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Red blood cells, most white blood cells, and platelets are produced in the bone marrow, the soft fatty tissue inside bone cavities. Two types of white blood cells, T and B cells (lymphocytes), are also produced in the lymph nodes and spleen, and T cells are produced and mature in the thymus gland.
Pediatric orthopedic surgeons at Columbia are using a new device with magnetic technology that avoids the need for multiple spine-lengthening surgeries to correct early-onset scoliosis, a severe curvature of the spine in young children. In April 2014, Michael Vitale, MD, the Ana Lucia Professor of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery at CUMC and 1995 graduate of P&S, performed the first procedure in the New York area, using the device to treat a 5-year-old boy. When braces and casts cannot control scoliosis in young children, surgeons turn to growing rods, which help correct the curve while allowing the spine to grow. When spinal maturity is near, the rods are removed and a spinal fusion can be performed. But during years of treatment with growing rods, patients must undergo surgery every six months to lengthen the rods to keep up with the patients’ growth. A patient may undergo eight to 10 procedures, which are costly and result in lost time for parents at work and children at school. The new device—MAGEC (MAGnetic Expansion Control) rods—contains a mechanism inside the growing rods that allows surgeons to lengthen the rods with a handheld external magnet, without surgery.
How do you know if you have an STD? There’s only one way — you have to get tested. How do they test for STDs? Here’s the good news: STD testing is usually quick and painless. Get answers to all your questions about how to get tested for STDs.
Trichinosis (trik-ih-NO-sis), sometimes called trichinellosis (trik-ih-nuh-LOW-sis), is a type of roundworm infection. Roundworm parasites use a host body to live and reproduce. Occurring primarily among meat-eating animals (carnivores) — especially bears, foxes and walruses — the infection is acquired by eating roundworm larvae in raw or undercooked meat. When humans eat undercooked meat containing trichinella larvae, the larvae mature into adult worms in the intestine over several weeks. The adult worms then produce larvae that travel through various tissues, including muscle. Trichinosis is most widespread in rural areas throughout the world. Trichinosis can be treated with medication, though it's not always necessary. It's also easy to prevent.
Surgery is an elective procedure done in people who have had extensive testing to decide if they are potential candidates. The following criteria are considered when determining if a person may be a good candidate for surgery. Person has failed adequate trials of two first-line seizure medicines (ones that are commonly effective in controlling the type of seizures the person is experiencing) and one combination of at least two drugs. A trial of a medication is considered adequate when it has been increased gradually to the maximum dosage that does not cause serious side effects. If the person has frequent seizures, any improvement will be obvious after a short time. If the seizures generally occur far apart, however, it may take months to determine whether a medication is helping. At some epilepsy centers, patients are offered additional conventional or experimental medications before surgery is considered. But research suggests that each time a trial of medication fails to control a person's seizures, it becomes less likely that a different medicine or combination will be successful. Since uncontrolled seizures present serious physical risks and social and psychological consequences, the trend these days is to proceed with surgery much sooner than in the past if it seems appropriate for that person.
Smallpox disease is a serious, highly contagious, and often life-threatening infection marked by a rash of round pox (blisters) on the face, arms, and legs. It is caused by the Variola virus. The last case of smallpox in the United States was in 1949.
Syringomyelia is a cystic cavitation of the spinal cord associated with Chiari I malformation (70%) or basilar invagination (10%) or tumor. It may be a post-traumatic condition. There are 2 main forms: communicating with the central canal or subarachnoid spaces (Chiari I malformation); non communicating (trauma, tumors).
Coronary artery vasospasm, or smooth muscle constriction of the coronary artery, is an important cause of chest pain syndromes that can lead to myocardial infarction (MI), ventricular arrhythmias, and sudden death. It also plays a key role in the development of atherosclerotic lesions.Nov 22, 2016
A pneumothorax (noo-moe-THOR-aks) is a collapsed lung. A pneumothorax occurs when air leaks into the space between your lung and chest wall. This air pushes on the outside of your lung and makes it collapse. In most cases, only a portion of the lung collapses.
Antiphospholipid (AN-te-fos-fo-LIP-id) syndrome occurs when your immune system attacks some of the normal proteins in your blood. It can cause blood clots in your arteries or veins. And it can cause pregnancy complications, such as miscarriage and stillbirth. Blood clots in your leg veins cause a condition known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Damage from blood clots in your organs, such as your kidneys, lungs or brain, depends on the extent and location of the clot. For instance, a clot in your brain can cause a stroke. There's no cure for antiphospholipid syndrome, but medications can reduce your risk of blood clots.
This procedure, and other types of soft palate surgery, targets the back of the roof of your mouth. It involves removing and repositioning excess tissue in the throat to make the airway wider. The surgeon can trim down your soft palate and uvula, remove your tonsils, and reposition some of the muscles of the soft palate. UPPP and other soft palate procedures are the most common type of surgery for sleep apnea. But UPPP alone is unlikely to cure moderate to severe sleep apnea. It may be combined with surgeries that target other sites in the upper airway.
ARDS was recognized as the most severe form of acute lung injury (ALI), a form of diffuse alveolar injury. The AECC defined ARDS as an acute condition characterized by bilateral pulmonary infiltrates and severe hypoxemia in the absence of evidence for cardiogenic pulmonary edema. The severity of hypoxemia necessary to make the diagnosis of ARDS was defined by the ratio of the partial pressure of oxygen in the patient’s arterial blood (PaO2) to the fraction of oxygen in the inspired air (FiO2). ARDS was defined by a PaO2/FiO2 ratio of less than 200, and in ALI, less than 300. This definition was further refined in 2011 by a panel of experts and is termed the Berlin definition of ARDS. [3] ARDS is defined by timing (within 1 wk of clinical insult or onset of respiratory symptoms); radiographic changes (bilateral opacities not fully explained by effusions, consolidation, or atelectasis); origin of edema (not fully explained by cardiac failure or fluid overload); and severity based on the PaO2/FiO2 ratio on 5 cm of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). The 3 categories are mild (PaO2/FiO2 200-300), moderate (PaO2/FiO2 100-200), and severe (PaO2/FiO2 ≤100).