Heart failure, sometimes known as congestive heart failure, occurs when your heart muscle doesn't pump blood as well as it should. Certain conditions, such as narrowed arteries in your heart (coronary artery disease) or high blood pressure, gradually leave your heart too weak or stiff to fill and pump efficiently.

This brief exam will help you to quickly detect major risks and prompt you to refer patients to appropriate specialists.

When your child needs surgery, it can be overwhelming and sometimes scary. At Mayo Clinic Children’s Center, our highly skilled surgeons apply deep experience and specialized training to offer individualized care for your child and your family.

This is an educational medical video for Medical Students showing how to examine a hernia swelling

Surgeon performs a dissection of the transverse process during spine surgery, explaining the benefits of including the AQUAMANTYS System from Salient Surgical Technologies during the procedure. The AQUAMANTYS System uses Salient's patented TRANSCOLLATION technology, which has been clinically shown to reduce blood loss and lower blood transfusion rates when used during surgery.

What is a brain aneurysm? A brain (cerebral) aneurysm is a bulging, weak area in the wall of an artery that supplies blood to the brain. In most cases, a brain aneurysm causes no symptoms and goes unnoticed. In rare cases, the brain aneurysm ruptures, releasing blood into the skull and causing a stroke. When a brain aneurysm ruptures, the result is called a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Depending on the severity of the hemorrhage, brain damage or death may result.

Sialendoscopy can be both diagnostic and therapeutic. It is complementary to diagnostic techniques such as plain radiography, ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance sialography, and conventional sialography, all of which are traditional, time-tested methods for evaluating the salivary ductal system

symptoms of kidney dysfunction. I find kidney dysfunction in my patients very frequently. Lower back pain is a common indicator that the kidneys are starting to become irritated. Yes, lower back pain can come from many different areas, but one of the areas I always rule out is kidney congestion.

Repair of an indirect inguinal hernia

Breast reconstruction 3D Animation
on Friday, December 17, 2010




The primary part of the procedure can often be carried out immediately following the mastectomy. As with many other surgeries, patients with significant medical comorbidities (high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes) and smokers are higher-risk candidates. Surgeons may choose to perform delayed reconstruction to decrease this risk. Patients expected to receive external beam radiation as part of their adjuvant treatment are also commonly considered for delayed autologous reconstruction due to significantly higher complication rates with tissue expander-implant techniques in those patients. Breast reconstruction is a large undertaking that usually takes multiple operations. Sometimes these follow-up surgeries are spread out over weeks or months. If an implant is used, the individual runs the same risks and complications as those who use them for breast augmentation but has higher rates of capsular contracture (tightening or hardening of the scar tissue around the implant) and revisional surgeries. Outcomes based research on quality of life improvements and psychosocial benefits associated with breast reconstruction served as the stimulus in the United States for the 1998 Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act which mandated health care payer coverage for breast and nipple reconstruction, contralateral procedures to achieve symmetry, and treatment for the sequelae of mastectomy. This was followed in 2001 by additional legislation imposing penalties on noncompliant insurers. Similar provisions for coverage exist in most countries worldwide through national health care programs. There are many methods for breast reconstruction. The two most common are: * Tissue Expander - Breast implants This is the most common technique used in worldwide. The surgeon inserts a tissue expander, a temporary silastic implant, beneath a pocket under the pectoralis major muscle of the chest wall. The pectoral muscles may be released along its inferior edge to allow a larger, more supple pocket for the expander at the expense of thinner lower pole soft tissue coverage. The use of acellular human or animal dermal grafts have been described as an onlay patch to increase coverage of the implant when the pectoral muscle is released, which purports to improve both functional and aesthtic outcomes of implant-expander breast reconstruction. o In a process that can take weeks or months, saline solution is percutaneously injected to progressively expand the overlaying tissue. Once the expander has reached an acceptable size, it may be removed and replaced with a more permanent implant. Reconstruction of the areola and nipple are usually performed in a separate operation after the skin has stretched to its final size. * Flap reconstruction The second most common procedure uses tissue from other parts of the patient's body, such as the back, buttocks, thigh or abdomen. This procedure may be performed by leaving the donor tissue connected to the original site to retain its blood supply (the vessels are tunnelled beneath the skin surface to the new site) or it may be cut off and new blood supply may be connected. o The latissimus dorsi muscle flap is the donor tissue available on the back. It is a large flat muscle which can be employed without significant loss of function. It can be moved into the breast defect still attached to its blood supply under the arm pit (axilla). A latissimus flap is usually used to recruit soft-tissue coverage over an underlying implant. Enough volume can be recruited occasionally to reconstruct small breasts without an implant. o Abdominal flaps The abdominal flap for breast reconstruction is the TRAM flap or its technically distinct variants of microvascular "perforator flaps" like the DIEP/SIEP flaps. Both use the abdominal tissue between the umbilicus and the

A breech birth is the birth of a baby from a breech presentation. In the breech presentation the baby enters the birth canal with the buttocks or feet first as opposed to the normal head first presentation.

There are either three or four main categories of breech births, depending upon the source:

* Frank breech - the baby's bottom comes first, and his or her legs are flexed at the hip and extended at the knees (with feet near the ears). 65-70% of breech babies are in the frank breech position.

* Complete breech - the baby's hips and knees are flexed so that the baby is sitting crosslegged, with feet beside the bottom.

* Footling breech - one or both feet come first, with the bottom at a higher position. This is rare at term but relatively common with premature fetuses.

* Kneeling breech - the baby is in a kneeling position, with one or both legs extended at the hips and flexed at the knees. This is extremely rare, and is excluded from many classifications.

As in labour with a baby in a normal head-down position, uterine contractions typically occur at regular intervals and gradually cause the cervix to become thinner and to open. In the more common breech presentations, the baby’s bottom (rather than feet or knees) is what is first to descend through the maternal pelvis and emerge from the vagina.

At the beginning of labour, the baby is generally in an oblique position, facing either the right or left side of the mother's back. As the baby's bottom is the same size in the term baby as the baby's head. Descent is thus as for the presenting fetal head and delay in descent is a cardinal sign of possible problems with the delivery of the head.

In order to begin the birth, internal rotation needs to occur. This happens when the mother's pelvic floor muscles cause the baby to turn so that it can be born with one hip directly in front of the other. At this point the baby is facing one of the mother's inner thighs. Then, the shoulders follow the same path as the hips did. At this time the baby usually turns to face the mother's back. Next occurs external rotation, which is when the shoulders emerge as the baby’s head enters the maternal pelvis. The combination of maternal muscle tone and uterine contractions cause the baby’s head to flex, chin to chest. Then the back of the baby's head emerges and finally the face.

Due to the increased pressure during labour and birth, it is normal for the baby's leading hip to be bruised and genitalia to be swollen. Babies who assumed the frank breech position in utero may continue to hold their legs in this position for some days after birth.

Your First Baby

Scleroderma and systemic sclerosis

Cystic fibrosis is a disease passed down through families that causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the lungs, digestive tract, and other areas of the body. It is one of the most common chronic lung diseases in children and young adults. It is a life-threatening disorder.

Development and Maintenance of Bone

Treating osteoporosis with bisphosphonates, particularly for more than five years, has been linked to some side effects, including atypical femur fractures. Osteoporosis medications are supposed to prevent bone breaks. But if they are taken for too long, the opposite can happen. This video highlights what you need to know as a healthcare professional to educate patients

Tru Story - Adventures in the NICU.

A lot of women want to know what type of vaginal discharge is normal during pregnancy, and when you're not pregnant. So let's start out by talking about what's normal when you're not pregnant. It's normal to have about 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of whitish, creamy, tannish discharge on most days of your cycle in between periods, with the exception of the time of ovulation. Actually, around the time of ovulation, it's normal to notice the discharge becoming more slippery and clear, almost like egg whites. And this is actually a sign that you can watch for to know when you're ovulating. And if you're seeing this type of discharge and you're trying to have a baby, then you should start to time intercourse with ovulation to increase your chances of conceiving.

Nose Anatomy

Brain Concussion Recognize and Report