New Fertility Technique Simpler, Cheaper
USC researchers have developed an option for infertile couples trying to conceive that is simpler and less expensive than existing techniques and that may reduce the number of multiple births. The technique is called follicle aspiration, sperm injection and assisted rupture, or FASIAR.
Drs. Richard J. Paulson and Melvin Thornton report in the December Fertility and Sterility that they treated a 36-year-old woman who didn’t become pregnant with other techniques. She gave birth to a single child in the spring.
With FASIAR, physicians puncture egg-containing follicles with a thin needle and suction fluid and eggs into a syringe that already contains sperm. The mixture of sperm and eggs is then injected immediately near the ruptured follicles. Excess eggs can be sucked back out.
Amiodarone Lessens Risk of Atrial Fibrillation
Patients who take the drug amiodarone for at least a week before open heart surgery are half as likely to suffer a dangerous heart rhythm disorder afterward and can leave the hospital sooner. But the medicine did not improve the patients’ overall chances of survival during the seven weeks after surgery, according to a study in the Dec. 18 New England Journal of Medicine.
Atrial fibrillation is a common and potentially deadly complication of open-heart surgery. It occurs when the heart’s muscle fibers contract at random, causing the heart to stop pumping blood effectively. The study by researchers at the University of Michigan Hospital and Wayne State University looked at 131 patients who had heart surgery that was scheduled at least one week in advance. Half received amiodarone. Twenty-five percent of those who took the drug had atrial fibrillation during or shortly after hospitalization versus 53% of those in the placebo group.
It Pays to Go Easy on Computer Keys
Office workers with carpal tunnel syndrome strike the keys of their computers much harder than those without symptoms, say researchers from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. The team studied 48 word processing workers, some of whom had carpal tunnel syndrome or other arm disorders, including pain, stiffness, tingling and numbness.
The researchers report in the December Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine that those with the arm problems banged the hardest on keyboards. Even symptom-free workers hit the keys too hard, however--four to five times harder than necessary. Excessive keyboard force may contribute to the severity of hand and wrist symptoms, the researchers concluded.
Gel Helps to Heal Diabetics’ Foot Ulcers
Diabetics with hard-to-heal foot ulcers can soon use a new genetically engineered gel to stimulate tissue regrowth and help avoid severe complications. The Food and Drug Administration approved Regranex gel Wednesday. It is not a cure for diabetic foot ulcers. But, when used in addition to good foot care, especially keeping all weight off the diseased foot, Regranex helped more ulcers heal, the FDA said.
Regranex will be available by prescription in February. About 16 million Americans have diabetes, and some 2 million will at some point develop ulcers on the foot or lower leg. Regranex contains a genetically engineered version of a growth factor naturally present in blood. This ingredient, called becaplermin and made by Chiron Corp., attracts wound-healing cells to the ulcer site to stimulate tissue regrowth.
With Uterine Disease, Biopsies Detect Better
Biopsies are far superior to ultrasound in detecting serious cases of uterine disease, a study has found. Biopsies--in which a piece of tissue is removed and examined under the microscope for signs of cancer or cell overgrowth--have long been the standard means of screening for diseases of the uterine lining.
But ultrasound--in which sound waves are used to produce an image--held out the possibility of a method that was less invasive and uncomfortable.
However, ultrasound gives a high number of false positive results, making it a poor screening test, according to a study by Dr. Robert Langer of UC San Diego in the Dec. 18 New England Journal of Medicine.
Female Fetuses Flap Gums More Than Males
The stereotype is that women talk more than men. New results suggest that this behavior may start in the womb. Using ultrasound, Dr. Peter Hepper and his colleagues at the Queen’s University of Belfast in the United Kingdom videotaped 20 female fetuses and 19 male fetuses for periods of 60 minutes at 16, 18 and 20 weeks of gestation.
They report in the Dec. 20 Lancet that the number of mouth movements increased with increasing gestational age, but that females always made more such movements than males. The movements have no benefits for fetuses, but are essential for feeding once the infant is born. The movements, they said, suggest that females advance more quickly than males from conception onward.
--COMPILED BY THOMAS H. MAUGH II
