Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) have found post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with more hospitalizations, longer hospitalizations and greater mental healthcare utilization in urban primary care patients. These findings appear in the current issue of Medical Care.Prior studies suggest that trauma exposure and PTSD have considerable impact on health care use and costs.

Dr. Tracy Rupp has won the 2008 National Sleep Foundation Young Investigator Award. A total of 106 abstracts from young sleep researchers (i.e., within 5 years of having obtained the doctoral degree) were submitted to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). Each submission was rated by a team of 3 established sleep researchers.

Students competing for resources in the classroom while discounting each others’ success are less likely to earn top grades than students who work together toward goals and share their success, according to an analysis of 80 years of research.Competitive environments can disrupt children’s ability to form social relationships, which in turn may hurt their academic potential, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Cary J. Roseth, PhD, David W.

Expanded use of palliative care services is associated with enhanced communications between families and caregivers, improved symptoms management, and better quality of life for children dying from cancer, according to study by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital Boston.

Last May, a widely reported study concluded that errant electronic noise from iPods can cause implantable cardiac pacemakers to malfunction. This just didn’t sound right to the cardiac electrophysiologists at Children’s Hospital Boston, who’ve seen hundreds of children, teens and young adults with heart conditions requiring pacemakers.

Physician-scientists from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center will present their latest research findings at the American College of Cardiology’s 57th Annual Scientific Session in Chicago, March 29 to April 1. Among the most significant presentations are the following:Drug-Eluting Stents Versus Bare-Metal Stents for Transplant Allograft VasculopathyDr.

Using a simple blood test to individualize the loading dose of a medication that prevents blood clotting significantly reduces the risk of major cardiovascular complications after percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), according to a multicenter study reported in a Late-Breaking Clinical Trials session at the SCAI Annual Scientific Sessions in Partnership with ACC i2 Summit (SCAI-ACCi2) in Chicago.

Prasugrel has been shown to block platelet activity in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) more effectively than clopidogrel, and to cut by more than half the risk of thrombosis, or blood clotting, inside the coronary stent.

When a clot develops inside a coronary stent, it can block blood flow to the heart, potentially causing a heart attack or even death. A single incident of stent thrombosis is bad enough, but a new study suggests that one in six patients can expect to experience at least one repeat episode.

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) can be performed safely and successfully in medical centers without on-site cardiac surgical back-up, provided programs are well-organized, highly skilled and committed to quality. These are the findings of the largest clinical study ever to compare PCI programs that have on-site cardiac surgery to PCI programs that transfer patients to a surgical hospital in case of emergency.