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Medical News from Johns Hopkins
This is a service for doctors worldwide from Johns Hopkins International. To receive reports directly, please send e-mail to jhis@jhmi.edu or visit www.jhintl.net.
1. Modern Heart Devices Can Be Used During MRI
2. Cancer Detection Method Overcomes Problem of Samples with Few Cells
3. Spontaneous Recovery from Hepatitis C Linked to Suppression of Killer Immune Cells
4. Johns Hopkins Honored for Patient Safety Initiatives
1. Modern Heart Devices Can Be Used During MRI
In animal and laboratory studies, scientists at Johns Hopkins have shown that modern implanted heart assist devices -- such as pacemakers and defibrillators -- can be safe for use in MRI machines, a diagnostic and imaging tool long ruled potentially unsafe for millions of people who currently have a surgically implanted cardiac device. Their findings, published August 3 in the online edition of Circulation, should eventually make MRI scans more available to people who might benefit from early detection of cancer and other diseases, when treatments are most likely to succeed, and for guiding devices during minimally invasive surgery.
"Many people, such as the elderly and patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, who might benefit from an MRI scan are currently denied them because they have an implanted, electrical heart device," said the study's senior author, electro-physiologist Henry Halperin, M.D.
2. Cancer Detection Method Overcomes Problem of Samples with Few Cells
Finding cancer in a tiny drop of body fluid containing relatively few cells now may be possible with a new method of analyzing multiple genes in small samples of DNA. The molecular test may be especially helpful in detecting cancer cells in breast fluid. Preliminary tests of the new method, which can detect cancer in a sample with as few as 50 cells, were conducted on a small number of breast tissue samples and are reported in the July 1 issue of Cancer Research.
"Our goal is to add a molecular solution to problems in cancer diagnosis where the sample is not adequate or microscopic evaluation of cells is unclear," says Hopkins oncologist Sara Sukumar, Ph.D. "If additional studies prove the feasibility of this test, it will provide molecular clues to cellular pathology and mammography findings that may help to decide whether cancer is present."
The test, called quantitative multiplex methylation-specific PCR or QM-MSP, works by looking for unusually high levels of molecules embedded by a process called methylation within critical regions of DNA. In this process, small methyl groups regulate DNA's message-manufacturing process by attaching to the "on" switch of genes. Abnormal levels of methylation improperly turn the gene switch off, which ultimately leads to the loss of critical proteins found in normal cells. This adds to the cascade of genetic events leading to cancer.
3. Spontaneous Recovery from Hepatitis C Linked to Suppression of Killer Immune Cells
In a study published today in Science online Aug. 6, Hopkins researchers have found that genes involved in suppressing the body's defensive "killer" immune cells are a potential key factor in spontaneous recovery from hepatitis C. The viral infection of the liver can lead to cirrhosis, cancer and even death. This genetic factor was found in people assumed to be exposedto a low dose of virus at the time of infection.
"Our findings may help explain why some of the 20 percent of people
infected with hepatitis C manage to recover on their own, while the
remaining 80 percent remain infected and may need treatment," said one of the study's lead authors, infectious disease specialist Chloe Thio, M.D. In determining how some patients self-recover, the scientists hope one day to develop a vaccine and improve therapies for hepatitis C.
"Our results were surprising in that self-recovery is not so much a function of speeding up the body's immune system to attack the hepatitis C virus as it is about taking the foot off the brakes so the body's killer immune cells can take off." For more information about research in hepatitis C being conducted at Johns Hopkins, visit http://www.hopkins-hepc.org.
4. Johns Hopkins Honored for Patient Safety Initiatives
The American Hospital Association has recognized The Johns Hopkins Hospital for its leadership and innovation in quality, safety and commitment to patient care with one of its coveted Quest for Quality prizes. The prize, supported by grants from the McKesson Foundation and McKesson Corporation, was created to encourage innovative patient safety programs that hospitals can copy. Award criteria included demonstrated excellence in organizational patient safety efforts related to patient and family involvement, patient and family communication, leadership, strategic planning, information and analysis, human resources and process management.
Hopkins was one of only four finalists out of a field of 70 and one of only three to earn a cash award, which will be used to further patient safety initiatives at Johns Hopkins Medicine. "Each hospital recognized today has taken a slightly different path to achieving a culture of safety," said Dick Davidson, AHA's president. "But each has successfully created a new culture - one based on trust, understanding and openness. That culture goes a long way to improving the care patients receive."
The Johns Hopkins Center for Innovation in Quality Patient Care, which oversees patient safety and quality initiatives at Johns Hopkins, organizes seminars and obervership experiences for hospital executives around the world. For more information about these opportunities, contact Emilio Williams at emilio@jhmi.edu, and visit www.hopkinsquality.com.
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