Ochsner Medical Center

About: Ochsner Medical Center is a healthcare organization based out in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Heart failure. The organization has 980 authors who have published 1159 publications receiving 49961 citations. The organization is also known as: Ochsner Hospital & Ochsner Foundation Hospital.

Prognosis of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma and pancreatic metastases.

Abstract: 527 Background: Pancreatic metastases are seen in a relatively small percentage of patients with renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). The prognostic impact of pancreatic metastases in patients receiving treatment for mRCC has not been extensively studied, and drivers of pancreatic metastases are not known. Methods: Retrospective review of mRCC patients in an outpatient clinic was done from January 2006 to November 2011. Patient characteristics including demographics, laboratory data, and outcomes were analyzed. Comparison of baseline characteristics was done using chi2and t-test and overall survival (OS) was estimated using Kaplan-Meier methods. Predictors of OS were analyzed using Cox regression. Results: A total of 228 patients were reviewed of which 44 (19.3%) had metastases to the pancreas and 184 (81.7%) had metastasis to sites other than the pancreas. The distribution of baseline characteristics and other factors was equal in both cohorts. 4 patients had isolated metastases to the pancreas, however, the maj...

Holmium : YAG laser-assisted coronary angioplasty with multifiber delivery catheters

Abstract: Mid-infrared lasers are attractive for coronary angioplasty based upon their excellent fiberoptic transmission and enhanced tissue absorption. Using a solid-state, mid-infrared holmium:YAG laser with prototype multifiber laser delivery catheters, we performed coronary laser angioplasty with or without adjunctive balloon angioplasty or directional atherectomy in 14 patients with 17 stenoses. Procedural laser success was obtained in 13/14 (93%) patients and 16/17 (94%) lesions; however clinical success was achieved in 9/14 (64%) patients and 12/17 (71%) stenoses. Angiographic restenosis at 4.6 ± 1.6 months was found in 5/8 (63%) patients. We achieved an excellent procedural laser success rate in patients with generally unfavorable angioplasty anatomy. However, our clinical success rate was not different from that expected with conventional angioplasty alone. The holmium laser remains an attractive energy source for laser angioplasty; but as is the case for all coronary laser systems, its utility as a stand-alone therapy is limited by catheters which create small channels. In this small group, we could demonstrate no clinical benefit for laser-assisted angioplasty in complex coronary lesions. Our results suggest that a randomized trial comparing laser-assisted angioplasty and conventional angioplasty be performed to determine the clinical benefits of this more expensive therapy.

Clinical review of the efficacy and safety of oral semaglutide in patients with type 2 diabetes compared with other oral antihyperglycemic agents and placebo

Abstract: Oral semaglutide is a tablet formulation of a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA), recently approved in the USA and other countries. This paper reviews data from clinical trials (PIO...

Dobutamine echocardiography and myocardial contrast echocardiography. Two new techniques for the assessment of myocardial viability.

Abstract: As investigators have discovered that cardiac regions displaying resting wall motion abnormalities are not the necessary equivalent of myocardial scar (and therefore of irreversible injury) but are potentially viable regions rendered dysfunctional by stunning or hibernation, a new field of medicine has developed to identify viable myocardium that can improve in function after revascularization. Moreover, improvements in myocardial preservation and perfusion during coronary artery bypass grafting and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty have enabled patients with poor resting ejection fractions to undergo safer revascularization. In this review, we describe briefly the diagnostic techniques most commonly used in identifying dysfunctional but viable myocardium. We give specific attention to the assets and limitations of these techniques and special emphasis to 2 promising new techniques: dobutamine echocardiography and myocardial contrast echocardiography.