PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Use of cement in partial hip replacement linked to risk of death

Relatively rare, but significant enough to warrant action; and concerns first raised in 2009

2014-06-13
(Press-News.org) The use of cement in partial hip replacement surgery may be linked to a risk of death - often occurring within minutes - finds research published in the online journal BMJ Open.

The risk is relatively rare. But the alarm was first sounded in 2009, and most of the cases that have come to light have occurred since that date, say the authors, who include the former chief medical officer for England.

This suggests that measures to reduce the risks are not being acted on widely enough, they say.

They base their findings on an analysis of cases submitted between 2005 and 2012 to the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) - a database of patient safety incidents associated with the delivery of healthcare across the NHS in England and Wales.

All the cases involved sudden and severe deterioration among patients undergoing partial hip replacement, known as hemiarthroplasty, for fractured neck of femur (broken hip), and associated with the use of cement to help hold the artificial hip joint in place.

This sudden deterioration is referred to as bone cement implantation syndrome or BCIS for short. In each of the cases in this study, it caused either death; cardiac arrest, where the heart stops beating; or periarrest - severe deterioration in the patient's condition.

Between 2005 and 2012, the NRLS received 62 reports of BCIS, equivalent to one incident for every 2900 hemiarthroplasties performed for fractured neck of femur, indicating that it is a rare occurrence.

In 2012, 22,000 people in the UK underwent partial hip replacement for a fractured neck of femur, although not all these would have involved the use of cement.

But in 41 of the cases reported to the NRLS the patient died, and in most (80%), this was on the operating table. A further 14 patients had a heart attack but were resuscitated; and seven sustained a periarrest from which they recovered.

In most cases (55 out of 62; 89%), these events occurred within minutes of the cement being inserted.

A further 39 cases of hip surgery associated with BCIS were also reported to the NRLS during this period, but were not included because it was not clear whether the procedures specifically related to partial hip replacement for fractured neck of femur.

In 2009, the now defunct National Patient Safety Agency raised the alarm about the use of cement and associated patient harm during hemiarthroplasty and issued guidance to the NHS on how to minimise the risks.

Fifty one of the 62 cases were reported to the NLRS after this date, possibly because of heightened awareness in the wake of the guidance, say the researchers.

But the fact that deaths are continuing to occur "clearly shows that the implementation of mitigation measures set out in the alert was suboptimal, or that their effectiveness is suboptimal, or both," they write.

In an accompanying podcast, lead researcher Dr Paul Rutter emphasises that the risk of BCIS remains rare, but not so rare that orthopaedic surgeons don't need to know about it, or what steps they need to take to reduce it.

INFORMATION: [What is the risk of death or severe harm due to bone cement implantation syndrome among patients undergoing hip hemiarthroplasty for fractured neck of femur? A patient safety surveillance study doi 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-004853]


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New test detects toxic prions in blood

2014-06-13
The first cases of Mad Cow disease in humans (properly called variant Creutzfeld Jakob Disease, or vCJD) occurred in the late 1990s and are thought to be the consequence of eating contaminated beef products. Since then, several cases of secondary infections caused by transfusions with blood from donors who subsequently developed vCJD have been reported, raising concerns about the safety of blood and blood products. A paper published in PLOS Pathogens on June 12th now describes an assay that can detect prions in blood samples from humans with vCJD and in animals at early ...

Racial survival differences in young dialysis patients significant in poor neighborhoods

2014-06-13
Washington, DC (June 12, 2014) — Among young adult dialysis patients living in poor neighborhoods, blacks have a significantly higher risk of dying while young compared with whites. The findings, which come from a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN), suggest that more work is needed to understand social factors that could worsen outcomes among young black adults with kidney failure. Among young dialysis patients aged 18 to 30 years, blacks are nearly twice as likely as whites to die while still young. The reasons ...

Hereditary disease genes found throughout the human body

2014-06-13
A new study published in PLOS Computational Biology shows that genes associated with hereditary diseases occur throughout the human body. The study, by Esti Yeger-Lotem et al., used network biology to model the interactions between proteins associated with diseases such as Parkinson's in different tissues. Using these networks, they show that proteins carrying the disease are found throughout the body. In tissues vulnerable to hereditary diseases, the networked proteins had unique interactions relevant for the mechanism of the disease. Disease causing genes tend to ...

Processed red meat linked to higher risk of heart failure, death in men

2014-06-12
Men who eat moderate amounts of processed red meat may have an increased risk of incidence and death from heart failure, according to a study in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal. Processed meats are preserved by smoking, curing, salting or adding preservatives. Examples include cold cuts (ham, salami), sausage, bacon and hot dogs. "Processed red meat commonly contains sodium, nitrates, phosphates and other food additives, and smoked and grilled meats also contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, all of which may contribute to the increased ...

Lower vitamin D level in blood linked to higher premature death rate

2014-06-12
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found that persons with lower blood levels of vitamin D were twice as likely to die prematurely as people with higher blood levels of vitamin D. The finding, published in the June 12 issue of American Journal of Public Health, was based on a systematic review of 32 previous studies that included analyses of vitamin D, blood levels and human mortality rates. The specific variant of vitamin D assessed was 25-hydroxyvitamin D, the primary form found in blood. "Three years ago, the Institute ...

Study examines religious affiliation and social class

Study examines religious affiliation and social class
2014-06-12
Lincoln, Neb. — Younger generations are closing the social class gap between evangelical Protestants and mainline denominations, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln sociologist of religion has found. And in what appears to be an important shift in the U.S. religious landscape, a growing number of younger-generation working-class Americans are not affiliated with any particular religious denomination. "When lower-class Americans aren't choosing to be evangelical, they're increasingly choosing to be nothing," said Philip Schwadel, associate professor ...

New computer program aims to teach itself everything about anything

New computer program aims to teach itself everything about anything
2014-06-12
In today's digitally driven world, access to information appears limitless. But when you have something specific in mind that you don't know, like the name of that niche kitchen tool you saw at a friend's house, it can be surprisingly hard to sift through the volume of information online and know how to search for it. Or, the opposite problem can occur – we can look up anything on the Internet, but how can we be sure we are finding everything about the topic without spending hours in front of the computer? Computer scientists from the University of Washington and the ...

Grit better than GRE at predicting success in STEM fields

2014-06-12
Selecting graduate students in the fields of science and engineering based on an assessment of their character instead of relying almost entirely on their scores on a standardized test would significantly improve the quality of the students that are admitted and, at the same time, boost the participation of women and minorities in these key disciplines. That is the argument made in the essay "A test that fails" published in the June 12 issue of the journal Nature. The authors are Associate Professor of Physics Casey Miller of the University of South Florida and Keivan ...

Researchers uncover new insights into developing rapid-acting antidepressant for treatment-resistant depression

Researchers uncover new insights into developing  rapid-acting antidepressant for treatment-resistant depression
2014-06-12
DALLAS – June 12, 2014 – UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have generated fresh insights that could aid in the development of rapid-acting antidepressants for treatment-resistant depression. The researchers found that by blocking NMDA receptors with the drug ketamine, they could elicit rapid antidepressant effects in patients with treatment-resistant depression. Ketamine was developed as an anesthetic, but is better known publicly for its abuse as the party drug Special K. Researchers are now seeking alternatives because ketamine can produce side effects that ...

Good bacteria armed with antibiotic resistance protect gut microbiome

2014-06-12
Researchers from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland have discovered that populating the gastrointestinal (GI) tracts of mice with Bacteroides species producing a specific enzyme helps protect the good commensal bacteria from the harmful effects of antibiotics. Their research is published ahead of print in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Antibiotics are powerful weapons against pathogens, but most are relatively indiscriminate, killing the good bacteria, along with the bad. Thus, they may render patients vulnerable to invasion, particularly by virulent, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Older teens who start vaping post-high school risk rapid progress to frequent use

Corpse flowers are threatened by spotty recordkeeping

Riding the AI wave toward rapid, precise ocean simulations

Are lifetimes of big appliances really shrinking?

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

[Press-News.org] Use of cement in partial hip replacement linked to risk of death
Relatively rare, but significant enough to warrant action; and concerns first raised in 2009