volume

Lower surgical volume linked to higher death rate

Paediatric heart units that carry out a high number of operations have lower deaths rates than those with a low volume of cases. David Spiegelhalter, a scientist at the Institute of Public Health in Cambridge, analysed voluntary surgical returns and hospital episode statistics relating to 12 hospitals carrying// out heart surgery on children from 1991 to 1995. Dr Spiegelhalter found t...

Greater volume hospitals better for stroke

Researchers at the University of Texas, have looked at data for treatment of sub-arachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) in the state during the 1990s. People with a stroke caused by bleeding into the brain do best in hospitals dealing with many such cases.// In SAH, a blood vessel bursts within the blood supply surrounding the brain's exterior. It can cause brain damage, coma and death. Data on...

Sensing The Health Hazard MP3 Makers Tone Down The Volume

Despite the warnings by health experts about the hearing loss caused by the MP3 players, young music lovers just keep on using it without paying// any heed to those warnings. But sensing the health hazards it poses, some manufacturers have now started limiting the volume on the devices. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) recently warned youths about potential damag...

Turn the volume down to save your ears!!

The common temporary after-effect of seeing a live band is ‘ringing ears’.But for the musicians on stage, who are exposed to high decibel levels night after night,// the effects are worse. Action is being taken by the upcoming rock band; Chapter XIII, to protect their hearing.The 5 members of the band wear personally fitted earplugs when they perform to decrease the noise level. E...

Visual impairment risk in preterm infants with reduced occipital brain volumes

According to a study published in the August 2006 issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS), low weight babies with smaller occipital regional volumes// are at higher risk for impaired visual function in early childhood. A study was conducted in New Zealand on 68 infants born between 23rd and 33rd weeks of gestation. Magnetic resonance imaging was done in all the in...

Minorities, Uninsured Less Likely to Receive Care at High-Volume Hospitals

Compared to white patients, black, Asian and Hispanic patients and those who are uninsured are less likely to undergo complex surgery at high-volume hospitals, which have been associated with better outcomes // , according to a study in the October 25 issue of JAMA. Efforts to improve the quality of surgical care in the United States have led many organizations to advocate the use of...

Inner-ear Volume Study Leads to Higher Surgery Success Rates

Children suffering from holes in their eardrums could have better success rates following surgery, thanks to findings from doctors at West Virginia University. // The study was published in the February, 2007 issue of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, the official journal of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation. Conducted by doctors in the Depar...