A multidisciplinary team of interventional cardiologists and a cardiothoracic surgeon performed Louisville’s first successful transcatheter replacement of a native mitral valve this week. The team with Norton Heart & Vascular Institute Structural Heart Program used a transcatheter aortic valve (commonly referred to as TAVR) to replace the patient’s mitral valve that was unable to be…
Clinical challenge Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients ages 75 and older, and younger adults with comorbidities, are often ineligible to receive standard intensive chemotherapy due to high rates of toxicity and early mortality. As a result, supportive care is all that’s available to about 60% of adults 75 or older and younger adults with comorbidities….
Norton Infectious Diseases Institute has been selected by Pfizer as the only site in United States to study how to effectively detect respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in adults. “For the most part, RSV attention has been focused on children,” said Julio A. Ramirez, M.D., FACP, chief scientific officer, Norton Infectious Diseases Institute. “But some studies…
The Congress of Neurological Surgeons Systematic Review and Evidence-Based Guidelines for Perioperative Spine: Preoperative Osteoporosis Assessment recently was published in Neurosurgery. To develop these recommendations, the authors performed systematic review of the literature using national databases for studies relevant to preoperative diagnostic studies that predict increased risk of osteoporosis-related postoperative complications and whether the preoperative…
New evidence-based guidelines covering five key perioperative spine assessments were issued recently by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The guidelines, published in the medical journal Neurosurgery, provide insight on the following: Preoperative osteoporosis assessment Preoperative nutritional assessment Preoperative pulmonary evaluation and optimization Preoperative opioid evaluation Preoperative surgical risk assessment A team of eight physicians from…
A cutting-edge new treatment specifically targets prostate cancer cells to deliver a tumor-killing radioisotope and helped extend patients’ lives longer in an international clinical trial (VISION Study), according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) on Sept. 16, 2021. The drug, lutetium-177–PSMA-617, was used to treat patients with metastatic castration-resistant…
Norton Cancer Institute’s clinical research program was developed to ensure that cancer patients in our community and region have access to evolving clinical science. Guided by an experienced cadre of physicians and supported by a team of clinical research nurses and coordinators, Norton Cancer Institute oversees about 200 active clinical trials at any point in…
At any time, Norton Children’s Cancer Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine, is participating in dozens of clinical trials, representing a wide gamut of diagnoses and moving our understanding of childhood cancers forward. Norton Children’s Cancer Institute is a member of the Children’s Oncology Group and typically opens the same treatment studies and…
Inline revision of pedicle screws without increasing the screw diameter can be achieved using dual-pitch screws with cancellous pitch in the vertebral body and cortical pitch in the pedicle, according to a study published in The Spine Journal. “Dual-pitch screws may allow for inline revision of screws without upsizing screw diameter, minimizing the risk of…
Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols have the potential to hasten recovery from lumbar fusion surgery for degenerative spine conditions, with reduced in-hospital opioid consumption and improved postoperative pain scores, according to a study published recently in Global Spine Journal. ERAS, which includes preoperative counseling, nutritional and medical optimization, standardized pain management and anesthesia, and…
After participating in a groundbreaking clinical trial that showed the Optune tumor treatment field device improves glioblastoma multiforme survival when combined with chemotherapy, neuro-oncologists at the Norton Healthcare Brain Tumor Center in Louisville, Kentucky, are treating non-trial participants. Approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the device in conjunction with maintenance temozolomide chemotherapy…
Five years after complex adult spinal deformity surgery, patients reported durable improvement in a range of measurable outcomes, according to a recently published study. Patients reported improvements in lower-back pain functionality (Oswestry Disability Index), overall health (SF-36 physical and mental health scores), health-related quality of life (Scoliosis Research Society – 22R) and back and leg…