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Repair Of Heart Defect Discovered Incidentally During Surgery May Not Have Clear Benefit
Patients who have a heart defect known as patent foramen ovale incidentally discovered and repaired during surgery for a different condition may have an increased odds of postoperative stroke, along with no clear benefit on short-term outcomes or long-term survival, according to a study in the July 15 issue of JAMA.

Stand Up To Cancer Funds Joint Effort By M. D. Anderson, Harvard, Memorial-Sloan-Kettering
A Dream Team of leading cancer researchers will accelerate development of drugs to attack a mutated molecular pathway that fuels endometrial, breast and ovarian cancers, funded by a three-year $15 million grant awarded today by Stand Up To Cancer.
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New Diagnostic Method For Gout: Dual Energy Computed Tomography Instead Of Joint Aspiration
The most reliable method of diagnosing gout is to aspirate the joint in order to obtain fluid to verify the presence of monosodium urate crystals (uric acid). Up to now, computed tomography (CT) has played a limited role in the evaluation of gout, since conventional CT systems cannot reliably verify deposits of uric acid. However, a current study at the Vancouver General Hospital in Canada gives rise to speculation that dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) could radically change the diagnosis of this disease. DECT enables fast, noninvasive examinations and, based on initial evaluations, has the potential to surpass the invasive gold standard and clinical examination in terms of reliability. Investigations have confirmed the high sensitivity of the DECT method in detecting uric acid deposits. The Canadian scientists used the SOMATOM Definition computed tomography (CT scanner) from Siemens for their investigation. This system is the only CT scanner worldwide that features two X-ray tubes capable of simultaneously producing different energies.
Nutrition

Program To Prevent Behavioral Health Crises Earns National Honor

A Minnesota program that provides psychiatric medications to low-income patients received a 2009 Community Leadership Award honorable mention from America"s Health Insurance Plans. The awards, which were announced at AHIP"s annual Institute in San Diego, recognize programs that address a community need. The Mental Health Drug Assistance Program provides 24/7 access to stop-gap psychiatric drugs to low-income patients with severe mental health conditions such as major depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Administered by HealthPartners, MHDAP includes more than 25 local public- and private-sector organizations. The program prevents psychiatric crises that lead to emergency hospitalization and incarcerations which cost an average of $12,000-15,000 compared to the average cost of $165 for a psychiatric prescription. A 2007 study of Twin Cities found that 40 to 50 emergency room patients with serious mental health conditions are admitted every month to hospitals in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area because they do not have access to community res. "This safety net program is more critical since the state is eliminating General Assistance Medical Care, which provides health insurance for adults living below the poverty line," said Donna Zimmerman, HealthPartners vice president of government and community relations. "Seventy to eighty percent of the services we provide for GAMC are for patients who suffer from a mental illness and as they and other people lose their insurance they will also lose access to medications," she added. In the first year, MHDAP provided prescriptions to 300 patients. In a survey, patients reported that the program reduced the need for hospitalization by 26 percent. These results and the potential savings to the community, have prompted the MHDAP collaborative to explore expanding the program locally and to explore potential national applications, MHDAP is funded by HealthPartners/Regions Hospital, HealthEast and United Hospitals as well as by grants from the Saint Paul Foundation and F.R. Bigelow Foundation. Regions Hospital


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