Tiffany Breast Care Center accredited

Tiffany Breast Care Center accredited

BOARDMAN

Mahoning Valley Imaging/Tiffany Breast Care Center, 7067 Tiffany Blvd., recently was accredited and certified by the American College of Radiology, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the Mammogram Quality Standards Act to perform digital mammography. For information, call 330-629-8624.

Stem cells successfully used for restoration

PITTSBURGH

Stem cells derived from human muscle tissue were able to repair nerve damage and restore function in an animal model of sciatic-nerve injury, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

The findings, published online in the “Journal of Clinical Investigation,” suggest that cell therapy of certain nerve diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, might one day be feasible.

To date, treatments for damage to peripheral nerves, which are the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord, have not been very successful, often leaving patients with impaired muscle control and sensation, pain and decreased function, said senior author Johnny Huard, Ph.D., professor of orthopedic surgery.

“This study indicates that placing adult, human muscle-derived stem cells at the site of peripheral nerve injury can help heal the lesion,” Huard said.

Heart health award

CLEVELAND

The Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center has received the Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation secondary prevention guidelines for heart failure patients.

Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure is a quality-improvement program that helps hospital teams provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing hospital readmissions for heart-failure patients.

The Cleveland VAMC also received the association’s Target: Heart Failure Honor Roll, an initiative that provides hospitals with educational tools, prevention programs and treatment guidelines developed to reduce the risk of heart-failure patients ending up back in the hospital.

Cleveland VAMC provides inpatient and outpatient health care services at Cleveland (Wade Park) and 13 community-based outpatient clinics, including the VA Outpatient Clinic on Belmont Avenue in Youngstown.

Treatment trials offered through collaboration

AKRON

Akron Children’s Hospital is collaborating with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center’s Advanced Cancer Therapies Network to offer its cancer patients access to Phase I and Phase 2 clinical trials.

The network brings together clinical research centers to improve the treatment of cancer and other tumor disorders in infants, children and teens; develop alternative therapies; and increase patient access to novel therapies.

Phase 1 trials are conducted with small groups of patients to evaluate safety, appropriate dosages and side effects and usually are the next step for patients who have failed available treatment and have seen their cancer return.

Phase 2 trials target a larger population of patients with specific types of cancer to determine if the new drugs are effective and to further evaluate their safety. Phase 3 trials, the ones most children enter when they are newly diagnosed, test the current best treatment against promising alternatives that may increase cure rates or decrease side effects or late effects of treatment.