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Boy has shoulder made from elbow
A teenage cancer patient has undergone successful surgery to rebuild his shoulder using his elbow.
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British doctors perform world first robot surgery
British doctors have carried out the world's first operation using a robot to repair a condition that kills 7,000 people a year.
The condition, called an abdominal aortic aneurysm, involves a key artery that pumps blood around the body from the heart weakening and swelling and can go undetected until the section bursts, which is often fatal.
Ministers have now announced a national screening programme for ruptured aneurysms to detect the condition and allow more people to have corrective surgery.
A team at St Mary's Hospital in central London, have carried out the first operation to repair an aneurysm using a £400,000 robot.
The new technique will reduce the operating time, add extra precision and allow more complex cases to be attempted.
If extended across the whole country the robotic repair would mean an extra 10,000 to 20,000 patients could have their aneurysm treated.
Grandfather James Arnold, 78, from Wembley, north London, became the first patient to have his aneurysm repaired using the Sensei robot on Tuesday.
Two days later he was out of bed and will be discharged from hospital within days.
He said: "I feel great, it has put my mind at rest. Knowing I had an aneurysm is like walking around with a time bomb inside you, every time I had a touch of belly ache I thought it was going to blow, but I can rest easy now."
New keyhole surgery means the repair can be carried out by passing a thin tube along the blood vessel from the groin into the swollen section and inserting a metal scaffold to reinforce the stretched section and stop it bursting.
Often several metal stents are needed and it can be impossible to match up the ends of each stent into one continuous artificial blood vessel by hand.
In the operation, observed by the Daily Telegraph, Dr Mo Hamady, Consultant Interventional Radiologist, used a monitor and joystick to control a robotic arm attached to the tube with a sensor on the end.
Using x-ray images constantly taken of the patient, the ends of the stents can be joined exactly.
The team also included Miss Celia Riga, Vascular Fellow and Robotics Vascular Research Lead, Mr Colin Bicknell, Vascular Surgeon and Professor Nick Cheshire, Consultant Vascular Surgeon and Clinical Programme Director of Circulation Sciences and Renal Medicine at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs St Mary's Hospital.
Earlier this year ministers announced a screening programme for all men aged 65 to detect aneurysms so they can be monitored or repaired.
It is offered only to men as the condition is much more common in men than in women.
There are only three Sensei robots in the UK, two at St Mary's being used to correct an irregular or fast heartbeat and one at Bart's Hospital also in central London. British doctors have carried out the world's first operation using a robot to repair a condition that kills 7,000 people a year. ... more -
Is this what he might have looked like?
In honour of Michael Jackson’s 50th birthday, graphic specialists have created a gallery of what Jacko would look like today - if he had skipped the plastic surgery.
It's estimated that Jackson has had about 50 plastic surgery operations - one for each year of his life! The pop idol turns 50 on Friday but there are no traces of his child star self left. In honour of Michael Jackson’s 50th birthday, graphic specialists have created a gallery of what Jacko would look like today - if he h... more -
Face transplant patient can smile and blink again
Transplanting faces may seem like science fiction, but doctors say the experimental surgeries could one day become routine. Two of the world's three teams that have done partial face transplants reported Friday that their techniques were surprisingly effective, though complications exist and more work is still needed.
"There is no reason to think these face transplants would not be as common as kidney or liver transplants one day," said Dr. Laurent Lantieri, one of the French doctors who operated on a man severely disfigured by a genetic disease.
In Friday's issue of the British medical journal Lancet, Lantieri and colleagues reported on their patient's status one year after the transplant. Chinese doctors also reported on their patient, two years after his surgery. Transplanting faces may seem like science fiction, but doctors say the experimental surgeries could one day become routine. Two of the... more -
Face transplant 'double success'
Successful results from two more face transplants will speed progress towards similar operations in other countries, say experts.
This is some crazy stuff! Successful results from two more face transplants will speed progress towards similar operations in other countries, say experts. ... more -
'Cutting by color': new technique for cancer surgeries
Cancer surgeons today operate with no clear way of determining whether they have removed all of the diseased tissue, which is the key to successful surgery. Researchers in Massachusetts now report development and early clinical trials of a new imaging system that highlights cancerous tissue in the body so that surgeons can more easily see and remove diseased tissue.
The technique shows particular promise for improving surgery for breast, prostate, and lung cancer, whose tumor boundaries can be difficult to track at advanced stages, they say. Described today at the 236th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the technique can also help cancer surgeons avoid cutting critical structures such as blood vessels and nerves.
The system is called FLARE, or Fluorescence-Assisted Resection and Exploration. Under development for the past decade, the portable system consists of a near-infrared (NIR) imaging system, a video monitor, and a computer. "The system has no moving parts, uses LEDs instead of lasers for excitation, makes no contact with the patient, and is sterile," Frangioni says. Cancer surgeons today operate with no clear way of determining whether they have removed all of the diseased tissue, which is the key ... more -
How film producers helped a Ugandan boy get a new face
The film crew of Oscar winning movie The Last King of Scotland were so moved by the medical plight of one of their extras that they helped arrange facial surgery for him in the UK.
They discovered 10-year-old Joel Waiswa in Uganda while filming the movie, which depicts the relationship between Ugandan dictator Idi Amin and his Scottish physician.
While filming in a ramshackle hospital in the capital Kampala, film producer Lisa Bryer was approached by Joel who asked for and was given a part.
Joel had a large facial tumour that distorted his nose and pushed one of his eyes so far forward it looked as if it was outside his skull.
Seeking help
Lisa tried desperately to get him surgery.
"After speaking to Joel and hearing of his heartbreaking long wait to see doctors I just knew that I couldn't leave without securing him the treatment he so desperately needed, so I worked with local doctors to get him all the help they could offer," she said.
But because local doctors did not have either the facilities or specialist skills to treat Joel, Lisa appealed to the UK children's charity, Facing The World.
He was flown to the UK and his face repaired in one single 10-hour operation at the Cromwell Hospital.
Craniofacial surgeon Niall Kirkpatrick, ear, nose and throat specialist Will Grant and eye surgeon Naresh Joshi all donated their time for free.
Mr Kirkpatrick said that although the tumour was benign, it was continuing to grow and distort Joel's facial features.
"Joel's problems were a very severe facial deformity as a result of a tumour growing in the middle of his face which was steadily growing, twisting and rotating his face through approximately 90 degrees and pushing his eye sideways and outwards several centimetres," he said.
The medical team not only had to remove the tumour, but also put the little boy's facial features - including one eye - back into position, ensuring they lost none of the muscle function or nerves.
Mr Kirkpatrick, said the surgery had been a great success, but that Joel might need further surgery to correct the position of his teeth in the future.
Joel's tumour was pushing his eye from his skull
"Joel's face was transformed in one major procedure, and although the minor bruising around Joel's eye may take a while to completely resolve, the transformation after his surgery is incredible.
"He can now look forward to a future that until now was destined to be bleak.
"He is the most fabulous little boy, full of life, smiles and bubbly enthusiasm.
"He will live life to the full whatever is thrown at him and is just absolutely charming. He is very bright and has learnt remarkably good English very quickly."
He added: "It has been a real pleasure to be able to help."
Joel's mother said: "I see such a wonderful change in Joel and only God can know how happy I am for having the opportunity for Joel to come to London for his surgery.
She said the charity, helped by Lisa Bryer, had secured a good school for Joel to set him on the road for a "wonderful future". The film crew of Oscar winning movie The Last King of Scotland were so moved by the medical plight of one of their extras that they he... more -
Woman has surgery on giant 110-pound legs
A Chinese woman who long-suffered with elephantiasis of the legs says she is looking forward to wearing skirts and trousers after having a life-changing surgery to correct the painful condition, Agence France-Presse reported.
Before the surgery, Wang Cheng, 24, who lives in the eastern Chinese province of Zhiangsu, has not been able to leave her house or wear regular clothing since she was 6-years-old because the condition caused her legs to become deformed and triple in size, giving them a combined weight of 110 pounds. A Chinese woman who long-suffered with elephantiasis of the legs says she is looking forward to wearing skirts and trousers after havi... more -
Sex change clinic charged for underage castration
The Thai Health Services Department has filed a lawsuit against Pratunam Polyclinic for castrating underage sex change candidates.
Officials hope that the legal action will constitute an example and discourage other clinics from providing the service that was made illegal last month when the Council of State ruled that commercial testicle-removal surgery was unlawful unless the procedure was carried out for diagnosed medical reasons.
Thep Vejvisit, owner of Pratunam Polyclinic in Bangkok, admitted operating to remove the testicles of males under 18. Health officials raided his clinic in March after a report it provided the service without parental consent. The Thai Health Services Department has filed a lawsuit against Pratunam Polyclinic for castrating underage sex change candidates. ... more -
Surgical side effects cut with robotics
"As 3D images illuminate the viewfinder, a joystick delicately maneuvers a pair of robotic arms. It may sound like a video game, but Dr. Nikhil Shah is actually performing cancer surgery.
Robotic surgery allows for smaller incisions, reduced blood loss and much greater precision by the surgeon.
In this case, the surgeon is removing a man's prostate gland. Robotic surgery is a growing trend in treating prostate cancer. The number of cases have increased sevenfold in the past four years, from 10,000 in 2004 to a projected 70,000 in 2008, according to Intuitive Surgical Inc., the creators of the robotic device. The advantages of robotics -- fewer side effects and quicker recovery times in many patients -- have led to increased use for other surgeries, including hysterectomy, kidney cancer and some heart procedures.
"At first, men think we hook up a robot and then go get some coffee, but the reality is the robot arms are a tool that I control, just like a scalpel, " said Shah, who has performed more than 600 robotic prostatectomies at St. Joseph Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.
One benefit Shah describes is precision that far exceeds the human hand. The robot-controlled scalpel works delicately around the nerves and blood vessels in the pelvic area, vastly reducing the risk of damage that can lead to incontinence or impotence. "I'm able to spare all the things that help men have their dignity and at the same time take away the cancer," he said.
Studies have shown some benefits of robotically performed prostatectomy over a traditional open prostatectomy -- but the data aren't overwhelming. One clear advantage, Shah said, is the reduced blood loss. Also, robotic surgeries are considered minimally invasive. Instead of a 4½-inch incision, robotics patients have six dime-sized incisions in the abdomen. Some patients experience only minimal pain and are in the hospital less than 24 hours.""
YES. The future is now! "As 3D images illuminate the viewfinder, a joystick delicately maneuvers a pair of robotic arms. It may sound like a video game, ... more -
Doctors refuse to treat girl
A 12-year-old child with epilepsy, cerebral palsy and a spinal deformity was told by surgeons in B.C. to look elsewhere
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Surgery unit calls for donor law
The country’s first dedicated transplant unit opened in Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in February, allowing the complex surgery to be carried out by locally based doctors for the first time.
However, in order to carry out a wide range of transplants, the centre requires a steady supply of organs and doctors say a change in the law is needed to allow them to harvest livers, hearts and other organs from patients declared brain-dead.
They are also calling for a donor registration scheme, under which people prepared to donate organs in the event of their death would carry a donor card. In cases where no card was carried, the decision would be left to the patient’s next of kin.
The centre, which is managed by the US-based Cleveland Clinic, has so far carried out four kidney transplants and is preparing to perform its first liver transplant early next year. Within the coming year, the centre will diversify further to include pancreas and heart operations and eventually hopes to establish a multi-organ transplant programme.
Dr Abrar Khan, the chairman of the transplant programme, is now in discussions with the Abu Dhabi Health Authority about the possibility of legislation known as the “Brain-death law”, to increase the number of patients whose lives can be saved by transplants.
Such legislation is in effect in all GCC countries except the UAE and in countries around the world including the UK, US and Canada.
In Saudi Arabia, a decree allowing the use of organs from brain-dead patients was issued in 1982, and 85 per cent of transplants in the GCC are carried out in the kingdom. Between 1982 and 2007, there were 5,366 kidney transplants, with organs taken from brain-dead donors in 1,794 cases.
Death, said Dr Khan, could be defined in two ways. “Either your heart stops and you stop breathing or the other way is if you are brain-dead, in which case, your heart is still functioning, but your brain isn’t.” The country’s first dedicated transplant unit opened in Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in February, allowing the complex surgery to be ca... more -
German farmer gets world's first double arm transplant
A German farmer who lost both arms in an accident has been fitted with two new limbs in the first double arm transplant, his surgeons said yesterday.
Reiner Gradinger, medical director at the Munich University clinic, said doctors spent 15 hours on July 25 and 26 grafting the new limbs on to the 54-year-old man, whose arms were severed just below the shoulder in the accident in 2002.
"The reattachment appears up to now to have proceeded optimally," said Gradinger, adding that the patient was recovering well.
In London, Keith Rigg, vice president of the British Transplantation Society, confirmed that the operation was the world's first double arm transplant.
The farmer's name was not released, nor was the identity of the arm donor, a man who died shortly before the surgery.
Christoph Höhnke, a surgeon on the transplant team, said that the complicated procedure was completed without any unforeseen problems. It involved a team of 40 doctors, nurses and assistants working together, attaching one arm and then the other. "The whole thing went according to script," he said.
Another surgeon, Edgar Biemer, said that the greatest challenge was establishing blood flow between the farmer's body and the muscles in the new arms. "The muscles have a limited lifespan," Biemer said.
Doctors are monitoring the patient closely to make sure his immune system does not reject the new limbs.
The patient cannot yet move his new arms. Doctors hope his nerves will expand at a pace of about 1mm per day. Even in that best-case scenario for growth, it could be two years before the patient could manipulate his new hands without assistance, they said.
"The regeneration process will take a long time," said Hans-Günther Machens, director of hand and plastic surgery at the clinic.
In the United States in 2006, a Michigan man received a hand transplant 30 years after losing his own in a machine press. Within a year he was able to write with it, according to the Jewish hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, where the operation was performed. A German farmer who lost both arms in an accident has been fitted with two new limbs in the first double arm transplant, his surgeons ... more -
Awake patient reads aloud during brain surgery
"During the procedure Mather-Licht, was heavily sedated but remained conscious so Cohen could talk to him while mapping the brain's sensors. Once Mather-Licht's skull cap -- a large chunk of bone from his head -- was removed, he remained alert even though his brain was fully exposed.
By communicating with the patient as he gently touched the brain with electrical probes, Cohen could tell what sections were sensitive and needed to be avoided.
Mather-Licht remained attentive through the procedure, actually reading a book by Kurt Vonnegut aloud. If Cohen pressed on a sensitive region, Mather-Licht's reading was affected, which let the neurosurgeon know it was an area to avoid.
The mapping alone took a couple of hours. Based on the information entered into a computer during mapping, the "hot spots" or risky areas, were displayed on a monitor. Once mapping was complete, Cohen took a paper list of groups of letters that represented basic brain functions, such as expression and movement."
The article is much longer, very interesting. "During the procedure Mather-Licht, was heavily sedated but remained conscious so Cohen could talk to him while mapping the brain... more -
Unique brain surgery performed for the first time!
"Czech doctors in Masaryk Hospital in Usti nad Labem of the country have performed a unique brain operation, the first of its kind in central and eastern Europe, daily Pravo said on Wednesday.
The doctors removed an orange-size tumor from the brain of a 50-year-old man applying the technology of identification and visualization of important nerve tracks by means of magnetic resonance, the paper said.
The new technology allows surgeons to look inside the brain and localize important nerve tracks, plan the operation extent and choose the surgical method of dealing with the tumor, according to the paper.
This largely lowers the risk of harming function centers that may result in the patient's losing the mobility of hands, sight and speech, Martin Sames, head of the neurosurgical clinic of Jan Evangelista Purkyne University and Masaryk Hospital in Usti nad Labem, told Pravo.
He said this method is particularly important in the treatment of primary tumors that are formed by nerve tissue cells where the border between them and the health and functioning tissue is not easy to identify." "Czech doctors in Masaryk Hospital in Usti nad Labem of the country have performed a unique brain operation, the first of its kin... more -
World's first double arm transplant as man gets teenager's limbs
Surgeons have performed the world’s first double arm transplant, the Daily Mail reports.
The 16-hour operation was carried out on a farm worker who lost both arms in an accident.
The 54-year-old man was given the arms of a teenage boy who is believed to have died in a road crash.
Plastic surgeon Professor Edgar Biemer and his colleague Christof Hoehnke led a surgical team of 30 to perform the operation at a clinic in Munich.
The patient, who lost his arms in a threshing machine six years ago, is said to be recovering well from the surgery. He is expected to remain in hospital for five weeks of intensive therapy, but doctors warned it was too early to say whether the transplant would succeed.
Professor Biemer, 65, said: ‘The forces of rejection are stronger with limbs than with any other transplants because the skin is the largest immune barrier for the body. It instinctively rejects skin it doesn’t recognise.
‘New medicines have been developed to stop this rejection and the patient in this case will be taking this medicine all his life.’
He said it was difficult to forecast the psychological effect on the man of having the arms of a youth 35 years his junior.
Wow. Two new arms? I wonder if they have any tattoos... Surgeons have performed the world’s first double arm transplant, the Daily Mail reports. ... more -
U.S. surgical errors cost $1.5 billion a year
Preventable medical errors during or after surgery cause 10 percent of surgery-related deaths and may cost employers nearly $1.5 billion a year, according to a U.S. government report released on Monday. Preventable medical errors during or after surgery cause 10 percent of surgery-related deaths and may cost employers nearly $1.5 billi... more
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Woman wakes from surgery to find panty-line tattoo
"A New Jersey woman has sued her orthopedic surgeon after awakening from surgery to find a temporary tattoo below her panty line.
Elizabeth Mateo, of Camden County, N.J., filed her lawsuit Tuesday saying she found "a temporary tattoo of a red rose" below her panty line the morning after her surgery for a herniated disc, her attorney, Gregg A. Shivers, told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
"She was extremely emotionally upset by it," Shivers told the paper.
Her surgeon, Steven Kirshner, does not deny he placed a tattoo on Mateo. His lawyer, Robert Agre, told the Inquirer that the doctor has left washable marks on patients before to improve their spirits as they heal.
"What's offensive about this complaint is that it suggests something he did was intended to be prurient, and nothing could be further from the truth," Agre told the paper. "It was intended just to make the patient feel better."
Mateo is seeking punitive and compensatory damages."
What do you think- is this doctor a weirdo creep or is the woman going overboard? "A New Jersey woman has sued her orthopedic surgeon after awakening from surgery to find a temporary tattoo below her panty line.... more -
Surgeons taking kidneys... through the navel!?
Brad Kaster donated a kidney to his father this week, and he barely has a scar to show for it.
The kidney was removed through a single incision in his bellybutton, a surgical procedure Cleveland Clinic doctors say will reduce recovery time and leave almost no scarring.
Preliminary data from the first nine donors who had the bellybutton procedure showed they recovered in just under a month, while donors who underwent the standard laparoscopic procedure with four to six "key hole" incisions took just longer than three months to recover.
"This represents an advance, for the field of surgery in general," said Gill, who predicted the bellybutton entry would be used increasingly for major abdominal surgery in a "nearly scar-free" way. Brad Kaster donated a kidney to his father this week, and he barely has a scar to show for it. ... more -
Nursery nurse has boob job paid for by 100 men she doesn't know
Men! Take part in the surgical enhacement of a lady who's never going to let you touch her! Appealing eh? Well no, you'd think not, but it seems to work on website MyFreeImplants.com which pairs women up with the weirdos who're prepared to fund their boob jobs, seemingly for no reward, other than to be part of creating a race of pneumatic barbie dolls, I guess.
The delightful Daily Mail today reports that Karen Fielding was able to afford the £2,500 breast enlargement operation after members of MyFreeImplants.com donated enough money for her to pay the plastic surgeon's fee.
MyFreeImplants.com allows members to create profiles similar to that of Facebook and Myspace. Women can post pictures of themselves and men can then donate money to their future procedure. While a current photo is required (one for the wank bank, I guess), a post-operation shot is not compulsory.
The homepage of the website encourages its male members with the line: 'Gents...help the girl of your dreams get the body of her dreams. Develop a connection with a girl of your choice and help her earn free breast implants!'
Its message to women reads: 'Ladies...have you ever wanted bigger breasts? But couldn't afford the expensive surgery? Here is your opportunity to earn free breast implants!'
Karen said: "I am feeling pretty good and really pleased with how it turned out. I went for a natural look and that is what I got. I know you can change how you look through exercise and eating well but you can't change your boobs, which is why I had mine done."
Ugh. This is itself is not news. Its just sort of gross. But the idea that women are being 'improved' thanks to the generosity of men who'll pay for their surgery, and who must hope that by paying they'll one day get a piece of the action IS news, and its proper disturbing.
Why do these men pay for women's breast enhancement? Is this a kind of prostitution - a kind of 'you pay for my new-and-improved body and I might let you touch it' situation?
I wish MyFreeFlatByTheSeaside.com existed. Or MyFreeBroadcastQualityCamera.com perhaps. Or MyFreeExtravagantLifestyle.com... Men! Take part in the surgical enhacement of a lady who's never going to let you touch her! Appealing eh? Well no, you'd thi... more
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