Open-heart surgery performed on infant mid-delivery
Editor's Note Surgeons recently performed open-heart surgery on an infant during a C-section to correct a congenital heart defect, according to a February 25 brief from the American College of Surgeons. Led by Dr. Sameh Said at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital, a team of specialists conducted the procedure on a…
Stem cell researchers tout potential for sickle cell disease cure
Editor's Note A novel stem cell transplant treatment for sickle cell disease (SCD) led to disease-free outcomes for most participants in a clinical trial at a lower cost than gene therapy, according to a February 27 report in Sickle Cell Disease News. The approach, which relies on a less intensive…
Real-time cancer detection improves brain surgery precision
Editor's Note A new genetic testing tool could allow surgeons to accurately identify cancer cells in real time during brain surgery, potentially improving surgical outcomes and reducing cancer recurrence, NYU Langone Health System announced. According to a February 25 press release, the Ultra-Rapid droplet digital PCR (UR-ddPCR) technique identifies cancer…
Pig organ transplant recipient remains healthy, sets xenotransplant record
Editor’s Note Towana Looney, a 53-year-old Alabama woman, has become the longest-living recipient of a pig organ transplant, thriving 61 days after receiving a gene-edited pig kidney. The Associated Press (AP) reported the news January 25. As detailed in the article, her recovery offers critical insights into the development of…
Surgeons emphasize bariatric surgery benefits amid rising GLP-1 drug popularity
Editor's Note Bariatric surgery programs nationwide have reported a 20-25% decline in surgical volumes over the past year amid the rising use of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) medications for obesity, OR Management News reported Dec 2. Although the connection between the decline and the popularity of the drugs cannot be definitively…
Milestone pig kidney transplant offers hope amid ethical, safety questions
Editor's Note A 53-year-old woman with end-stage kidney failure became the first living person to receive a genetically modified pig kidney in a milestone surgery at NYU Langone Health, NPR reported December 17. Although the experimental procedure marks significant progress toward addressing organ shortages, it also drew commentary on ongoing…
Report illuminates how AI transforms hospitals, healthcare
Editor's Note A paper published March 29 in the journal Bioengineering examines the growing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into hospital and healthcare systems and the way in which it is augmenting clinical decision-making, optimizing hospital operation and management, improving medical image analysis, and transforming patient care and monitoring through…
Blood test could help identify risk of sepsis, organ failure in children
Editor's Note Measuring gene activity in blood samples could help determine whether a child is at risk of sepsis and organ failure, according to findings published March 18 in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. It is often difficult for clinicians to diagnose sepsis because the symptoms are similar to…
Surgeons complete first successful animal-to-human kidney transplant
Editor's Note A 62-year-old man in Weymouth, Massachusetts is reportedly recovering well several days after receiving the first kidney to be transplanted into a living person. As noted in a March 21 report in the Boston Globe, the operation at Massachusetts General Hospital marked a new milestone in the effort…
Pig liver test shows promise for future human transplants
Editor's Note: A successful test of a genetically modified pig liver attached to a brain-dead human body could have significant implications for liver failure patients, the Associated Press reported January 18. Conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, the tested method is similar to kidney dialysis in that the genetically modified…
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