mitochondria but monkey A’s nuclear genes, were fertilized. The fertilized eggs developed into embryos that were implanted in surrogate monkeys.

The initial implantation of two embryos resulted in the birth of healthy twin monkeys. These monkeys are the world’s first animals derived by spindle transfer.

Follow-up testing showed that there was little to no trace of cross-animal mitochondrial transfer using this procedure. This shows that the researchers were successful in isolating nuclear genetic material from mitochondrial genetic material during the transfer process.

“In theory, this research has demonstrated that it is possible to use this therapy in mothers carrying mitochondrial DNA diseases so that we can prevent those diseases from being passed on to their offspring,” Mitalipov said.

“We believe that with the proper governmental approvals, our work can rapidly be translated into clinical trials for humans, and, eventually, approved therapies,” Mitalipov added.

The research has been published in the Aug. 26 advance online edition of the journal Nature. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: advance, ANI, as, Aug, birth, breakthrough, cancer, cell, Cell Mitochondria, cell nucleus, center, chromosomes, diabetes, discovery, disease, dna, edition, egg, Egg Cell, embryo, energy, gene, genetic material, Genetic Mutations, growth, Health, host, Human Therapies, implantation, infertility, journal, landmark, Landmark Research, London, macaque, material, maternal, metabolism, method, Mitalipov, mitochondria, mitochondrial, mitochondrial dna, monkey, mother, Myopathies, national, Nature, neurodegenerative diseases, nonhuman, Nonhuman Primates, Nuclear Genes, nucleus, offspring, OHSU, Online, ONPRC, oregon, oregon health, plant, power, primate, primate research center, procedure, process, prospect, reproduction, Research, research scientists, rhesus macaque monkeys, Science, science university, Shoukhrat, sperm, sperm cell, spindle, technique, testing, theory, therapy, transfer, University, work, world

Blind man gets vision back following tooth implantation in his eye

July 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 5 (ANI): A man who lost his eyesight in an accident at work can now see again, thanks to doctors who transplanted his tooth in his eye.

Martin Jones, 42, a builder, had been blind for 12 years after a tub of white-hot aluminium exploded in his face while working at a scrapyard.

He got married to Gill, 50, four years ago but had not seen her until he underwent the delicate eight-hour operation.

For the rare procedure, Jones’ front tooth was removed, and used as a lens holder in his right eye.

“I met my wife when I was blind and when I found out there was a chance I would get my sight back the first person I wanted to see was her,” the Telegraph quoted Jones, from Broom, Rotherham, as saying.

He added: “The doctors took the bandages off and it was like looking through water and then I saw this figure and it was her. She’s wonderful and lovely. It was unbelievable to see her for the first time.” (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: aluminium, bandages, blind man, Broom, doctors, Eye London, eyesight, face, first person, Front Tooth, implantation, lens holder, London, lost, martin jones, met, rare procedure, Rotherham, scrapyard, Telegraph, white hot

Emerging techniques show promise to repair injured ankle

July 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 2 (ANI): A new study has suggested that people with ankle injuries who do not respond successfully to initial treatment may fully recover with the help of two new procedures.

The study reviews emerging techniques that have shown promise in treating injuries to the talus, the small bone, which is located between the heel bone and the lower bones of the leg. The talus helps form the ankle joint.

Lead author Matthew Mitchell, MD, an orthopaedic surgeon in private practice in Casper, Wyoming, said that although most injuries to the talus can be successfully treated using traditional “first-line” therapies involving removal of dead tissue (called “debridement”) and drilling, about one-fifth to one-quarter of people with ankle injuries need additional “second-line” restorative treatment to heal successfully.

He said that the two new techniques rely on cells grown in a lab, and eliminate the need for ostetomy (cutting the bone of the tibia) in some cases.

Autologous chondorcyte implantation, or ACI, involves removing cartilage cells from the knee or the ankle and growing them in a lab. Once grown, the cartilage is transplanted to the talus. ACI usually involves an ostetomy in order to implant the cells.

In matrix-induced autologous chondrocyte implantation, or MACI, cells are grown on a special backing material, or “matrix,” and then transplanted to the talus. In the authors’ experience, an osteotomy is not necessary to implant the cells.

According to Dr. Mitchell, of these two techniques, the newer MACI technique may offer the most benefits to the patient.

“Both ACI and MACI show a lot of promise, but I think the advantage of MACI is that an osteotomy is not necessary in order to successfully implant the matrix. You only need to make an incision to place the graft, which decreases the morbidity of the procedure quite a bit,” he said.

“In my experience so far with this emerging technique in Australia, the results have been as good as, or better than, other restorative techniques,” he added.

The study has been published in the July 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS). (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: academy, ACI, advantage, American, ANI, ankle, Ankle Injuries, Australia, author, autologous, backing, bit, bone, cartilage, Cartilage Cells, Casper, Casper Wyoming, chondorcyte, chondrocyte, debridement, Dr. Mitchell, drilling, experience, form, graft, heel, Heel Bone, help, implantation, incision, initial treatment, issue, JAAOS, journal, July, knee, lab, leg, lot, MACI, material, matrix, Matthew Mitchell, morbidity, need, one-fifth, one-quarter, order, orthopaedic, Orthopaedic Surgeon, osteotomy, ostetomy, patient, practice, private practice, procedure, promise, removal, Restorative Treatment, show, study, surgeon, surgeons, Talus, technique, tibia, tissue, treatment, Washington, wyoming

Even minor weight loss ‘ups fertility’ in obese women

July 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 1 (ANI): A new study has suggested that minor weight loss in obese women could boost their chances of getting pregnant.

Professor Bill Ledger, from the University of Sheffield, and colleagues said conducted a three-month study of 40 obese women who were not ovulating.

Many of them suffered from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

The group’s average age was 29 and their body mass index (BMI) was around 40. Health service guidelines do not recommend IVF treatment for women with a BMI of above 30.

The women were given weight loss drugs to help them lose 5 percent of their body weight over a three-month period.

The weight loss of 5 percent was connected with a 19 percent rise in blood flow to the womb.

This increase in flow could assist an egg’s release from the ovaries and help with embryo implantation.

The researchers stated that the increase in blood flow worked like a “switch” to stimulate the ovaries.

Testosterone levels – which are higher in PCOS sufferers – also decreased as the blood flow picked up.

Ledger said that requesting that women lost 5-10 percent of their body weight was a ‘modest target’.

“The message for women with PCOS is don’t think you have to lose half your body weight. This could also encourage moderately overweight women to lose 5-10 percent,” the BBC quoted Ledger as saying.

Women with PCOS, which is one of the most common causes of infertility, tend to put on weight because of their condition and struggle more than other women to lose it through diet and exercise.

The study was presented at the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE). (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: age, ANI, bbc, blood, blood flow, bmi, body, body mass index, body mass index bmi, causes of infertility, Common Causes Of Infertility, condition, diet, egg, embryo, Embryo Implantation, Embryology, ESHRE, European, exercise, fertility, flow, group, Health, Health Service Guidelines, human, human reproduction, implantation, increase, index, infertility, ivf, July, London, loss, mass, message, obese, Obese Women, ovaries, Ovary, Ovary Syndrome, overweight, overweight women, PCOS, percent, period, professor bill, Professor Bill Ledger, release, reproduction, rise, service, sheffield, society, struggle, study, switch, syndrome, target, testosterone, treatment, University, university of sheffield, ups, weight, Weight Loss Drugs, womb, Women

New therapy prevents heart failure

June 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, June 24 (ANI): Scientists have suggested a new therapy that will help in preventing heart failure or deaths in patients with heart disease.

The study showed a 29pct reduction in heart failure and mortality risk in patients who received an implanted cardiac resynchronization therapy device with defibrillator (CRT-D) compared to patients who received only an implanted cardiac defibrillator (ICD-only).

The new generation of cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds) was designed to stop dangerous, life-threatening heart rhythms and improve the heart’s contraction, thereby enabling the device to improve survival and prevent heart failure.

The MADIT-CRT (Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial with Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy) involving more than 1,800 patients showed that defibrillator along with cardiac resynchronization device reduced deaths by nearly one-third in patients with mild heart failure.

“Now we can prevent sudden cardiac death and inhibit the development of heart failure, thus improving survival and outcome in patients with heart disease,” Dr Arthur Moss, professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, who led the MADIT-CRT trial.

“There is a very large population of patients with heart disease who will benefit from this combined therapy,” he added.

The results of the trial were released by the University of Rochester Medical Center and Boston Scientific, the study’s sponsor. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: boston scientific, cardiac resynchronization therapy, contraction, crt, dangerous life, deaths, Defibrillator, heart disease, heart failure, heart rhythms, implantation, June 24, madit, mortality risk, moss, new generation, rochester medical center, sudden cardiac death, University of Rochester, university of rochester medical center

Spinal cord stimulation ‘helps military personnel with chronic pain perform efficiently’

June 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, June 21 (ANI): A new study has revealed that electrical spinal cord stimulation (SCS) might provide military personnel, suffering from back and other chronic pain, to perform strenuous duties efficiently.

“We present six cases that demonstrate SCS can be a viable option for motivated patients in a physically and mentally challenging environment,” said the researchers.

The equipment is surgically implanted to generate electrical current to the spinal cord, disrupting the nerve signals responsible for perceived pain.

Because of the need for implanted equipment, SCS has generally not been considered a good option for patients who are physically active.

However, present study led by Dr. Anthony Dragovich of Womack Army Medical Center, Ft. Bragg, N.C. has shown that SCS may be useful in managing the unique medical challenges posed by pain problems in military personnel.

“Due to advances in medical science and the physical and mental fortitude of our soldiers, many previously career-ending and life-altering disabilities have been overcome,” said the researchers.

“Many soldiers desire to remain in military service, but unremitting pain is often the last standing hurdle,” they added.

All six patients were able to be deployed or redeployed after implantation with SCS hardware and effective electrical stimulation programs.

For example, one patient was able to return to duty with a special forces unit in Iraq and another patient, having completed an overseas assignment without pain, was in the process of applying to dive school. (ANI)

Filed Under: Health News Tagged With: Army Medical Center, chronic pain, dr anthony, Electrical Stimulation, fortitude, Ft Bragg, hurdle, implantation, Life Altering Disabilities, Medical Challenges, medical science, military personnel, military service, Overseas Assignment, spinal cord, Spinal Cord Stimulation, Unremitting Pain, viable option, Womack Army Medical, Womack Army Medical Center

Spinal cord stimulation ‘helps military personnel with chronic pain perform efficiently’

June 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

“We present six cases that demonstrate SCS can be a viable option for motivated patients in a physically and mentally challenging environment,” said the researchers.

The equipment is surgically implanted to generate electrical current to the spinal cord, disrupting the nerve signals responsible for perceived pain.

Because of the need for implanted equipment, SCS has generally not been considered a good option for patients who are physically active.

“Due to advances in medical science and the physical and mental fortitude of our soldiers, many previously career-ending and life-altering disabilities have been overcome,” said the researchers.

“Many soldiers desire to remain in military service, but unremitting pain is often the last standing hurdle,” they added.

All six patients were able to be deployed or redeployed after implantation with SCS hardware and effective electrical stimulation programs.

Filed Under: Health News Tagged With: ANI, army, Army Medical Center, assignment, bragg, center, chronic pain, cord, current, dr anthony, Dr. Anthony Dragovich, duty, Electrical Stimulation, environment, equipment, example, fortitude, Ft Bragg, hardware, hurdle, implantation, Iraq, June, Life Altering Disabilities, medical, Medical Challenges, medical science, military personnel, military service, nc, need, nerve, option, Overseas Assignment, pain, patient, process, school, Science, SCS, service, spinal, spinal cord, Spinal Cord Stimulation, standing, stimulation, study, unit, Unremitting Pain, viable option, Washington, Womack, Womack Army Medical, Womack Army Medical Center

Drug-eluting stents found to be superior in efficacy to bare metal stents

May 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 7 (ANI): A study suggests that the use of drug-eluting stents on heart attack patients undergoing angioplasty is more effective and as safe as that of bare-metal stents.

Lead researcher Dr. Gregg W. Stone, a professor of medicine at Columbia University Medical Center/New York-Presbyterian Hospital, has revealed that in patients undergoing angioplasty, the use of paclitaxel-eluting stents has been found to reduce rates of target lesion revascularization (TLR) and binary angiographic restenosis when compared to the use of bare-metal stents after 1 year.

The study also revealed that the primary safety measure of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE)-including death, reinfarction, stent thrombosis and stroke-established the non-inferiority of drug-eluting stents with respect to safety through 1 year.

The trial enrolled 3,602 heart attack patients at 123 centers in 11 countries, 3,006 of whom were randomised to paclitaxel-eluting stents versus otherwise identical bare metal stents.

During the trial, the use of paclitaxel-eluting stents resulted in a significant reduction of ischemia-driven target-lesion revascularization (TLR)-the rate at which a particular lesion re-narrows following stent implantation severely enough to require either a repeat angioplasty or bypass surgery operation-at 12 months.

The use of paclitaxel-eluting stents also resulted in a significant reduction in binary restenosis after 13 months, which is the rate at which the artery re-narrows at least 50 per cent following implantation of the stent, and was the secondary efficacy endpoint of the trial. The paclitaxel-eluting stent had a rate of 10 per cent and the bare metal stent had a rate of 22.9 per cent.

“Outcomes from prior registry and randomised trials of drug-eluting stents compared to bare metal stents in heart attack patients have been conflicting. These results now provide definitive evidence that paclitaxel-eluting stents are superior in efficacy to bare metal stents and have a comparable safety profile at 1 year,” said Dr. Stone.

The researchers believe that the findings of their study will have a major impact on how decisions are made regarding drug-eluting and bare metal stents in the highest risk patients, those in the early hours of a heart attack.

“This study removes much of the uncertainty and concern about the efficacy and safety of drug-eluting stents in this clinical setting. Moreover, all of the patients in this trial will be followed long-term to ensure that these favorable results are maintained,” said Dr. Stone.

A research article on the trial has been published in The New England Journal of Medicine. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: angioplasty, ANI, artery, Article, attack, bare metal stents, cardiovascular events, cent, center, Columbia, columbia university medical, concern, death, definitive evidence, Dr Gregg, Dr. Gregg W, Dr. Stone, drug eluting stents, Drug-eluting, efficacy, endpoint, evidence, following, heart, heart attack patients, hospital, impact, implantation, Inferiority, journal, lesion, London, mace, May, measure, medical, medicine, metal, New England, new york presbyterian, new york presbyterian hospital, outcomes, paclitaxel, Presbyterian, professor, profile, randomised trials, rate, reduction, registry, reinfarction, repeat, Research, researcher, respect, Restenosis, revascularization, risk, safety, Safety Measure, setting, stent, study, study also revealed that, surgery, target, target lesion, TLR, trial, uncertainty, University, university medical center, use, year, york, york presbyterian hospital

Drug-eluting stents found to be superior in efficacy to bare metal stents

May 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 7 (ANI): A study suggests that the use of drug-eluting stents on heart attack patients undergoing angioplasty is more effective and as safe as that of bare-metal stents.

The trial enrolled 3,602 heart attack patients at 123 centers in 11 countries, 3,006 of whom were randomised to paclitaxel-eluting stents versus otherwise identical bare metal stents.

A research article on the trial has been published in The New England Journal of Medicine. (ANI)

Filed Under: Health News Tagged With: angioplasty, ANI, artery, Article, attack, bare metal stents, cardiovascular events, cent, center, Columbia, columbia university medical, concern, death, definitive evidence, Dr Gregg, Dr. Gregg W, Dr. Stone, drug eluting stents, Drug-eluting, efficacy, endpoint, evidence, following, heart, heart attack patients, hospital, impact, implantation, Inferiority, journal, lesion, mace, May, measure, medical, medicine, metal, New England, new york presbyterian, new york presbyterian hospital, outcomes, paclitaxel, Presbyterian, professor, profile, randomised trials, rate, reduction, registry, reinfarction, repeat, Research, researcher, respect, Restenosis, revascularization, risk, safety, Safety Measure, setting, stent, study, study also revealed that, surgery, target, target lesion, TLR, trial, uncertainty, University, university medical center, use, Washington, year, york, york presbyterian hospital

Eye cells deemed to be retinal stem cells are actually normal adult cells

March 31, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, March 31 (ANI): Researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have found that eye cells believed to be retinal stem cells are actually normal adult cells, and thus therapies to restore vision in people with retinal degeneration should involve other types of stem cells.

Scientists have always believed that retinal stem cells may form the basis for treatments to restore sight to millions of people with blindness caused by retinal degeneration, provided they can be obtained.

The current study suggests that scientists researching into cell therapies to restore blindness better not concentrate on the eye cells previously believed to be retinal stem cells.

The St. Jude researchers say that more promising is research aimed at re-engineering stem cells to develop into the light-sensitive photoreceptor cells that are lost as a result of retinal degeneration, as such studies may lead to implantation of engineered photoreceptor cells into the eye to restore sight.

Dr. Michael Dyer, a member of the St. Jude Department of Developmental Neurobiology, points out that it was reported in 2000 that the layer of ciliary epithelial cells lining the inside of the eye contains retinal stem cells because, when grown in culture dishes, these cells formed tiny spheres of about a thousand cells.

He says that such spheres could be cultured to give rise to more spheres, reminiscent of the self-renewing capability of stem cells.

The researcher also underscores the observation that the cultured sphere cells showed activation of genes characteristic of adult eye cells.

“The first clue that these cells were not stem cells was that they were pigmented. Neural stem cells, in general, and retinal progenitor cells, in particular, are not pigmented. Nevertheless, the previous finding was met with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm because of the promise of introducing these cells into the eye to regenerate photoreceptors lost to blindness,” Dyer said.

During the study, Dyer’s team analysed the sphere-forming cells in detail to find out whether they were really retinal stem cells.

The researchers painstakingly studied each cell in the spheres, and found that all of them were pigmented and had features of ciliary epithelial cells.

Dyer and his colleagues later compared the structure of the sphere-forming cells with those of confirmed stem cells and other immature cells in the developing retina called progenitor cells.

They found fundamental differences between the sphere-forming cells and established stem or progenitor cells.

The team also found that simply culturing the sphere-forming cells in the same growth medium, as is used for stem cells, caused them to activate genes characteristic of stem cells, yet remain adult ciliary epithelial cells.

Dyer said that a particularly promising alternative was the possibility of taking samples of adult cells-such as fibroblasts that form connective tissue-from a patient with retinal degeneration and exposing them to genetic cues that induce them to revert to stem cells.

The researcher believes that such induced pluripotent stem cells may later be manipulated to develop into light-sensing photoreceptor cells that could then be transplanted into the patient’s eyes to restore vision.

“This approach would solve many problems of developing cell-based therapy for blindness,” Dyer said.

“First, these cells are immortal, so they can be grown indefinitely to produce large amounts of cells for treatment. And secondly, they would be immunologically matched to the patient, so there would be no danger of rejection. And thanks to some excellent research during the past 15 years, we know a lot about how to reprogram such stem cells to make them into photoreceptors,” he added.

The study has been published in online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (ANI)

Filed Under: Health News Tagged With: adult cells, blindness, Clue Cells, culture dishes, dr michael, epithelial cells, eye cells, First Clue, genes, implantation, jude children, michael dyer, Neural Stem Cells, photoreceptor cells, progenitor cells, retinal degeneration, sphere, st jude, study suggests that, tiny spheres, types of stem cells

Cochlear implant surgery is safe for the elderly

March 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, March 1 (ANI): Healthy elderly patients with severe to profound hearing loss can undergo a surgical procedure to receive cochlear implants with minimal risk, says an Indian-origin researcher.

“Due to concerns about the effects of general anesthesia, many elderly people with hearing loss are not receiving the implants which can significantly improve their hearing and quality of life,” says Dr. Anil Lalwani, Mendik Foundation Professor of Otolaryngology and Chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology at NYU School of Medicine and a study co-author.

“The elderly are often incorrectly considered too fragile for this life transforming technology that can deliver them from a world of silence and loneliness to a world of hearing and engagement,” he adds.

According to a research article published in the journal The Laryngoscope, the researchers conducted a retrospective chart review of 70 patients over 70 years of age who received cochlear implants under general anesthesia at NYU Langone Medical Center between 1984 and 2007.

The researchers revealed that the patients were divided into risk groups, and intraoperative and postoperative anesthesia-related complications were identified.

They observed that most patients tolerated the procedure, and there was no long-term morbidity or mortality related to the surgery or anesthesia.

Based on their observations, the researchers came to the conclusion that general anesthesia is well tolerated by elderly patients undergoing cochlear implantation.

They said that any pre-existing medical condition is a better predictor of intraoperative and postoperative complication than age alone.

Dr. Jung T. Kim, Vice chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology at NYU School of Medicine and a study co-author said: “As seniors embrace a healthy and active lifestyle, it is important that age alone should not deter a person from having surgery that could potentially improve their quality of life.” (ANI)

Filed Under: Health News Tagged With: age, anesthesia, Anesthesiology, ANI, anil, Article, center, chairman, chart, co-author, cochlear, complication, conclusion, condition, department, Dr. Jung, engagement, Foundation, hearing, implantation, indian origin, journal, lalwani, langone, Laryngoscope, life, Lifestyle, loss, March, medical, medicine, Mendik, morbidity, mortality, nyu, Otolaryngology, person, predictor, procedure, professor, quality, Research, researcher, retrospective, review, risk, school, silence, study, surgery, T. Kim, Technology, vice, Washington, world

Cochlear implant surgery is safe for the elderly

March 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

The researchers revealed that the patients were divided into risk groups, and intraoperative and postoperative anesthesia-related complications were identified.

They observed that most patients tolerated the procedure, and there was no long-term morbidity or mortality related to the surgery or anesthesia.

Based on their observations, the researchers came to the conclusion that general anesthesia is well tolerated by elderly patients undergoing cochlear implantation.

They said that any pre-existing medical condition is a better predictor of intraoperative and postoperative complication than age alone.

Novel surgical implant may prevent total blindness

February 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Feb 19 (ANI): Researchers at the University of Iowa have tested and are now using a surgical implant called Retisert to prevent a rare eye condition, sympathetic ophthalmia.

Sympathetic ophthalmia occurs when vision is lost in one eye through injury or multiple surgeries, and the body’s overactive immune system attacks the remaining healthy eye. If left untreated, a person can become completely blind.

However, researchers are using Retisert to prevent complete vision loss and eliminate dependence on systemic, or whole-body, immunosuppression.

Before use of the surgical technique, doctors had to ‘shut down’ a person’s entire immune system to stop the attack on the remaining good eye.

“Until recently, the primary treatment option for sympathetic ophthalmia was non-surgical and involved high doses of oral steroids followed by oral immunosuppressive medication to preserve vision in a patient’s remaining eye,” said Vinit Mahajan, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and a retinal surgeon with University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

“But this treatment, similar to organ transplantation cases, subjects patients to life-long use of immunosuppressive drugs that have serious side effects such as osteoporosis, weight gain, potentially life-threatening infection and liver or kidney damage,” he added.

The new Retisert treatment involves the surgical implantation into the endangered eye of a small plastic tab that contains a slow-release steroid called fluocinoloe acetonide.

The insert provides immunosuppression only to the endangered eye, not other body parts. It lasts for about two-and-a-half years and then can be replaced.

Mahajan tested Retisert by treating eight patients with sympathetic ophthalmia.

The device previously was studied in approximately 300 individuals who had a different immune system inflammation of the eye.

The UI-led study found that with Retisert, the eight patients reduced or eliminated use of systemic medications to control inflammation.

While two patients needed to resume using an oral immunosuppressive, vision improved or remained stable in all eight patients.

“Using Retisert, we are stabilizing vision in patients with sympathetic ophthalmia and getting them off the heavy-duty immunosuppressive medications,” Mahajan said.

“Patients had been willing to put up with the serious side effects of systemic immunosuppression because if they lost vision in their remaining good eye, it would be totally life-altering. With Retisert, we can save the eye, and the side effects are limited to treatable risks of high pressure or cataracts in the eye,” Mahajan added.

The study is published online in January in the journal Ophthalmology. (ANI)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: acetonide, ANI, assistant, attack, blindness, body, Carver, Clinics, college, condition, damage, dependence, device, eye, Feb, fluocinoloe, gain, immunosuppression, implantation, infection, inflammation, injury, insert, iowa, January, journal, kidney, liver, loss, mahajan, md, medication., medicine, novel, Online, ophthalmia, Ophthalmology, option, organ, patient, person, plastic, pressure, professor, Retisert, side, steroid, study, surgeon, Sympathetic, system, tab, technique, transplantation, treatment, UI-led, University, use, Vinit, vision, Washington, weight

Cochlear implants ‘less beneficial’ for the elderly

Cochlear implantation in kids linked to improved language skills

Gene breakthrough could banish inherited diseases

Blind man gets vision back following tooth implantation in his eye

Emerging techniques show promise to repair injured ankle

New therapy prevents heart failure

Spinal cord stimulation ‘helps military personnel with chronic pain perform efficiently’

Spinal cord stimulation ‘helps military personnel with chronic pain perform efficiently’

Drug-eluting stents found to be superior in efficacy to bare metal stents

Drug-eluting stents found to be superior in efficacy to bare metal stents

Eye cells deemed to be retinal stem cells are actually normal adult cells

Cochlear implant surgery is safe for the elderly

Cochlear implant surgery is safe for the elderly

Novel surgical implant may prevent total blindness

Search More News

Technology News

Ads