Culture

A cluster of human plague cases over a 10-year period in the seaport city of Mahajanga, Madagascar after a 62-year plague-free period provided researchers from Arizona and Madagascar with an opportunity to study plague dynamics in an urban environment, especially since historically plague entered new geographic areas through port cities such as this.

Most of the isolates found during the outbreak were very closely related, suggesting that a single introduction became established in Mahajanga and then underwent local cycling and differential.

NEW ORLEANS (April 14, 2013)—Drug-eluting stents can keep clogged leg arteries open, preventing amputation of the leg, suggests research being presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 38th Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans.

NEW ORLEANS (April 14, 2013)—Stenting reopens completely blocked bowel arteries, preventing damage and even death from a condition that causes individuals severe pain and leads to excessive weight loss, notes research being presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 38th Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans, La.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — College athletes are not the only ones who sometimes suffer at the hands of higher ups. A new report brings to light a more hidden and pernicious problem – the psychological, physical and sexual abuse of students in the field of biological anthropology working in field studies far from home.

The report is based on an online survey and telephone interviews that, in a period of less than two months, elicited accounts of abuse from dozens of women and men working in the field of biological anthropology.

Additional fluoroscopic and CT views can substantially reduce complications that occur during percutaneous radiologic gastrostomy, a procedure used for patients who require a gastric tube for nutritional support.

Dual energy CT is an effective way to evaluate emergency department patients with possible anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, a new study shows. ACL tears are one of the most frequent ligamentous injuries of the knee; they are not commonly diagnosed in the emergency department because they are not seen on plain x-rays.

Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, imaged the knees of 27 patients using dual energy CT -- 16 of the patients had confirmed ACL tears, while 11 had no history of trauma, said Dr. Katrina Glazebook, a lead author of the study.

MDCT is a better way to measure annular size in patients with aortic stenosis who are candidates for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) than two dimensional echocardiography, a new study indicates.

The study included 69 patients who underwent an MDCT scan as well as transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography before having a TAVI, said Dr. Vineeta Sethi, lead author of the study. TAVI is done to treat patients with severe aortic stenosis who are not surgical candidates. Aortic stenosis is a common disorder in the elderly.

DARIEN, IL – A new study suggests that obstructive sleep apnea severity is higher in African-American men in certain age ranges, even after controlling for body mass index (BMI).

Rochester, MN, April 12, 2013 – L-carnitine significantly improves cardiac health in patients after a heart attack, say a multicenter team of investigators in a study published today in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Their findings, based on analysis of key controlled trials, associate L-carnitine with significant reduction in death from all causes and a highly significant reduction in ventricular arrhythmias and anginal attacks following a heart attack, compared with placebo or control.

April 11, 2013, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- A new study suggests that the type of bio-cellular grafts increasingly used by surgeons to repair damaged tissue may be useful for treating low-back pain (LBP). However, not all sufferers responded equally to the novel therapy. Results reported today at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine ranged from complete pain relief to no improvement.

April 11, 2013, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- Surgical patients who demonstrated heightened pain sensitivity, or hyperalgesia, induced by high doses of a synthetic opioid had their symptoms alleviated by co-treatment with dexmedetomidine, according to new research. Study investigators, who presented their results today at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, concluded that dexmedetomidine may be a new and effective treatment option for opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH).

More than 590,000 Americans in 2010 were treated for kidney failure. At the end of life, black patients with kidney failure receiving chronic dialysis are less likely to be referred to hospice and to discontinue dialysis compared with white patients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). Racial differences in care are especially pronounced in parts of the country that spend the most on end-of-life care.

April 11, 2013, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- First-of-its-kind research presented today showed microwave ablation (MWA) therapy cut pain in half for patients with painful bone and soft-tissue tumors and took less time to complete than radiofrequency ablation. Pain relief lasted over 4 months on average and up to 15 months in some patients, according to results reported at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

April 11, 2013, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) sought to shed light on the biopsychosocial and spiritual effects of taking prescribed opioids to treat noncancer pain. Such questions have received little examination and impact the challenging decision of when and how to use opioids, the study authors wrote in a scientific poster presented today at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

April 11, 2013, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- A new study suggests that the type of bio-cellular grafts increasingly used by surgeons to repair damaged tissue may be useful for treating low-back pain (LBP). However, not all sufferers responded equally to the novel therapy. Results reported today at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine ranged from complete pain relief to no improvement.