Posted in Cardiovascular Sciences, Implants: ICD/VAD/Pacemaker, heart transplant, surgery • Tags: Carmat, total artificial heart
What do rocket science and cardiology have in common? The quest for a total artificial heart. That’s how the Carmat heart was developed.
The French biomed company Carmat announced that they might just be 3 years away from completing the quest. Although the company is based in France, the project is actually a pan-European venture partly funded by the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS). And it combines, of all things, tissue engineering and missile science to come up with a very promising heart prototype. The group is led by a star in cardiology, the renowned heart surgeon and inventor Dr Alain Carpentier of the Pierre & Marie Curie University, Paris, France. More →
Posted on November 11, 2008 by Raquel Billiones • There are no comments, hop to it!
Posted in Awareness, Cardiovascular Sciences, Heart surgery, heart transplant, organ donor, surgery • Tags: brain death, cardiac death, ethical considerations, heart transplant, organ donation
In the recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, several articles discuss different aspects of heart transplantation. One interesting aspect is about reversing the irreversible - donating hearts after cardiac death.
It used to be that organ donation can only occur after cardiac death, e.g. after a donor’s heart has completely stopped. Organs such as kidneys can then be transplanted from the donor to the recipient. However, this posed a challenge for heart transplant since the donor’s heart is dead and has irreversibly stopped, and is therefore not viable for transplantation anymore.
More →
Posted on August 27, 2008 by Raquel Billiones • There are 6 comments!
Posted in Cardiovascular Sciences, Gender issues, Menopause, Prevention, surgery • Tags: cardiovascular health, female hormones, hysterectomy, oophorectomy, ovaries
Cervical cancer is a cancer that affects the tissue of the cervix, the funnel-shaped organ located between the uterus and the vagina. According to estimates by the National Cancer Institute, about 11,000 new cases of cervical cancer have been diagnosed in the US in 2008, and 3,870 cases have resulted in death.
One of the most common forms of intervention for cervical cancer is hysterectomy which is the surgical removal of a woman’s uterus. According to MedicineNet, about 600,000 hysterectomies are performed in the US each year and about 50% of these also include bilateral oophorectomy, which is the removal of the 2 ovaries. The reason for removing the ovaries is to prevent the development of ovarian cancer.
More →
Posted on August 5, 2008 by Raquel Billiones • There are no comments, hop to it!
Raquel Billiones has a PhD in Biology and has over 15 years experience as a researcher, scientific English teacher, and medical writer. Since 2006, she has been a freelance WAHM specializing in medical writing and scientific documentation. 
