OB GYN News articles from September 2001

OB GYN News archives from September 2001

Vaginal Approach Faces Uphill Battle.
September 1, 2001... ORLANDO, FLA. -- Most laparoscopic hysterectomies done in the United States today could be performed exclusively by the vaginal route, and few hysterectomies, if any, should be performed using a total abdominal approach, Dr. Harry Reich said at...

HRT Prescribing: Leave Heart Out of Patient Counseling.
September 1, 2001... Advisory highlights findings that refute earlier evidence of cardioprotective effects. The American Heart Association has shifted its stance on the cardioprotective effects of hormone replacement therapy, advising physicians that decisions...

FDA Panel Backs Novel Bone-Building Agent.
September 1, 2001... Osteosarcoma risk must be tracked. BETHESDA, MD. -- An injectable form of human parathyroid hormone was unanimously recommended for approval as a treatment for women with osteoporosis at a meeting of the Food and Drug Administration's...

A nation of 'Cyberchondriacs'?
September 1, 2001... A nation of 'Cyberchondriacs'? July June June March 1998 1999 2000 2001 Percent of all adults online 38 46 56 63 Percent of online adults who ever looked for...

Club for Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgeons Spurs Controversy.
September 1, 2001... ORLANDO, FLA. -- They call themselves lions, the image dominating the stationery, the meeting program, and even the scientific presentations of the One Kilo Club. To join, a surgeon must provide evidence that he or she has extirpated a...

High-Order Multiples.
September 1, 2001... Septuplets were recently born at 28 1/2 weeks' gestation at a Washington, D.C., hospital. While some celebrated their arrival, they actually represent a medical tragedy, the result of a mostly outdated fertility method practiced by an...

Exercise in Pregnancy.
September 1, 2001... As a marathon runner, I am convinced of both the physical and psychological benefits of exercise. Many physicians may not share my enthusiasm, however, and when faced with a pregnant woman who is eager to maintain a challenging exercise...

No Need to Delay Eating After Cesarean Section.
September 1, 2001... ST. JOHN'S, NFLD. -- The only thing that should stop a postop C-section patient from eating pizza with extra cheese and pepperoni after delivery is her own will. Contrary to popular wisdom, there's really no reason why patients who have...

Surgery Needed for Some Hemorrhoids in Pregnancy.
September 1, 2001... ORLANDO, FLA. -- Hemorrhoids that bleed, thrombose, prolapse, or cause extreme pain and are unrelieved by conservative measures may justify surgery in a pregnant or puerperal patient, colorectal surgeon Dr. Fidel Ruiz Healy said during a...

Asthma Drug Not Tied To Anomalies.
September 1, 2001... CHICAGO -- The rate of congenital anomalies associated with montelukast use during pregnancy does not differ from the background rate, according to pregnancy registry data. In the 3 years through May 2001 since montelukast (Singulair) was...

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
September 1, 2001... Over the past decade adults have been increasingly diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including many women in their childbearing years. ADHD patients can be successfully treated with medications such as stimulants,...

New Placenta Previa Definitions Advocated.
September 1, 2001... SAN FRANCISCO -- Which pregnant women need a double set-up exam for placenta previa? That depends on both how placenta previa is defined and the degree of previa, Dr. Melinda M. Scully Noah said at a meeting on antepartum and intrapartum...

Open-Needle Technique May Be as Safe as a Trocar in Amnio.
September 1, 2001... ST. JOHN'S, NFLD. -- Use of an open-needle technique for drawing fetal amniotic fluid samples is at least as safe as using a trocar and may be much easier on the patient, Dr. Helen Steed said at the annual meeting of the Society of...

Simple Hysterectomy Fine if Parametrium Is Clear.
September 1, 2001... ST. JOHN'S, NFLD. -- Cone biopsy or simple hysterectomy without parametrium removal appears adequate in patients with clinical stage I cervical cancer and clear parametrial margins as long as the tumor size is no greater than 2 cm. That...

HAART Appears to Protect Against Cervical Ca.
September 1, 2001... BETHESDA, MD. -- Highly active antiretroviral therapy appears to protect HIV-positive women against cervical cancer and may decrease the incidence of the disease in this population, Dr. NZiharika Khanna said at an international conference on...

Injections Ease Intense Vulvar Pruritus in Elderly.
September 1, 2001... WASHINGTON -- Subcutaneous injections of mepivacaine and triamcinolone ease the intense vulvar pruritus that sometimes afflicts elderly women, Dr. Carlo Gigli said at an international symposium on women's health and menopause. Topical...

Morning-After Postcoital Test Offers Best Results.
September 1, 2001... MAUI, HAWAII -- There's no need to subject infertility patients to the pressure of coming in for a postcoital test 2-3 hours after intercourse, Dr. Bill Yee said at a conference on ob.gyn. ultrasound sponsored by the University of California,...

ICSI Not Tied to Health Problems In Children.
September 1, 2001... Children conceived through intracytoplasmic sperm injection are no more likely than other children to experience neurodevelopmental problems, perinatal morbidity, postnatal health problems, or congenital abnormalities, according to a...

Helping Couples With Unconsummated Marriages.
September 1, 2001... DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA -- Unconsummated marriage is not extinct in the year 2001, Dr. Domeena C. Renshaw said at WONCA 2001, the conference of the World Organization of Family Doctors. Sexual excess, teen pregnancy and divorce tend to grab...

Sildenafil Promising for Sex Problems in Women.
September 1, 2001... Sildenafil enhances sexual function in young women with sexual arousal disorder, suggesting that the drug may affect women and men in similar ways, reported Dr. Salvatore Caruso and his associates of the University of Catania (Italy). ...

Better Guidance on Alternative Therapies Needed.
September 1, 2001... WASHINGTON -- Feeling hamstrung by the lack of solid scientific data on alternative "therapies" for menopausal symptoms, physicians attending an international symposium on women's health and menopause pressed a National Institutes of Health...

HRT Benefits Menopausal Lupus Patients.
September 1, 2001... WASHINGTON -- Hormone replacement therapy improves quality of life for women with systemic lupus erythematosus who enter menopause, Dr. Ignacio Y. Hernandez said at an international symposium on women's health and menopause. He conducted a...

Hot Flashes First, Then Menstrual Irregularities.
September 1, 2001... WASHINGTON -- Hot flashes are common before any observable menstrual irregularities develop in perimenopausal women, Ellen W Freeman, Ph.D., said at an international symposium on women's health and menopause. "A substantial number of women...

Once-Weekly Alendronate as Safe as Daily Therapy.
September 1, 2001... DENVER -- Once-weekly alendronate is therapeutically equivalent to daily dosing of the bisphosphonate in postmenopausal osteoporosis, according to the 2-year results of a large clinical trial. The new 2-year extension data confirm the...

Dementia, Prior Breaks Signal Hip Fracture Risk.
September 1, 2001... DENVER -- Nearly half of independent living patients who sustained a hip fracture bad a history of a previous fracture, Dr. Lorraine A. Fitzpatrick reported at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society. Cognitive impairment was another...

HHS Attempts to Clarify Medical Privacy Rule.
September 1, 2001... The Department of Health and Human Services has issued what it says is the first in a series of materials aimed at helping health care providers and health plans understand federal regulations governing the privacy of patients' medical records....

Consumer Report Spotlights Patient 'Dumping'.
September 1, 2001... Hospitals in almost every state have violated a federal law that bars them from "dumping" patients, according to a report issued by the consumer watchdog group Public Citizen. From 1996 through 2000, violations were confirmed for 527...

HUMAN CLONING BAN.
September 1, 2001... A ban on human cloning for reproduction and medical research, which was recently endorsed by the U.S. House of Representatives, could cause an exodus of scientific brain power to countries where cloning is legal, some fear. "One of our members...

PATIENTS' RIGHTS BILL.
September 1, 2001... The House-approved bill defining patients' rights is a good one for obstetricians and gynecologists, a spokeswoman for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says. Both the House bill and the Senate bill, which was passed...

PHYSICIAN VISITS BY WOMEN.
September 1, 2001... Women are 33% more likely than men to visit doctors' offices and hospital emergency rooms, a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Each year, women aged 15 years and older make 500 million ambulatory care visits;...

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE BILL.
September 1, 2001... New legislation would provide protections for people whose economic security may be threatened as a result of domestic violence. The Victims' Economic Security and Safety Act (S. 1249) was introduced by Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.). According...

FLU VACCINE SHORTAGE.
September 1, 2001... A bill designed to ensure adequate supplies of influenza vaccine to office-based physicians has been passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The, bill also would ensure that high-risk individuals are given priority for receiving the...

Internet Resources Facilitate Ob.Gyn. Practice.
September 1, 2001... AMELIA ISLAND, FLA. -- Internet access needs to be part of every ob.gyn.'s clinical practice, Dr. David A. Nagey said at an ob.gyn. update sponsored by Emory University. The World Wide Web provides the opportunity for physicians to learn...

Portable Fetal Monitor.
September 1, 2001... FetalCard Lite, a portable prepartum fetal monitor with programmable alarms and chart indicators, is capable of monitoring twins and singletons. The lightweight unit also can be operated under battery power for up to 4 hours or with an AC...

Estrogen Patch.
September 1, 2001... Vivelle (estradiol transdermal system), an estrogen replacement patch applied twice weekly, is now available in a 0.025-mg daily dose. Designed to prevent loss of bone density, the Vivelle patch is available in four other dosage strengths:...

Menopause and Osteoporosis.
September 1, 2001... Climara (estradiol transdermal system) is now indicated for the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis in daily dosages of 0.05 mg, 0.075 mg, 0.1 mg, and the newly approved lower strength of 0.025 mg.

Portable BP Equipment.
September 1, 2001... The Baum Pocket Aneroid is a 300-mm Hg portable instrument. It features the Calibrated V-Lok Inflation System, which determines whether the correct cuff size is being used, and has markings on the inner and outer surfaces that guide correct...

Abdominal Straps.
September 1, 2001... Securline Disposable Fetal Monitoring Abdominal Straps help secure external monitoring devices to a patient in labor. Available in pairs, the pink and blue straps come in two styles: buttonhole, which accommodates the pin type monitor; and...

Drug Packaging, Delivery.
September 1, 2001... Safedose is a medication packaging and delivery system that ships prescription drugs directly from its pharmacy to consumers. The Safedose pharmacy provides users with individually packaged daily dosages of all prescriptions marked with the...

Topical Acne Treatment.
September 1, 2001... Finevin (azelaic acid cream 20%) has been approved for the treatment of mild to moderate inflammatory acne vulgaris. The cream reduces acne lesions, normalizes the follicular hyperkeratosis associated with acne, has anti-inflammatory...

Endoscopy for Iron Deficiency.
September 1, 2001... Postmenopausal women with iron deficiency are prime candidates for screening endoscopy and colonoscopy. In a consecutive series of 66 patients with iron deficiency but no anemia, 53% had a clinically important lesion that was picked up by...

Lab Tests for Alcoholism.
September 1, 2001... Although laboratory tests can help identify alcoholism in patients who will not disclose a drinking problem to their physicians, abnormal results may herald significant liver damage. Dr. Michael E. Scott, medical director of Sierra Tucson...

Modest Drinking Ups Injury Risk.
September 1, 2001... Consumption of even two drinks doubles an individual's risk of injury--and this risk rises exponentially with greater alcohol intake, according to a major new study. Dr. Daniel C. Vinson reported on 2,517 patients who presented with...

Botox for Migraines.
September 1, 2001... Kubetin, Sally Koch Evidence continues to mount that botulinum toxin A is an effective treatment for migraine headaches, Dr. Arnold Klein said at a surgery seminar sponsored by the Colorado Dermatology Center. He cited a randomized,...

Patients Like New Zolmitriptan.
September 1, 2001... For 70% of migraine patients, the new orally disintegrating zolmitriptan (Zomig) tablet is preferable to the conventional tablet, Dr. Andrew J. Dowson reported at WONCA 2001, the conference of the World Organization of Family Doctors. He...

Cord Stem Cells: Results, Not Hype.
September 15, 2001... The stem cells likely to yield the quickest, least expensive, and largest clinical benefit are readily available and present no ethical dilemma. They are umbilical cord blood stem cells. The controversy surrounding President Bush's decision...

VITAL SIGNS.
September 15, 2001... VITAL SIGNS Percent of Office Visits by Physician Specialty Family Practice 35% Internal Medicine 23% Pediatrics 18% Ob.Gyn. 10% Dermatology 8% Psychiatry 4% Other 3%...

E. coli Infection Quadruples Risk Of Cerebral Palsy.
September 15, 2001... Group B Strep. infection of the amniochorionic membranes triples risk. QUEBEC CITY -- Very-low-birth-weight infants with Escherichia coli of the amniochorionic membranes are at more than four times the risk of having cerebral palsy,...

Preeclampsia Not Linked to Prior Miscarriage, Abortion.
September 15, 2001... Only term pregnancies offer real protection. ST. JOHN'S, NFLD. -- In the hunt for factors that place women at greater risk of preeclampsia, researchers have crossed at least one suspect off the list: a history of miscarriage or abortion....

HRT Improves Sexual Response Well Beyond Menopause.
September 15, 2001... WASHINGTON -- Hormone replacement therapy improves sexual response in women well past menopause and into their 80s, Dr. Bernard A. Eskin said at an international symposium on women's health and menopause. In a study of 67 postmenopausal...

OCs Don't Reduce Ca Risk in Those with BRCA Mutations.
September 15, 2001... Use of oral contraceptives may not protect against ovarian cancer in women with a mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, said Dr. Baruch Modan of the Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel, and colleagues. Given the increased risk...

Discuss Fertility Now.
September 15, 2001... Ob.gyns. need to do a better job of educating patients about the risk factors for infertility such as age, smoking, sexually transmitted diseases, and extreme body weight well in advance of their efforts to conceive. Decisions and choices that...

PRO & CON.
September 15, 2001... Is second-trimester screening ultrasound of little value in identifying fetuses with Down syndrome? [YES] I helped perform a metaanalysis of the published literature on using ultra-sonography to identify women with an increased risk of...

Gasless Laparoscopy During Pregnancy Advocated.
September 15, 2001... ORLANDO, FLA. -- Gasless laparoscopy avoids many of the risks associated with laparotomy or laparoscopy using dioxide pneumatic distension in pregnant patients who require surgery, Dr. Marco A. Pelosi Jr. and Dr. Marco A. Pelosi III said in a...

Glyburide Used as First-Line Tx for Gestational Diabetes.
September 15, 2001... WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. -- Although the safety of glyburide in pregnancy has not been definitively proved in studies, physicians should be fairly comfortable using it in the management of gestational diabetes, Dr. Deward Voss said at an ob.gyn....

Statement on Cerebral Palsy, Birth Overlooked.
September 15, 2001... SAN FRANCISCO -- An international consensus statement that attempts to bring some clarity to the relationship between intrapartum events and cerebral palsy has not received the attention it deserves in the United States, Dr. Julian T. Parer...

Possible Prenatal Causes of Cerebral Palsy.
September 15, 2001... Any one of these factors greatly reduces the chance that acute intrapartum hypoxia caused cerebral palsy, according to the statement: * Umbilical arterial base deficit less than 13 mmol/L or pH greater than 7. * Infants who have major...

Forceps Double Risk of Fecal Incontinence.
September 15, 2001... A woman whose baby is delivered with forceps has almost twice the chance of postpartum fecal incontinence than a woman who delivers vaginally, results of a multicenter study suggest. In addition, vacuum extraction was not associated with...

More Insurers Targeting Postpartum Depression.
September 15, 2001... BOSTON -- Jamie, a new mother, had not been feeling right since the birth of her baby a few months before. She didn't have the energy to get out of bed, and she was also crying a lot. But a light started to dawn on her after she received a...

Don't Miss Maternal Depression After Delivery.
September 15, 2001... ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Despite attention-grabbing headlines such as those seen after Andrea Yates drowned her five young children this June shortly after giving birth, the problem of postpartum depression remains underappreciated and often...

Placenta Previa, C-Section History Up Accreta Risk.
September 15, 2001... ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Maintain a high index of suspicion for placenta accreta in patients with placenta previa, particularly if a patient has had a prior cesarean section, Dr. James E. Ferguson II said at the annual Southern Obstetric and...

Soy Benefits Blood Pressure, Lipids, and Bone.
September 15, 2001... DENVER -- Dietary soy consumption has favorable effects on blood pressure, lipids, and biochemical markers of bone turnover in postmenopausal women- and unlike oral estrogen, soy doesn't activate coagulation, Dr. Helena J. Teede said at the...

Look for Early Signs of Postsurgical Nerve Injuries.
September 15, 2001... PALM BEACH, FLA. - Nerve injuries as a result of gynecologic surgery can often be successfully treated if they are caught early But most gynecologists are not even aware of how common these injuries are, Dr. Michael Baggish said at an ob.gyn....

Certain Types of Fibroids Impact IVF Outcomes.
September 15, 2001... ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Uterine leiomyoma are widely believed to have an adverse effect on reproductive outcome, and data are increasingly revealing which types of these fibroids are worth treating, Dr. Stephen W Sawin said at the annual Southern...

Similar Complications Cited for Vaginal, Abdominal Hysterectomy.
September 15, 2001... ORLANDO, FLA. -- A relatively large uterus should not necessarily preclude vaginal hysterectomy, since vaginal and abdominal hysterectomy have similar perioperative complications in cases where the uterus weighs at least 250 g. That was...

Bowel Management Key to Pelvic Reconstruction.
September 15, 2001... VAIL, COLO. -- Two highly underestimated ways of maximizing the results of pelvic reconstructive surgery are aggressive bowel management and tight restrictions on load lifting and exercise, Dr. Nicolette S. Horbach said at a conference on...

Tibolone Stops Bone Loss, Reduces Hot Flashes.
September 15, 2001... WASHINGTON -- The synthetic steroid tibolone is proving to prevent bone loss and to combat hot flashes and vaginal dryness as effectively as hormone replacement therapy in clinical trials, researchers reported at an international symposium on...

Ca Risk Lower After Prophylactic Mastectomy.
September 15, 2001... Prophylactic mastectomy reduced the incidence of breast cancer in women with a mutation of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, said Dr. Hanne Meijers-Heijboer and colleagues at the Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In a...

Low-Dose HRT Protects Bone With Few Adverse Effects.
September 15, 2001... WASHINGTON -- Low-dose hormone replacement therapy protects against bone loss while causing minimal adverse effects, Dr. Marco Gambacciani said at an international symposium on women's health and menopause. Long-term compliance with...

PEG-Intron and Rebetol.
September 15, 2001... (peginterferon alfa-2b and ribavirin, Schering-Plough Corp.) A long-acting formulation of Intron-A (interferon alfa-2b) with the antiviral Rebetol, for people aged 18 and over who have chronic hepatitis C infections with compensated liver...

Given Diagnostic Imaging System.
September 15, 2001... (Given Imaging) A single-use, ingestible capsule that contains a tiny video camera. After it is swallowed by a patient, it takes video images of the small intestine as peristalsis moves it through the small and large intestines. The device...

Celebrate Any Weight Loss.
September 15, 2001... As tough as it is to help overweight patients achieve sustained weight loss, studies clearly show the success rate is only half as good when patients have type 2 diabetes, Dr. Samuel Klein said at a satellite conference held in conjunction with...

Target Patients' ABCs.
September 15, 2001... The National Diabetes Education Program wants physicians to monitor their patients' ABCs. In this new campaign to cut the cardiovascular disease risk of patients with diabetes, A stands for hemoglobin [A.sub.1c] level, a reminder to monitor...

Social Phobia Dx Missed.
September 15, 2001... Only slightly more than half of social phobics in the primary care setting are receiving treatment, Steven E. Bruce, Ph.D., reported at the annual conference of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America. Dr. Bruce and his colleagues...

The Risk of Sharing a Life.
September 15, 2001... Patients whose spouse has any of a variety of common chronic diseases are themselves at significantly elevated risk of having the same disease, Dr. Julia Hippisley-Cox reported at WONCA 2001, the conference of the World Organization of Family...

Fewer NSAID Ulcers.
September 15, 2001... Long-term use of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug is less likely to cause an ulcer after Helicobacter pylori is gone. Prophylactic eradication of H. pylori infection cut the incidence of gastric ulcers by two-thirds over a 24-week...

Nighttime GERD Hits Many.
September 15, 2001... Gastroesophageal reflux disease is about as prevalent at night as it is during the day, affecting 79% of American adults with heartburn. That finding emerged from a study presented by Dr. Reza Shaker of the Medical College of Wisconsin,...

Melanoma and Menopause.
September 15, 2001... Menopause may protect women against melanoma. Dr. Frederick C. Beddingfield reported the results of an analysis of three large cancer registries at the annual meeting of the Society for Investigative Dermatology. The overall incidence...

Women With Alapecia Lack Iron.
September 15, 2001... Women with alopecia have significantly lower iron and hemoglobin levels than do women without the disorder, Dr. Jonathan Kantor said .at the annual meeting of the Society for Investigative Dermatology. More studies are needed to determine...

State Medical Groups Tally Medicare Hassles.
September 15, 2001... Don't mess with Texas--or North Carolina--when it comes to Medicare hassles. Both state medical associations ask their members about their Medicare hassles and present them to local carriers and the federal program. "We get calls...

STEM CELL DECISION.
September 15, 2001... President Bush's decision on stem cell research may compromise science and delay cures, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine says. "The president's decision to limit federal funds to only those stem cell lines already in existence...

WOMEN IN DRUG TRIALS.
September 15, 2001... Women are sufficiently represented in clinical trials for new drug applications, but Food and Drug Administration oversight of the issue needs improvement, a report from the U.S. General Accounting Office says. Responding to a Congressional...

BUFFER ZONE' ENFORCED.
September 15, 2001... The U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit, has upheld a Massachusetts law requiring protesters to stay at least 18 feet away from clinics where abortions are performed. The decision reverses that of a lower court ruling that prohibited...

EXPANDING COVERAGE.
September 15, 2001... The Bush administration plans to offer states more options to expand health coverage under Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program without increasing costs. To accomplish this, the Department of Health and Human Services...