Surgery

In well selected patients with refractory epilepsy, seizure surgery is a safe and effective treatment option. Sadly, it is also much underused.

This year I was asked to speak at my hospital's annual thoracic nursing conference about what is new and upcoming in the treatment of lung cancer.

The prognosis of women diagnosed with synchronous tumors is unclear: do they follow along the lines of the more advanced primary? Is it worse?

"Why can't we screen for ovarian cancer?"

This is an exciting time to be in the endoscopy center business. Although there are many pressures on the industry, there are also some terrific opportunities to be gained by the consistent focus in a few key areas.

Nonadherence to beta blockers, statins, or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors is common (21%-29%) among patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Patients who do not adhere to their medication regimens are at increased risk of mortality, cardiovascular hospitalizations, and revascularization procedures; thus, medication nonadherence should be a target for quality improvement interventions to maximize the outcomes of CAD patients.

A new study examined the major complications of epidurals and spinal anesthetics and found that previous studies overestimated the risks of these procedures.

In order to achieve the goals made possible by recent technology advances in oncology nursing practice, nurses will have to endure the growing pains of in-services and devote the necessary time to build expertise and master the new technologies before they can implement them into daily oncology nursing practice.

Cold days should not prevent anyone from maintaining their outdoor fitness routines. People with cancer, in particular, can still enjoy the fresh air and physical activity, so long as they are prepared.

62% of the nearly 1300 hospitals in the United States are still failing to comply with the guidelines.

In women who would normally undergo mastectomy for a large breast tumor, breast conservation via lumpectomy can be a reality.

Sudden death in young athletes is shocking because it is unexpected in these seemingly healthy individuals. We present the case of an athlete who was found to have an incidental murmur during a screening physical, which led to a diagnosis of an anomalous origin of the right coronary artery with an intramural course. This congenital anomaly has been well recognized to result in sudden death; thus, it was fortunate that the condition was identified in our patient. We provide a brief overview of the literature, discuss the challenges faced in diagnosing such coronary abnormalities, and review the various management options that are available.

Thanks to a new method for measuring brain function, your patients with brain tumors could soon experience better surgical results.

Millions of people in the United States require chronic anticoagulation to prevent thromboembolism secondary to chronic atrial fibrillation (AF), pulmonary hypertension, mechanical valve replacements, and other prothrombotic conditions.

For a patient diagnosed with several kinds of brain tumors, going "under the knife" has come to mean a completely different type of procedure than previously thought.

We assessed preoperative cardiac physiology using echocardiography in patients undergoing cardiac surgery to identify predictors of postoperative atrial fibrillation. Subjects with enlarged left atrial volume had a 5-fold greater risk of postoperative atrial fibrillation, independent of age and other risk factors, than those without enlarged left atrial volume. Left atrial volume appears to be a powerful tool to stratify patients according to risk before surgery and to effectively target preventive therapy.

Depression is a well-documented adverse effect of many surgical procedures, yet many surgeons fail to warn patients about their risks. What should surgeons do to monitor patients for depression after surgery?

Curtis Miyamoto, MD, Chairperson/Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Temple University School of Medicine, discusses the Robotic Gamma Knife.