The Checkups: Indy Health News About Memory, Hearts & More
The Checkup: Hearts
Some patients are bypassing the bypass. A totally blocked artery, the most common coronary disease, is typically treated with an angioplasty, but sometimes the instruments used in the procedure can’t penetrate the blockage. That’s when surgeons recommend building a new blood conduit. Now there’s a less-radical option. Doctors at St. Vincent Heart Center might use the CrossBoss and Stingray Coronary CTO Crossing and Re-entry System to either go through the obstruction or around it via the second layer of the artery’s wall.
The Checkup: Colons
If you must have colon or rectal surgery, doesn’t one incision sound better than four? Dr. Dipen Maun, a colorectal surgeon with Franciscan Physician Network’s Kendrick Colon & Rectal Center, is one of only a few physicians nationally performing single-incision laparoscopic surgery to treat colorectal diseases.
The Checkup: Livers
Some estimates show that nearly 35% of adults have a fatty liver. It’s now the second-most-common reason for placing someone on the transplant list.
The Checkup: Memory
As the population ages, Hancock Regional Hospital is seeing more people with dementia. Specialists at Reflections, the hospital’s inpatient geriatric psychiatry unit, use a strategy called “reminiscence group” to help patients recall memories. A hospital chaplain with an interest in World War II was able to draw out 70-year-old recollections from patients who might struggle recalling a conversation that occurred only minutes before.
Did You Know?
IU Health’s Lawrence H. Einhorn, M.D., cured testicular cancer 40 years ago, improving the survival rate from 10 percent to 80 percent.
The Checkup: Baby Brains
More than a third of all infants admitted to Riley’s neonatal intensive care unit were either born with brain complications or are at risk of developing them, so in November 2013, the hospital introduced the state’s only neuro NICU. Specially trained technicians can monitor brainwaves 24/7, and neurologists can access the data at home.
The Checkup: Kidneys
Some 3,000 Americans with kidney disease now perform their own hemodialysis at home. Those who do can purify their blood nearly every day—impossible in a clinic— and expect a much better quality of life. The IU Home Dialysis Center has switched more patients to this form of therapy than any hospital in the nation.
The Checkup: Knees
Indiana Orthopaedic Hospital swapped out 1,058 bad knees last year, with surgery taking an average of 61 minutes. Dr. Frank Kolisek of OrthoIndy is currently researching the effects of electrical muscle stimulation on quadriceps strength after total knee replacement.
