(February 24, 2010 - Insidermedicine)

From Boston - According to a report published in the journal Radiology, young women at high risk for breast cancer may benefit from yearly combined screening of mammography and MRI. Researchers estimated the number of quality adjusted life years that high risk women would gain from annual combined screening, finding that these women could gain up to 50 QALYs.

From San Antonio - A new approach to reducing stroke damage has been presented at the International Stroke Conference. Researchers are examining a new field of study--known as ischemic preconditioning--in which blood supply to a particular organ is purposely reduced in an effort to prepare the organ's tolerance of operating with limited blood supply. Researchers believe that using a blood pressure cuff, for example, could condition the brain to operate in such a way that would thereby reduce damage incurred by a stroke.

And finally, from Dallas - According to a report published in Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, cochlear implants appear to improve the quality of life in deaf children. Researchers surveyed nearly 100 families of deaf children with cochlear implants, finding that the implants gave the children a quality of life equal to their peers, and that the earlier the device was implanted, the more likely the child was to experience these benefits.