OB GYN News articles from July 2000

OB GYN News archives from July 2000

Protein Identifies Risky Pregnancies.
July 1, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- A heat shock protein that is expressed in human and bacterial cells shows promise as a marker for predicting adverse pregnancy outcomes among low-risk women. In a study of 500 low-risk pregnant women, the presence of...

ACOG Pushes for Routine Prenatal HIV Screening.
July 1, 2000... Laws in a majority of states require more in-depth counseling and informed consent. SAN FRANCISCO -- The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is attempting to make it easier for physicians to fold HIV screening into the...

Prophylactic Mastectomy Cuts Breast Cancer Rate.
July 1, 2000... Follow-up ranged from 4 months to 6 years. NEW ORLEANS -- Prophylactic, bilateral mastectomy appears to successfully prevent breast cancer among women who are at high risk for the disease, Dr. Hannah Meijers-Heijboer said at the annual...

How Ob.Gyns. Get Paid [*].
July 1, 2000... How Ob.Gyns. Get Paid [*] Ob. Gyns. All Physicians Private Insurance 54.1% 42.8% Medicaid 20.3% 12% Direct From Patient 13% 12.2%...

New ACOG Presidents Installed.
July 1, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- Dr. W. Benson Harer Jr. was installed as the 51st president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists at the group's annual meeting. Dr. Hater is chief of staff at Riverside County Regional Medical Center...

Laser Photocoagulation of Breast Cancer Shows Promise.
July 1, 2000... DENVER -- The future looks bright for percutaneous laser photocoagulation of breast cancer, Dr. Steven B. Harms reported at the annual meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. The laser procedure is expected...

Venlafaxine Cuts Hot Flashes by More Than Half.
July 1, 2000... NEW ORLEANS -- The antidepressant drug venlafaxine reduced by more than half the occurrence and severity of hot flashes in a controlled trial with 180 women. This is the third investigation to show that an antidepressant can reduce hot...

Menopause Treatment Boutiques.
July 1, 2000... A recent article in OB.GYN. NEWS explained how Dr. Margaret Mahony left a physician group and developed a solo practice in San Jose, Calif., based totally on educating and treating menopausal patients ("Menopause-Focused Practice Flourishes,"...

Should postmenopausal women continue taking HRT for life?
July 1, 2000... YES I see no reason for post menopausal women to stop using hormone replacement therapy Sure, there are some concerns, but if you look at the entire body of literature, you will see far more benefits than risks. In fact, some of the risks have...

LETTER.
July 1, 2000... Vacuum and Forceps Deliveries Much of what Dr. Thomas J. Benedetti had to say about operative vaginal delivery was true, but several things warrant further discussion ("Weigh Odds of Success Before Applying Vacuum Extractor," Feb. 15,...

Subcutaneous Terbutaline Beats Oral Tocolytics.
July 1, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO - Using continuous subcutaneous terbutaline instead of oral tocolytics for recurrent preterm labor yields better outcomes and is far more cost effective, Dr. Fung Lam reported at the annual meeting of the American College of...

Fetal Stunting Implicated in Adult Insulin Resistance.
July 1, 2000... AT LANTA -- The insulin resistance syndrome of midlife and beyond originates decades earlier in fetal adaptations to intrauterine undernutrition, Dr. David J. Barker asserted at a meeting on clinical nephrology sponsored by the National Kidney...

Routine Testing For UTIs Advised During Pregnancy.
July 1, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO - Routine screening for urinary tract infections is important during pregnancy and the puerperium, particularly among women with other reproductive tract infections, Dr. Alicia E. Farinati said at the annual meeting of the...

Antidepressants and Breast-Feeding.
July 1, 2000... Women with postpartum depression are frequently counseled to defer treatment if they are going to breast-feed or they elect not to use antidepressants because they want to breast-feed. Usually the clinician provides this advice based on...

Smoking Greatly Magnifies Women's Acute MI Risk.
July 1, 2000... VICTORIA, B.C. -- The relative risk of acute myocardial infarction associated with high blood pressure is far greater in women who smoke than in male smokers, Dr. Inger Njolstad reported at an international conference on women, heart disease,...

HRT Raises Risk for Lobular, Not Ductal, Breast Ca.
July 1, 2000... Hormone replacement therapy significantly increases a woman's risk for developing lobular, but not ductal, breast cancer, reported Dr. Christopher I. Li of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. In a population-based,...

Chronic Skin Defects Underlie Recurrent Candidiasis.
July 1, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO - The majority of patients with recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis have a chronic skin defect that, once treated, helps resolve the yeast infection, Dr. Paul R. Summers said at the annual meeting of the International Infectious...

The Key to Managing Recurrent Candidiasis: Culture, Culture, Culture.
July 1, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- The key to managing patients with recurrent vaginal candidiasis is to culture, culture, culture, Dr. Benson Horowitz advised at the annual meeting of the International Infectious Disease Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology,...

Presumed Link Between Antibiotics, Candidiasis Broken.
July 1, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- Contrary to popular wisdom, women who take antibiotics are not predisposed to vulvovaginal candidiasis, according to the findings of a prospective study of more than 300 non-pregnant women who were followed for almost 2 years....

Routine Bone Scans Rare in Postmenopausal Women.
July 1, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- Fewer than 2% of 33,662 postmenopausal women received bone density scans, and only 14% took drugs or hormones that could protect bone density, according to the findings of a retrospective study. Women with at least one...

Vulvar Vestibulitis Persists After Interferon Therapy.
July 1, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- Eradication of human papilloma virus by interferon therapy does not result in a clinical response in the majority of patients with persistent vulvar vestibulitis syndrome, Dr. Mehmet Genc said at the annual meeting of the...

BMD Up in Pill Users, Drops in Depo-Provera Users.
July 1, 2000... Bone mineral density increased in women taking birth control pills and declined in women who received Depo-Provera shots in a prospective year-long study. Thirty-seven women given Depo-Provera (depot medroxyprogesterone acetate) injections...

Correction.
July 1, 2000... In our report on the presentation of Dr. Steven G. Gabbe, professor and chair of the department of ob.gyn. at the University of Washington, Seattle, at the annual meeting of the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology and the...

Women Don't Get a Rise Out of Taking Viagra.
July 1, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- Viagra flopped in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 577 women with sexual dysfunction. After 12 weeks of treatment, 40%-50% of patients reported improved sexual response regardless of whether they took...

Female Sexual Dysfunction Arouses Research Interest.
July 1, 2000... Early scientific evidence on Viagra's ability to alleviate female sexual dysfunction may not look very promising. But experts are still hopeful that gynecologists will soon have effective drug therapies for treating female sexual arousal...

More Pediatricians Faced With Ob.Gyn. Care Issues.
July 1, 2000... HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Sexually active adolescent females are courting infection by the human papillomavirus. Adolescents are immunologically immature, both systemically and at the local area of the cervix. "They are magnets, whether...

Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding in Teens: Think Anovulation.
July 1, 2000... HILTON HEAD, S.C. -- Anovulation is the most common cause of dysfunctional uterine bleeding in adolescents. In adolescents who bleed irregularly, 74% have anovulation with no other pathology present. Menses don't become regular until 2-21/4...

Abnormal Bleeding Tied to Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.
July 1, 2000... HILTON HEAD, S.C. -- Up to 40% of adolescents with abnormal uterine bleeding may have polycystic ovary syndrome. Dr. Linda Grant, medical director of Boston public schools, focuses on early identification and treatment of the condition. ...

Not Tonight Dear.
July 1, 2000... In a survey of 375 adults who had recently gone to a hospital emergency department because of their asthma, "only 34% reported no limitations at all in their sexual activity" Ilan H. Meyer, Ph.D., reported in a poster at the annual American...

Inhaled Steroids Improve COPD.
July 1, 2000... An inhaled steroid appeared to benefit elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A retrospective analysis of 22,620 patients, aged 65 years or older, with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) showed that the...

Improved Pneumonia Therapy.
July 1, 2000... Soaring levels of antibiotic resistance and the appearance of new antibiotics on the market are changing the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia. The new-generation quinolones have already become "major players" for treating...

Don't Culture Mild Foot Infection.
July 1, 2000... Mild foot infections in diabetic patients don't require culturing, according to Dr. Richard A. Jacobs of the University of California in San Francisco. Treatment with clindamycin or a first generation cephalosporin is effective in well...

Stroke Hits Women Harder.
July 1, 2000... Women have dramatically worse outcomes than men following stroke, Dr. Eva-Lotta Glader reported at an international conference on women, heart disease, and stroke. She reported on 7,008 women and 7,300 men who were hospitalized for acute...

Pramipexole Slows Parkinson's.
July 1, 2000... The dopamine agonist pramipexole staved off three motor complications longer than levodopa in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in patients with early Parkinson's disease, according to Dr. Robert Holloway of the University of Rochester...

Occult Causes of Thigh Pain.
July 1, 2000... Thigh pain can be caused by stress fractures of the femoral diaphysis that aren't readily apparent on conventional x-rays, Daphne J. Theodorou said at the annual meeting of the Roentgen Ray Society. Femoral shaft fractures are uncommon...

SLUGGISH WOMEN'S RESEARCH.
July 1, 2000... The National Institutes of Health has increased its, efforts during the past decade to include more women in research, but a new federal report says it's not enough Hispanic women are still underrepresented, and the data used to track the...

THE PILL TURNS 40.
July 1, 2000... Although the "pill" is increasingly safe and being used for noncontraceptive health benefits, it is still not covered by most insurance, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says on the pill's 40th anniversary "In the 21st...

ANTITRUST LEGISLATION ON HOLD.
July 1, 2000... Physicians are angry that federal legislation allowing doctors to bargain collectively with health plans was pushed to the back burner. The House Rules Committee postponed a long-awaited vote on the Campbell bill "in the middle of the night,"...

CMA SUES THREE INSURERS.
July 1, 2000... In what some call the first such suit by a state medical association, the California Medical Association sued the three largest for-profit national health plans in California. Filed under the civil Racketeer Influenced and Corruption Act...

FEDS TIGHTEN UP ON RESEARCH.
July 1, 2000... Donna Shalala, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has proposed fines up to $250,000 for individuals and $1 million for institutions for violating rules' designed to protect research subjects. This action will...

Medical Imaging Management.
July 1, 2000... iWorks is a hardware and software medical imaging management package for picture-archiving communication systems that is capable of integrating images from multiple sources, including computed radiography and digital radiography. The iWorks...

Labor, Delivery Illumination.
July 1, 2000... LumiNate, a light for labor, delivery, and recovery suites sheds 85,000 lux of color-correct illumination. The lightweight, ceiling-mounted lamp can descend quickly and quietly on a motor-driven suspension at the touch of a button. It's also...

Measuring BMD.
July 1, 2000... The Pronosco X-posure system measures bone mineral density using a high-resolution scanner and computer to digitize a standard x-ray of the forearm and hand. The entire X-posure system fits on a desktop or countertop, and can be operated by...

Safety Syringe.
July 1, 2000... The E.N.S.I. Safety Syringe is designed to reduce the number of needle-stick injuries. It accepts the universal range of needles, and the needle can be fully retracted and locked to maximize safety.

Credentialing Data.
July 1, 2000... Medpearl Credentialing is a Web-based tool that streamlines the collection, management, and exchange of credentialing data to payer organizations. Medpearl Credentialing offers a range of reporting and auditing features, monitors the expiration...

Hormone Replacement Therapy.
July 1, 2000... Ortho-Prefest Tablets, a once-daily, single tablet, HRT regimen of estrogen and low-dose progestin is available for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause. Ortho-Prefest...

HRT and Osteoporosis Prevention.
July 1, 2000... Activella (estradiol/norethindrone acetate tablets), a combined hormone replacement therapy for the treatment of vasomotor symptoms, and vulvar and vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women with an intact uterus, is now indicated for the...

Limit Breast-Feeding Exposure to Allergens.
July 1, 2000... LAS VEGAS -- Allergy can be prevented in many infants at risk by strictly limiting their early exposure to likely allergens, Dr. Frederick E. Leickly said at a meeting on advances in pediatrics sponsored by California chapter 2 of the American...

Placenta Within 2 cm of Internal OS a Red Flag.
July 1, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- Consider asking pregnant women to make an autologous blood donation if translabial or endovaginal ultrasounds show the placenta within 2 cm of the internal os, Dr. Alain Gagnon advised at the annual meeting of the American...

Increased Nuchal Fold in Second Trimester OK if Karyotype Is Normal.
July 1, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO - Second-trimester fetuses with increased nuchal fold thickness may not need a fetal echocardiogram if they have a normal karyotype, the results of a retrospective study of 135 low-risk pregnancies suggest. The women...

Triplets Grow Like Singletons Until 24-27 Weeks' Gestation.
July 1, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- Triplets grow at the same rates as singletons until about 24-27 weeks' gestation, when the growth of triplets slows down, Dr. Alan Buchbinder said at the annual meeting of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. ...

Refer Breast Ca Patients to Medical Oncologists.
July 1, 2000... BOSTON -- Breast cancer patients should be referred to medical oncologists in addition to surgeons for guidance about treatment options, Dr. Nancy Keating emphasized at the annual meeting of the Society of General Internal Medicine. In a...

Surgery Is an Option for Vestibulitis Syndrome.
July 1, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- The majority of patients with vulvar vestibulitis syndrome respond to conservative measures, but for those who don't, surgery can be extremely effective, Dr. Jessica L. Thomason said at the annual meeting of the International...

Oral Sex Not Tied To Oropharyngeal HPV Infection.
July 1, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- A high percentage of women with genital human papillomavirus infection may have HPV in their oropharynx, but oral sex does not appear to increase their risk of harboring. HPV in the oropharynx, suggests a study of more than 100...

FDA Regs May Curb Access to RU-486.
July 15, 2000... NEW YORK -- Proposed restrictions on the use of mifepristone are likely to put a huge dent in the numbe of willing abortifacient agent. About one-third of gynecologists who would not currently provide elective surgical abortions said they...

Agent Sharply Cut Hip Fracture Risk In Osteoporosis.
July 15, 2000... 'Clinical risk factors alone may not predict response to antiresorptive therapy.' CHCAGO -- Three years of risedronate therapy can reduce the risk of hip fractures by almost 40% in elderly women with known osteoporosis, according to the...

Value of BV Screening in Pregnancy Ouestioned.
July 15, 2000... Average-risk women unaffected by therapy SAN FRANCISCO -- Screening for and treating bacterial vaginosis may benefit a subgroup of women at high risk for preterm delivery but may harm other high-risk women, Dr. Jeanne-Marie Guise warned at...

BABY ABANDONMENT AMNESTY.
July 15, 2000... The AMA will craft model legislation that protects from prosecution women who abandon their babies at hospitals or with appropriate authorities. The resolution notes that 22 states have already begun to consider such laws.

ULTRASOUND REIMBURSEMENT.
July 15, 2000... Obstetricians and gynecologists who want to be paid for doing ultrasound in their offices should make sure that they sign contracts accordingly, the house warned. Concerns that managed care plans are limiting payment for ultrasound to...

ARCHBISHOP VISITS AMA.
July 15, 2000... The Catholic Hospitals system must continue offering tubal ligations and other reproductive services at the hospitals it acquires if providing such services is a part of the hospital's preexisting contracts, the delegates said. The Catholic...

HMO DENIAL.
July 15, 2000... The number of patients who seek external review when denied care from an HMO is small, according to a report on Medicare data presented to the delegates. In Medicare, where the ability to seek outside appeal has been guaranteed for over 10...

SHAM SURGERY.
July 15, 2000... Sham surgery in a research protocol is ethical if there is no other way to obtain objective assessment of the efficacy of the procedure, said a report from the AMA's council on scientific affairs. Wading into the controversy surrounding the...

MILLIMAN & ROBERTSON.
July 15, 2000... The AMA formally rejects the practice of insurers using the Milliman & Robertson Care Guidelines as a clinical standard of care, the delegates said. Too many insurers and managed care companies use the Seattle-based consulting firm's...

HCFA OVERSIGHT.
July 15, 2000... Congress needs to investigate the Health Care Financing Administration the same way the Internal Revenue Service was investigated a few years ago following evidence that it used bullying tactics on taxpayers, the delegates said. The AMA is...

HEALTH LITERACY.
July 15, 2000... The AMA Foundation announced that its first major initiative is a program to educate physicians about health illiteracy. The initiative defines health illiteracy as the inability to understand and act appropriately on oral or written medical...

TOBACCO.
July 15, 2000... The AMA supports the enactment of legislation granting the Food and Drug Administration broad-based powers to regulate tobacco products, the delegates said.

Debate Is In, Rancor Out At AMA Annual Meeting.
July 15, 2000... CHICAGO -- After a series of troubled annual and interim meetings, the American Medical Association must have breathed a collective sigh of relief at pulling off a relatively quiet annual meeting. Sure, it reported a net loss of $9.2 million...

LETTERS.
July 15, 2000... IUD's Postfertilization Effect The article "IUD's Bad Rap Persists, Despite Data" perpetuated misleading terminology and failed to mention a serious potential problem with IUDs that may convince physicians and patients to avoid their use...

Linezolid Prophylaxis for Group B Strep.
July 15, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- The newly approved antibiotic linezolid may find a niche in the prophylactic treatment of group B streptococcal infection in pregnant women, Dr. Mark Martens proposed at the annual meeting of the International Infectious...

C-Section Rate Rises as Vacuum, Forceps Use Falls.
July 15, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- Cesarean section delivery rates increased in the 1990s along with declines in forceps and vacuum use, the results of a study of 12,491 births showed. The rate of cesarean delivery rose from 15% in 1992 to 21% in 1999 in a...

Solid Food Deemed Safe Shortly After C-Section.
July 15, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- Women undergoing cesarean sections can tolerate solid food shortly after surgery, according to results from two separate prospective, randomized trials presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians...

Pelvic Pressure Pack for Recalcitrant Hemorrhage.
July 15, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- A simple pelvic pressure pack device can be an invaluable, low-tech tool for stemming catastrophic postpartum bleeding, Dr. Gary A. Dildy said at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists....

Ask Pregnant Patients About Use of Herbal and Alternative Medicine.
July 15, 2000... MONTREAL -- One out of 10 pregnant women use herbs or other forms of complimentary and alternative therapies, Dr. David Hepner said at the annual meeting of the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology. "This is a much lower...

Fluid Preloading Before an Epidural Called Unnecessary.
July 15, 2000... MONTREAL -- The almost universal practice of preloading laboring patients with fluid before administering an epidural does not improve hypotension, a new study has found. "Although there are very few potential dangers to this practice, in...

Refractory Vulvodynia: Look for Interstitial Cystitis.
July 15, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- Inpatients with refractory vulvodynia, screening for and treating concomitant interstitial cystitis is often the key to improving both conditions, Dr. Jennifer Gunter said at the annual meeting of the American College of...

Aerobic Vaginitis Looks Like BV, But Requires Different Tx.
July 15, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- Many patients with abnormal vaginal flora and a malodorous discharge have a condition that resembles bacterial vaginosis but differs clinically and microbiologically, Dr. Gilbert G.G. Donders said at the annual meeting of the...

Consider Incontinence Tx During Hysterectomy.
July 15, 2000... NEW ORLEANS - Burch culposus pension can be performed safely at the time of radical hysterectomy without adding to the perioperative morbidity, Dr. Levi Downs Jr. said at the annual meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons. "The...

Fascia-Sparing Lymphadenectomy Found Effective.
July 15, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- Preserving the fascia lata while dissecting groin lymph nodes reduces morbidity without significantly increasing vulvar cancer recurrence rates, Dr. Jayanthi S. Lea and her associates reported in a poster presentation at the...

Vaginal Cuff Excision for Post-Hysterectomy Dyspareunia.
July 15, 2000... NEW ORLEANS -- Vaginal cuff excisian can provide considerable pain relief for patients experiencing post-hysterectomy dyspareunia, said Dr. Howard Sharp, at the annual meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons. There are no reliable...

Bacterial Vaginosis Triples Risk for Sexual Disease.
July 15, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- The likelihood of chlamydial or gonorrheal infection more than triples in patients with bacterial vaginosis and leukorrhea, Dr. Lauren E. Steinhandler said at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and...

Introital HPV Linked to HIV Progression.
July 15, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- The presence of human papillomavirus in the vaginal introitus of women recently diagnosed with HIV infection is associated with more advanced HIV infection, Steven S. Witkin, Ph.D., reported at the annual meeting of the...

T. vaginalis Resists Standard Metronidazole Dosage.
July 15, 2000... SAN FRANCISCO -- About 2%-5% of Trichomonas vaginalis isolates are currently resistant to standard metronidazole treatment, Dr. George Schmid said at the annual meeting of the International Infectious Disease Society for Obstetrics and...

HPV WARNING ON CONDOMS?
July 15, 2000... The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is gearing up for a fight over legislation that would require warning labels on condoms stating their effectiveness, or lack thereof, in preventing the spread of sexually transmitted...

HMOs DODGE A BULLET.
July 15, 2000... HMOs cannot be sued in federal court under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, according to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. In a case that could have unraveled how HMOs operate, the court denied a suit claiming that an HMO violated its...