The EHRA White Book Contains First European Data on Lead Extraction

The EHRA White Book reports on the current status of arrhythmia treatments in the 55 ESC member countries2 and has been published every year since 2008. This year 46 countries took part.

For the first time this year data is provided on lead extractions. France reported the highest number of lead extractions (2,000) followed by Germany (800) and Poland (520). Several countries reported that no lead extractions had been performed (Iceland, Cyprus, Montenegro, Malta, Armenia).

Professor Fernando Arribas (Spain), EHRA White Book coordinator, said: "This is an area of increasing interest because device therapy has now been provided for many years. Device systems depend on the function of the leads which become sick as they get older and should be replaced. This is a growing problem because lead extraction has a significant morbidity and mortality all over the world."

Every country reports on general statistics to describe its demographics and healthcare system. The proportion of deaths resulting from CVD in 2012 were lowest in Israel (17%), Tunisia (23%), Morocco (23%), France (26%) and the Netherlands (28%) and highest in the Ukraine (65.8%), Bulgaria (63%), Serbia (56%) and the Russian Federation (55.5%).

Data is revealed on the use of cardiovascular implantable electronic devices including pacemakers (also called implantable pulse generators or IPGs), implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs), and cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) devices.

In 2012 pacemaker implantations were highest in Germany (106,567) and France (62,846) and lowest in Montenegro (143). Germany also had the highest numbers of CRT implantations (17,949) and ICD implantations (26,536) in 2012, followed by Italy (11,900 CRTs and 12,000 ICDs). Iceland had the lowest number of CRT implantations (10) while Macedonia had the lowest number of ICD implantations (15). Professor Arribas said: "Devices are an important therapy for saving lives and have an important impact on healthcare indices."

The number of ablations performed in 2012 was highest in Germany (38,000) and France (31,000) and lowest in Bosnia & Herzegovina (3), Malta (10) and Cyprus (40). Professor Arribas said: "The impact of catheter ablation on big outcomes such as mortality is less significant but the therapy is very important for treating some arrhythmias that have become an epidemic, for example atrial fibrillation."

The White Book presents raw data by country and compares it to the previous edition. An analysis and graphic presentation of the figures will be published in a dedicated supplement of EHRA's official journal EP-Europace during the ESC Congress, held 31 August - 4 September in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The analysis will be based on White Book data from 2008 onwards and will include comments from experts in the field.

Professor Arribas said: "The analysis will show how access to treatment has changed over time in individual countries. It will also allow countries to benchmark their results with other countries, and provide a picture of where inequalities remain in access to arrhythmias care in Europe."

EHRA president, Professor Angelo Auricchio (Switzerland), said: "This new addition is another landmark in the history of the White Book because it includes the lead extraction data, which no other scientific society has been able to provide. We are pleased with our good collaboration with the national societies and working groups that provided us with this information."

He added: "The forthcoming EP-Europace supplement will show the trends in electrophysiological activities and implantation of devices in Europe. It will reveal whether the current economic crisis in Europe has led to a decline in the number of device implantations over the last year. This would denote a general reduction in care for patients and a growth in the inequality of access to lifesaving treatments."

Source-Eurekalert

View the original article here

Fusion of Cancer Cell and White Blood Cell Gives Rise to Metastatic Tumor

by Kathy Jones on? July 05, 2013 at 10:30 PM Cancer News The fusion of a leukocyte, or white blood cell, and a cancer cell that leads to the formation of a genetic hybrid, was found to increase the risk of human metastatic tumor, a joint study conducted by researchers at Yale Cancer Center, Denver Police Crime Lab and the University of Colorado reveals.
Their study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, may answer the question of how cancer cells travel from the primary tumor's site of origin to distant organs and tissues of the body ? the deadly process of metastasis.

Such a theory was first proposed as an explanation for metastasis more than a century ago. But until now, the theory was unproven in human cancer because genomic differences between cells from the same patient cannot be distinguished. To get around this problem, the researchers analyzed genomic DNA in the secondary malignancies of a patient who had a melanoma brain metastasis and had received a bone marrow transplant from his brother.

They found signature genes from both the patient and donor together in the tumor cells, providing the first evidence that leukocytes (in this case from the donor) can fuse with cancer cells and initiate a tumor.

"Our results provide the first proof in humans of a theory, proposed in 1911 by a German pathologist, that metastasis can occur when a leukocyte and cancer cell fuse and form a genetic hybrid," said corresponding author John Pawelek, research faculty in the dermatology department of the Yale School of Medicine. "This could open the way to new therapy targets, but much work needs to be done to determine how fusion occurs, the frequency of such hybrids in human cancers, and the potential role of hybrids in metastasis," he added.

Source-Eurekalert

var xmlHttpvar imgpath,imagefunction RefreshImage(ImageId){image=document.getElementById(ImageId);//alert(ImageId);xmlHttp=GetXmlHttpObject();if (xmlHttp==null) { alert ("Your browser does not support AJAX!"); return; } var url="http://www.medindia.net/captcha/captcha.asp";url=url+"?x="+Math.random();imgpath=url;xmlHttp.onreadystatechange=stateChangedReg;xmlHttp.open("GET",url,true);xmlHttp.send(null);} function stateChangedReg(){if (xmlHttp.readyState==4){image.src = imgpath;}}function RequestCode(){xmlHttp=GetXmlHttpObject();if (xmlHttp==null) { alert ("Your browser does not support AJAX!"); return; } var url="http://www.medindia.net/captcha/reqimgvalue.asp";url=url+"?x="+Math.random();xmlHttp.onreadystatechange=stateChangedReq;xmlHttp.open("GET",url,true);xmlHttp.send(null);} function stateChangedReq(){if (xmlHttp.readyState==4){var seccode=xmlHttp.responseText;if(seccode==document.getElementById("scode").value){//alert(seccode + "same value");}else{document.getElementById("scode").value=xmlHttp.responseText;}}}function GetXmlHttpObject(){var xmlHttpNew=null;try { // Firefox, Opera 8.0+, Safari xmlHttpNew=new XMLHttpRequest(); }catch (e) { // Internet Explorer try { xmlHttpNew=new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP"); } catch (e) { xmlHttpNew=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } }return xmlHttpNew;}function GetXmlHttpObject(){var xmlHttp=null;try { // Firefox, Opera 8.0+, Safari xmlHttp=new XMLHttpRequest(); }catch (e) { // Internet Explorer try { xmlHttp=new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP"); } catch (e) { xmlHttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } }return xmlHttp;} function fnsearch(){day1 = document.search.SelDay.value;month1 = document.search.SelMonth.value;year1 = document.search.SelYear.value;tmpdate=month1+"/"+day1+"/"+year1 fromdate=new Date(year1,month1-1,day1)if (!((fromdate.getDate()==day1)&&(fromdate.getMonth()+1==month1)&&(fromdate.getFullYear()==year1))){alert("Please Select a valid Date")document.search.SelDay.focus();return false;}tmpcatid=document.search.ncategoryid.value;tmpkeyword=document.search.keyword.value;document.search.action="http://www.medindia.net/news/newsday_list.asp?ddate="+tmpdate+"&ncategoryid=" +tmpcatid +"&keyword=" +tmpkeywordreturn true;}News Categories:?? Latest Health News Popular News AIDS/HIV News Alcohol & Drug Abuse News Alternative Medicine News Anti-Aging News Bird Flu News Cancer News Celebrity Health News Chikungunya News Child Health News Cholesterol News Clinical Trials News Corporate News Dengue News Dental News Diabetes News Diet & Nutrition News Drug News Education News Environmental Health General News Genetics & Stem Cells News Health Insurance News Heart Disease News Hospital News Hypertension News Indian Health News Lifestyle News Medical Gadgets Medical PDA News Medico Legal News Men?s Health News Mental Health News News on IT in Healthcare Nursing Profession News Obesity News Organ Donation News Research News Respiratory Disease News Senior Health News Sexual Health News Tropical Disease News Weight Loss Women Health News

View the original article here

Scientists Solve White Tiger Mystery

"The white tiger represents part of the natural genetic diversity of the tiger that is worth conserving, but is now seen only in captivity," says Shu-Jin Luo of China's Peking University.

Luo, Xiao Xu, Ruiqiang Li, and their colleagues advocate a proper captive management program to maintain a healthy Bengal tiger population including both white and orange tigers. They say it might even be worth considering the reintroduction of white tigers into their wild habitat.

The researchers mapped the genomes of a family of 16 tigers living in Chimelong Safari Park, including both white and orange individuals. They then sequenced the whole genomes of each of the three parents in the family.

Those genetic analyses led them to a pigment gene, called SLC45A2, which had already been associated with light coloration in modern Europeans and in other animals, including horses, chickens, and fish. The variant found in the white tiger primarily inhibits the synthesis of red and yellow pigments but has little to no effect on black, which explains why white tigers still show characteristic dark stripes.

Historical records of white tigers on the Indian subcontinent date back to the 1500s, Luo notes, but the last known free-ranging white tiger was shot in 1958. That many white tigers were hunted as mature adults suggests that they were fit to live in the wild. It's worth considering that tigers' chief prey species, such as deer, are likely colorblind.

Captive white tigers sometimes do show abnormalities, such as crossed eyes, but Luo says any frailties are likely the responsibility of humans, who have inbred the rare tigers in captivity. With the causal gene identified, the researchers ultimately hope to explore the evolutionary forces that have maintained tigers in both orange and white varieties.

Source-Eurekalert

View the original article here