News Tips

May 18, 2012

Epilepsy surgery for medically-intractable epilepsy

Epilepsy, one of the most common neurological conditions after stroke, is a disorder of brain function that causes recurrent seizures. Medications are the mainstay of treatment for epilepsy, but for many people –nearly 1 million people in the U.S. – medications do not work. This condition is called medically-intractable epilepsy.

The American Academy of Neurology recommends referring certain epilepsy patients who have failed two anti-seizure drugs to specialized epilepsy centers for evaluation.

Yale-New Haven Hospital is internationally recognized as a leader in innovative treatment for medically intractable and new onset epilepsy. In addition to clinical excellence and innovative research, the Epilepsy Program at Yale-New Haven was one of the nation's first and has evolved into one of the most active and advanced programs in the world.

Journalists who would like to talk to Dr. Dennis Spencer about epilepsy surgery should e-mail us or call Mark D’Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter, @ynhh.

May 10, 2012

New Haven coalition works to reduce hospital readmissions

A local coalition called the Greater New Haven Coalition for Safe Transitions and Readmission Reductions (GNH CoSTARR) recently became one of 30 community-based programs in the U.S. to date to receive a federal award to help keep Medicare patients them from being readmitted to hospitals within 30 days of a previous admission.

The award came from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The coalition includes Yale-New Haven Hospital, the Hospital of Saint Raphael and the Agency on Aging of South Central Connecticut.

Special care transition teams, with registered nurses as care coordinators and social workers will develop holistic, patient-tailored discharge planning to help the patient recover successfully upon discharge. The teams will work to improve communications between the hospitals and nursing homes, home health agencies, and primary care providers in greater New Haven, as well as support patients through their post-hospital transition, and also inform them about community resources.

The project ties into a CMS initiative which incorporates the Community-based Care Transitions Program, mandated by Section 3026 of the Affordable Care Act of 2010. CMS hopes to reduce preventable errors in hospital settings by 40 percent and reduce hospital readmissions by 20 percent over a three-year period.

Journalists who would like to talk to someone at YNHH about this effort to reduce hospital readmissions should e-mail us or call Mark D’Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter, @ynhh.

May 3, 2012

Cancer Survivors Day to be held on May 19 at Yale’s West Campus

In celebration of National Cancer Survivor’s Day, Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven will host “Without Borders: The Global Face of Cancer,” a special program for cancer survivors and their families on Saturday, May 19, at Yale’s West Campus, 141 Frontage Road in Orange.

The event, from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., includes a cookout and picnic, as well as arts and crafts, face and nail painting in addition to other activities.

Dr. Thomas Lynch, director of the Yale Cancer Center and the physician-in-chief of Smilow Cancer Hospital, will welcome guests. The program includes remarks by featured speaker Carolyn Taylor, an ovarian cancer survivor who began a photo documentary project in 2010 to show the battle against cancer is universal and portray the global face of cancer.

The event and cookout are free and open to the public; reservations are required. To reserve a place, please call (888) 700-6543.

Journalists who would like to talk to someone at Yale Cancer Center or Smilow Cancer Hospital about the event should e-mail us or call Mark D’Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter, @ynhh.

April 24, 2012

Status epilepticus: Can there be pre-hospital treatment for acute, prolonged seizures?

Almost all convulsive seizures in adults cease in less than five minutes without treatment. The longer these seizures persist, the harder they are to treat with drugs. Acute seizures account for 1-2 percent of emergency department visits at an annual cost of $1 billion.

But When these seizures are prolonged or repetitive, a condition called status epilepticus, the occurrence rates in U.S. emergency rooms jumps to 6 percent with the cost approaching $4 billion annually. Unfortunately, mortality rates among presenting patients in status epilepticus are 15-22 percent and among those who survive, their functional ability will decline in nearly one quarter of all cases.

Dr. Lawrence Hirsch, director of the epilepsy program at Yale-New Haven Hospital, has studied treatment options available to epileptic patients before they arrive in a hospital emergency room. In a recently published editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Hirsch examines alternate methods for pre-hospital treatments that may become front-line options such as home treatments using certain nasal medications and treatment combinations as well as neuroprotective agents.

According to Dr. Hirsch, the field of seizure anticipation or warning systems may soon permit treatment before the onset of clinical seizure activity. He hopes the findings of this study will lead to a systematic change in the way patients in status epilepticus are treated en route to the emergency room, either through the use of existing medications or new treatment options of an intravenous or intramuscular pathway.

Journalists who would like to talk to Dr. Hirsch about this should e-mail us or call Mark D’Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter, @ynhh.

April 12, 2012

Can you help Yale-New Haven Hospital be part of GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS^®?

YNHH is hosting an organ donation registration event on Monday, April 23 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m., with the goal of setting a new record for the most people to sign up as organ donors in eight hours.

To be part of GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS^® YNHH must register more than 765 new organ donors. People can register in the hospital Atrium at 20 York Street in or the Hunter Courtyard across from the main hospital entrance.

Organ donors must register in person and be over 18 years old, residents of Connecticut who are not already registered, or residents of other states or countries. YNHH employees and members of the Medical Staff are encouraged to attend and help spread the word. Attendees can visit the photo booth and post their picture to Facebook, asking others to come and sign up that day.

For more information, visit facebook.com/yalenewhavenhospital

Journalists who would like to talk to a YNHH physician about someone at YNHH about the “Don’t Wait Donate!” event should e-mail us or call a coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter, @ynhh.

April 3, 2012

Women with HPV may have a higher risk of heart disease

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States, infecting the genital areas, mouth and throat of men and women. Most people infected with HPV are unaware of it and do not have symptoms.

According to the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, a recent study of nearly 2,500 women between the ages of 20 and 59 shows that women who carry HPV have an increased risk of heart disease and are twice as likely to have had a heart attack or stroke.

Nearly 20 percent of people who develop heart disease do not have any known risk factors, such as smoking or high blood pressure, which indicates that other "nontraditional" causes may be involved. HPV appears to be one such factor among women.

Journalists who would like to talk to a YNHH cardiologist should e-mail us or call Mark D’Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter, @ynhh.

March 29, 2012

YNHH is home to region’s largest hospital-based refugee clinic

In 2005, Yale-New Haven Hospital’s Primary Care Center opened a refugee clinic in response to the need for high-quality, culturally and linguistically-appropriate primary care medical services to refugees who have moved to Connecticut.

More than 100 adults and 40 children are now seen in the clinic each year. For many refugees, the complexities of often long-standing and pre-existing healthcare problems and the barriers they face in accessing health care in their new country may be complicated by language proficiency, cultural differences in approaches to health, and unfamiliarity with the American health care system.

The YNHH Refugee clinic works in collaboration with the Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Service (IRIS), a program of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut to provide basic housing, education and other resettlement services to immigrants.

Journalists who would like to talk to someone at YNHH about the Refugee Clinic should e-mail us or call Mark D’Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter, @ynhh.

March 13, 2012

Study: No link between menopause and increased risk of fatal heart attack

Researchers say data show aging alone, not hormonal impact of menopause, explains increasing number of deaths as women age.

Contradicting the long-held medical belief that the risk of cardiovascular death for women spikes sharply after menopause, new research suggests instead that heart disease mortality rates in women progress at a constant rate as they age.

The findings, published in the September British Medical Journal, could have implications for how heart health is assessed in pre-menopausal women, who were previously believed to be at negligible risk of death from heart attack.

The data show there is no big shift toward higher fatal heart attack rates after menopause. Researchers believe the cells of the heart and arteries are aging like every other tissue in the body, which is why more and more women have heart attacks as they age. Aging itself is an adequate explanation and the arrival of menopause with its altered hormonal impact does not seem to play a role researchers concluded.

Journalists who would like to talk to a YNHH physician about menopause and heart disease should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter, @ynhh.

March 5, 2012

Aspirin before heart surgery?

Surgeons frequently tell patients to stop taking aspirin five days prior to heart surgery due to increased risk of bleeding. This is also true for patients who take anti-platelet agents such as Plavix, which can also increase the risk of bleeding.

But in a recent study, researchers found that aspirin taken within five days of cardiac surgery is associated with a significant decrease in the risk of major postoperative complications, including renal failure, a lengthy intensive care unit stay and even death.

Journalists who would like to talk with a YNHH cardiac surgeon about aspirin therapy before heart surgery should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter, @ynhh.

Febuary 24, 2012

For those with diabetes, controlling blood pressure is crucial, but not urgent

A new study suggests that middle-aged adults recently diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension have time to try to learn how to control their high blood pressure without medications. High blood pressure is especially damaging for people with diabetes, raising their risk of stroke, coronary artery disease, kidney failure, vision loss and amputations.

Most patients prefer to control their blood pressure through diet and exercise rather than with medications. But it can take months to successfully change old lifestyle habits. According to this study, for many patients, it’s OK to spend from six months to a year, perhaps even longer, to make the necessary changes. But as the delay gets longer, the damages multiply. A ten-year delay decreased life expectancy by almost five months.

This study also says caregivers should work with patients to help them gain the knowledge and develop the skills gradually rather than rushing to drug treatment, especially if their blood pressure is only mildly elevated. It suggests that patients and providers have more time to focus on diabetes self-management and lifestyle modification.

Journalists who would like to talk to a YNHH physician about diabetes and high blood pressure should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter, @ynhh.

Febuary 17, 2012

YNHH’s new kitchen addition save money, helps the environment

What is 67 inches long, 52 inches high, shiny stainless steel and can gobble up more than 50 pounds of discarded food every 30 minutes?

The newest addition to YNHH’s Food and Nutrition Services department: the biodigester in the hospital’s main food services kitchen. This eco-friendly food disposal system quickly and safely decomposes virtually all organic food waste including meats, fruits and vegetables, breads and dairy products. It “digests” an average of 900 pounds of food a day, produces no odor and does not consume a lot of electricity.

Journalists who would like to talk to someone at YNHH about the biodigester or other sustainability efforts should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter, @ynhh.

Febuary 8, 2012

YNHH uses neurotelemetry to detect seizures in ICU patients

Often patients with head or brain injuries may experience non-convulsive seizures that can be difficult to detect.

Physicians at Yale-New Haven Hospital have recently introduced the technique of continuous EEG recording to detect these potentially harmful seizures in patients in a stupor or coma throughout the medical center.

They are also developing “neurotelemetry,” the real-time identification, measurement and evaluation of monitored brain activity in intensive care unit (ICU) patients who may be experiencing subtle seizures or other brain events, such as early stroke.

With ccEEG, doctors use standard non-invasive scalp-recorded EEG. The procedure is used mainly in neuroscience ICUs for acute or serious brain injuries, including head trauma, intracranial hemorrhages and strokes. Treating these clinically silent seizures can lead to improved alertness and brain function and hopefully prevent progressive injury to brain cells.

Journalists who would like to talk to a YNHH neurologist about neurotelemetry should should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter, @ynhh.

Febuary 2, 2012

Recovering from heart disease with cardiac rehabilitation; National Cardiac Rehabilitation Week, February 12-18

Most heart disease patients can help lower their risk of future heart problems if they make changes to improve their health. Cardiac rehabilitation is an important part of the care of people with heart disease. It combines prescription exercise with nutritional counseling, risk factor modifications and education.

According to the American Heart Association, cardiac rehab can help patients get back on their feet, lower blood pressure, boost good cholesterol and reduce the risk of further heart problems. The goal is to reduce the risk of another cardiac event or to keep an already present heart condition from getting worse.

Cardiac rehabilitation has been shown to reduce re-hospitalization rates, reduce recurrent sudden cardiac death, lessen the need for cardiac medications, and increase the rate of persons returning to work.

YNHH’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Center offers individualized, medically supervised exercise and education programs and counseling for individuals who have experienced a cardiac event or need to reduce their risk of heart disease.

Journalists who would like to talk to a YNHH physician about cardiac rehabilitation should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter, @ynhh.

January 23, 2012

Researchers develop new way to predict heart transplant survival

More than 3,000 people are on the waiting list for a heart transplant in the United States today, but only about 2,000 heart transplants are performed in the U.S. each year. Currently, determining who gets an available heart takes into account how long a patient has been on the list and how sick they are.

According to a study in the September 2011 issue of Annals of Thoracic Surgery, researchers have developed a formula to predict which heart transplant patients are at greatest risk of death in the year following their surgeries, information that could help medical teams figure out who would benefit most from the small number of available organs.

The researchers pulled together a series of risk factors already associated with poor outcomes, such as age, race, gender, the cause of a patient’s heart failure and whether he or she was on dialysis, and then assigned a number of points to each factor. The sum of those points created a score. The higher the score, the higher the risk of death one year after transplant.

Journalists who would like to talk to a YNHH cardiothoracic surgeon about this topic should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter, @ynhh.

January 12, 2012

Chronic pain in children and adolescents becoming more common

Researchers have recently found that more children are now suffering from chronic pain and that girls suffer more frequently from chronic pain than boys. The factors that influence this gender difference are not entirely clear, but pain prevalence rates tend to increase with age.

The most common pain experienced was headache, abdominal pain, back pain, musculoskeletal pain, combined pain and general pain.

Clinicians should be aware of the problem and the long-term consequences of chronic pain in children. Children who suffer from persistent or recurring chronic pain may miss school, withdraw from social activities, and are at risk of developing internalizing symptoms such as anxiety, in response to their pain.

Journalists who would like to talk to a YNHH physician about children and pain should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter.

January 6, 2012

Yale Cancer Center researchers identify melanoma gene

Yale Cancer Center researchers have identified a gene in melanoma that can dramatically regulate the spread of the disease in patient, and specify the extent and location of melanoma metastases. The findings, published in the journal Cancer Cell, provide new insights into how melanoma spreads in patients with advance disease.

The gene, beta catenin is mutated in 5-10% of melanoma, but the significance of this mutation was not previously apparent. Malignant melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer, accounting for 80% of all skin cancer deaths.

Nearly all melanoma deaths are a result of metastasis, which can occur early in the course of the tumor growth in the skin. Despite an improving understanding of the genetic alterations present in melanoma, how those changes relate to the metastatic process is not well understood.

Journalists who would like to talk to a Yale Cancer Center physician about these findings should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter.

December 29, 2011

YNHH offers advanced vascular imaging services

The vascular system is made up of blood vessels that carry blood to and from the heart and to the tissues throughout the body. Vascular disease may be due to narrowing or occlusion of the veins by plaque, which may reduce blood flow through the vessels to the limbs or abdominal organs.

YNHH’s accredited Advanced Vascular Imaging Services provide a full spectrum of imaging services to diagnose and treat vascular diseases including aortic aneurysms, carotid artery stenosis, deep venous thrombosis, varicose veins and peripheral arterial disease. Patients diagnosed with vascular disease can be treated by the multidisciplinary team of physicians, nurses and medical professionals of the Yale-New Haven Hospital Heart and Vascular Center (HVC), the largest provider of heart and vascular services in the state.

Journalists who would like to talk to a YNHH physician about advanced vascular imaging should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter.

December 22, 2011

How "turning heads" helps babies' head and skull growth

Did you know it is extremely important to adopt certain behaviors for positioning your newborn baby beginning on the first day of life in order to reduce the risk of developing flattening of your infant’s head or skull?

The staff of the Craniofacial Center at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital (YNHCH) specializes in providing comprehensive specialty care to children with congenital or acquired defects of the head and neck and share this information with parents and families through its “Turning Heads” program which focuses on two main recommendations: appropriate newborn head positioning and supervised tummy time.

Journalists who would like to talk to a YNHH physician at the Craniofacial Center regarding the turning heads program should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter.

December 15, 2011

“txt u l8r… bout 2 drive!”

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among teens with more than 12 teen fatalities reported in the United States each day. The fatality rates among 16- to 19–year-olds are three to four times that of the safest drivers (those who are 35-49 years old). Teens consistently cause more fatalities to drivers of other vehicles, passengers and pedestrians than themselves. Between 2005 and 2009, there were 65 Connecticut fatalities, 25 of which involved the death of a 16- or 17-year-old driver.

Yale-New Haven Hospital’s trauma center injury prevention program coordinat ors have developed the innovative program called “txt u l8r… bout 2 drive!” The program was designed to educate Connecticut high school students on the dangers of texting while driving, reinforcing the message that texting can wait if you are about to drive. Through this program, licensed teen drivers are encouraged to take a pledge that they will turn off their cell phones while driving a car.

Journalists who who are interested in learning more about preventing injuries through this distracted teen driving campaign should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter.

December 6, 2011

Bronchial thermoplasty offers hope for patients with severe asthma

Yale-New Haven Hospital has become the first hospital in Connecticut to perform bronchial thermoplasty, a non-drug procedure for adults with severe persistent asthma which is not able to be well-controlled with inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting beta-agonists.

Bronchial thermoplasty is performed with a catheter-like device that delivers thermal energy (heat) to the lungs of patients with asthma in order to decrease the amount of smooth muscle in the lungs, the muscles that lead to bronchoconstriction and asthma symptoms. For this procedure, patients must undergo a bronchoscopy, in which a bronchoscope is inserted into the airways through the nose or mouth.

Bronchial thermoplasty allows patients to gain better control of their asthma because the lungs are not able to constrict as much and react as vigorously to asthma triggers.This new procedure is an upgrade for treatment over inhaled drugs or other medications because it attacks the problem at its very root—the lungs themselves.

Journalists who would like to talk to a YNHH pulmonologist should should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter.

November 30, 2011

Parent can turn to specialists at YNHCH to help babies with cranial defects

Sometimes babies are born with congenital defects or malformations of the head or neck. Other times, babies or young children may develop such defects during their early years or as the result of an accident.

The Craniofacial Center at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital specializes in providing comprehensive specialty care to children with congenital or acquired defects of the head and neck.

Some areas of craniofacial care include:

• Cleft Lip and Palate
• Deformational Plagiocephaly
• Head and Neck Birth Abnormalities
• Vascular Malformations
• Facial Deficiencies/Asymmetry/Clefting
• Childhood Head and Neck Tumors

Journalists who would like to talk to a YNHH physician at the Craniofacial Center should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter.

November 16, 2011

Kidney stones and children

A disease once thought to impact middle age adults is now showing up with increasing frequency in children. Kidney stones - deposits of mineral and acid salts formed within the kidneys - can cause significant pain if the stones obstruct the kidney or ureter as they begin to pass. Kidney stones can be associated with kidney problems, infections and, ultimately, can affect kidney function.

Symptoms can include back or abdominal pain accompanied by blood in the urine, nausea and vomiting. Some experts speculate that the increase in stones is a result of the American diet, high in salt and processed foods, as well as insufficient fluid intake. Other patients may have medical factors, increasing their risks for stone formation.

At Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, the pediatric stone team, a multi-disciplinary group composed of pediatric nephrologists, urologists, radiologists and interventional radiologists, provides comprehensive treatment to help children manage their kidney stones from both surgical and medical approaches.

Journalists who would like to interview a member of the stone clinic should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter.

November 9, 2011

Cold weather and daylight switch doesn’t mean abandoning healthy habits

With the arrival of winter, cold weather and less daylight, you might have to work harder to maintain your good health and lifestyle habits. Experts in nutritional and physical health at YNHH offer tips for the challenges posed by colder weather. It might help to switch to mornings work outs instead of after work.Even though waking up on a cold, dark morning can be a tough routine to create, benefits could include getting your exercise out of the way, an improved chance of sticking with your workout routine and even watching the sun rise while on an early bike ride.

With fewer daylight hours in winter, it might be easier to adopt a shorter exercise routine – instead on an hour-long work-out, even ten-minute spurts of intense exercise that total 30 minutes are effective in lowering blood triglyceride levels. Many people join a gym for the fall and winter months because they’re always lit, temperate, and you can enjoy your favorite activities (or simulations of them), rain or shine. .

Journalists who would like to talk to a YNHH phsycian should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter.

November 4, 2011

Turning back the clock can trigger the start of seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression, winter blues, or seasonal depression, is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms most noticably as daylight saving time concludes and the allloocation of naturaldaylight shifts.

If you find yourself becoming depressed every winter, you are not alone. Thousands of people, especially those living in northern climates. Symptoms include the desire to sleep more, eat more (especially sweets and carbohydrates,) a lack of energy and interest, social withdrawal, sadness, and irritability. These usually begin in the autumn, when the days get shorter and there is less available sunlight.

The symptoms start to clear up after the spring equinox, when the days get longer. Because SAD may be caused or aggravated by low light levels, many people find relief with light therapy. .

Journalists who would like to talk to Dr. Paul Desan, director of the Yale Winter Depression Clinic, should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter.

November 2, 2011

What is ECMO?

ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) is a special infant life-support system used for life-threatening heart and/or lung problems. In a healthy body, the heart pumps blood to the lungs where oxygen is added and carbon dioxide is removed. ECMO gives a baby’s sick heart and/or lungs the opportunity to rest and heal and is the only available treatment when a baby’s heart and/or lungs are too sick to perform these basic functions on their own. Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital physicians treat approximately five babies a year with ECMO.

Journalists who would like to talk to Dr. Matthew Bizzarro, the neonatoligist who directs the ECMO program should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter.

October 25, 2011

Neurological complications of HIV

HIV and AIDS can cause neurological disorders in patients, ranging from asymptomatic to severe. There is still much to understand about how HIV affects the brain in people with well-controlled disease.

Key questions include: how common are HIV-associated neurological disorders, who is most vulnerable to HIV-related brain damage, whether and how quickly it can progress from mild to serious, and how best to treat this disorder.

A neuro-HIV sub-specialty clinic through the Nathan Smith Clinic at Yale-New Haven Hospital offers opportunities for evaluation of HIV patients with neurological symptoms, including a combined approach of evaluation and treatment by a trained neuro-infectious disease/HIV neurologist, and multidisciplinary cutting-edge imaging, virological, and immunological assessments.

Journalists who would like to talk to Dr. Serena Spudich, a YNHH neurologist,should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter,

October 20, 2011

How serious is the risk of death for children with the flu?

Children only rarely die of flu. Last year, 115 children under the age of 18 died from the flu in the U.S. Almost 50 percent of them were under the age of 5; and almost 30 percent were under the age of 2.

However, the actual number of flu-related pediatric deaths may be higher because not all kids with symptoms of flu are tested according to the CDC’s data. What is alarming is that just under half of the reported child flu deaths were children with no underlying illness or other risk factor for severe flu.

The flu can be much more severe than most parents think. More than four out of five kids who died of flu were not fully vaccinated. However, 23 percent of the deaths were among kids who were fully vaccinated. Part of the reason is that most of these fully vaccinated kids had underlying illnesses. While the flu vaccine does make most of these children less susceptible to serious flu, an underlying illness can weaken a child’s immune system, making the vaccine less effective than in healthy people.

Journalists who would like to talk to a YNHH physician about the risk of flu should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter.

October 13, 2011

Healthcare providers adapt aviation flight simulation training techniques

The aviation industry has used flight simulation in pilot training for more than 50 years. Health care has adopted the technique, and high-fidelity medical simulation is becoming an integral tool in medical education, offering numerous benefits for patients, trainees and educators.

Healthcare simulation is the set-up, monitoring and review of controlled medical events, designed to educate healthcare providers and broaden their experience with critical situations. Because simulations are completely staged, participants are able to learn from their mistakes without any risk to patients, and then apply their refined skills in the clinical environment.

Yale New Haven Hospital has a sophisticated simulation center on Howard Avenue in New Haven, “Simulation at Yale New Haven: Advancing Patient Safety and Education (SYN:APSE), as well as a satellite center in a YNHH patient care unit.

Come and see mannequins who can breathe, speak, blink, sweat, bleed and respond physiologically to medications. Talk to the full-time director of simulation for the Yale New Haven Health System, Stephanie Sudikoff, MD, also an attending physician in pediatric critical care.

Journalists who would like to talk to Dr. Sudikoff should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter.

October 10, 2011

Screening children early for high cholesterol

The National Lipid Association has issued new guidelines stating that children between 9 to 11 years of age should be screened for high cholesterol. In addition, children with a family history of premature heart disease and high cholesterol should be screened at the age of two years.

The recommendations are part of new guidelines for the screening, diagnosis and treatment of inherited high cholesterol, or familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), a genetic condition that impairs the ability to process bad cholesterol, the low-density lipoprotein that clogs arteries. It’s one of the most common serious genetic conditions, affecting at least one out of every 500 people worldwide.

At Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, a multidisciplinary team provides evaluation, management and monitoring of children with a broad range of lipid disorders, including fatty liver, high cholesterol levels and FH.

Journalists who would like to talk to Dr. Anthony Porto, a pediatric gastroenterologist, should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter.

October 6, 2011

Researchers discover new asthma gene in African-Americans

A new scientific report has revealed a novel gene associated with asthma in African-Americans. By pooling data from nine independent research groups looking for genes associated with asthma, researchers identified a novel gene association specific to populations of African descent. The findings, published in Nature Genetics, are a promising first step in understanding the genetic roots of asthma.

Asthma rates have been on the rise in recent years, with the greatest rise among African Americans.

Journalists who would like to talk to Geoffrey Chupp, MD, co-director of the Yale Center for Asthma and Airway Diseases, should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter.

September 26, 2011

Yale-New Haven first in state to offer 3D mammography

Tomosynthesis, also known as 3D mammography, uses high-powered computing to convert digital breast images into a stack of very thin layers, thereby producing a 3-dimensional image of the breast tissue, allowing the radiologist to see breast tissue details in a way never before possible.

Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven is one of only 13 medical centers in the United States, and the first in Connecticut, to offer patients this new technology that is expected to improve the detection of breast cancer. It is also expected to reduce the frequency of times women are called back for repeat exams which can cause great anxiety.

Journalists who would like to talk to Dr. Liane Philpots, chief, Breast Imaging, Smilow Cancer Hospital, should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter.

September 21, 2011

Breast cancer is not just a woman's disease

Everyone thinks of breast cancer as a woman’s disease but actually about 1 percent of all breast cancers occur in men. Dr. Anees Chagpar, surgeon and director of the Breast Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven recently treated a 39-year-old man with breast cancer, shortly after his sister had been diagnosed with the disease.

After a mammogram and biopsy confirmed the diagnosis, he underwent a mastectomy and today is doing well, with advice for other men: “If something doesn’t feel right, go to the doctor and have it looked at.” Because it is relatively rare, men should know the symptoms of male breast cancer – such as bloody nipple discharge or a breast mass – and not ignore them.

Journalists who would like to talk to Dr. Chagpar should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter.

September 12, 2011

YNHH surgeon performs hernia repair with no incisions

Kurt Roberts, MD, assistant professor of gastroenterology surgery, has performed what he believes to be the world’s first transvaginal ventral hernia repairs – one on May 30 and a second on August 12.

While other surgeons have performed similar procedures that involved making small incisions in the abdomen, he used standard instruments to perform a “pure” procedure through the vagina – with no incision.

A ventral hernia is a defect in the strength of the abdominal wall that Dr. Roberts compares to a hole in tire that can be repaired by fixating a small mesh patch to the abdominal wall. The transvaginal ventral hernia repair leaves no scars on the belly, involves very little pain and offers a quick return to normal activities.

Journalists who would like to talk to Dr. Roberts should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter.

September 8, 2011

Surprising study finds anti-psychotic drug for PTSD in veterans ineffective

Dr. John H. Krystal, chief of psychiatry at Yale-New Haven Psychiatric Hospital and Yale School of Medicine, was the lead author in a study featured in a recent New York Times article indicating that drugs widely prescribed to treat severe post-traumatic stress symptoms for veterans are no more effective than placebos and come with serious side effects, including weight gain and fatigue.

Dr. Krystal, who is the director of the clinical neurosciences division of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Center for PTSD, said the study challenged and could affect the current treatments now in use.

Between 10 and 20 percent of veterans who see heavy combat develop lasting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, and about a fifth of those who get treatment receive a prescription for a so-called antipsychotic medication. The study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, disputes the use of antipsychotics in general for PTSD.

Journalists who would like to talk to Dr. Krystal should e-mail us or call Mark D'Antonio, media coordinator, at 203.688.2493 or 203.506.5648. For regular YNHH news, follow us on Twitter,