Despite the general success of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) used in critically ill heart failure patients, implantation of these devices often leads to increased bleeding and a need for high-volume blood transfusions during and immediately after surgery. A new study published in Artificial Organs provides data suggesting that the incidence of these complications may be significantly reduced by way of a single plasma exchange before surgery.

More and more children with congenital heart disease are receiving implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) to maintain proper heart rhythm. ICDs were first introduced for adults in the 1980s, but little is known about how well they work in children, who account for less than 1 percent of recipients. A report in the April 29

Ontario’s youth are experiencing a different kind of high — approximately seven percent (an estimated 79,000 students in grades 7 to 12) report participating in a thrill-seeking activity called the “choking game”, which involves self-asphyxiation or having been choked by someone else on purpose.

Intraductal papillary neoplasm of the bile duct (IPN-B) is a neoplastic lesion preceding invasive intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) and is a new definition of a tumor with papillary growth in the intra- or extra-hepatic bile duct. The authors reported a case of IPN-B with interesting histopathological findings and emphasized that cholangiography is especially helpful for the diagnosis of bile duct dilatation due to the infiltration of carcinoma cells.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Advair Diskus 250/50 (fluticasone propionate 250 mcg and salmeterol 50 mcg inhalation powder) for the reduction of exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who have a history of exacerbations. With this approval, Advair becomes the only treatment FDA has approved to reduce COPD exacerbations. Treatment guidelines for COPD state that the reduction of exacerbations is a key goal in managing the disease.

Some form of immunotherapy is expected to be available for peanut allergy within the next five years. But the reasons for the increasing prevalence of this allergic reaction remain unclear. The issues are discussed by Professor Wesley Burks, Duke University Medical Center, NC, USA, in a Seminar in this week’s edition of The Lancet.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced that the European Medicines Agency’s (EMEA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has issued a revised positive opinion confirming the positive benefit-risk profile for Tyverb® (lapatinib), GSK’s new oral treatment for breast cancer. The positive opinion recommends grant of a conditional marketing authorisation.The CHMP previously issued a positive opinion for lapatinib in December 2007.

Long thought to be a problem only for high income countries, now 80% of deaths connected to high blood pressure (HBP) occur in the developing world. These are the conclusions of authors of an Article in this week’s edition of The Lancet. Cardiovascular disease is now endemic worldwide and no longer limited to economically developed countries.

A genetic mutation that can raise the amount of glucose in a person’s blood to harmful levels is identified in a study in the journal Science.High levels of blood glucose increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and early death, even in healthy people who do not have diabetes and whose blood glucose levels are at the higher end of the range considered ‘normal’ by doctors. One in five people in the UK has a high blood glucose level.

UroToday.com - The incidence of infertility has been calculated to be between 11% and 30%, depending on prior parity and marital status. In 1991, the World Health Organization estimated the incidence of infertility to be 15%. There are entities that the urologist treat and treatments that the urologist render that may contribute to the significant incidence of infertility.