RECENT NEWS

The results of the ‘Trial of prophylactic vs no prophylactic platelet transfusions’ known as the TOPPS trial have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Focusing prostate cancer testing on men at highest risk of developing the disease is likely to improve the ratio between benefits and the harms of screening, suggests a paper published on bmj.com Prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening is widely used for the early detection of prostate cancer.

A survey of oncologists and haematologists in Scotland has revealed that over 39% are aware of cancer patients who have relocated to England to receive treatment.

MRI measurements of atrophy in an important area of the brain can provide an accurate predictor of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study.

The number of women under 50 diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the UK has exceeded 10,000 for the first time according to latest statistics from Cancer Research UK.

NHS England has commissioned The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to take over the work of the NHS Technology Adoption Centre (NTAC), giving it a greater role in helping the NHS to adopt innovative technologies, such as surgical implants and diagnostic and monitoring devices.

Omalizumab (Xolair) is now available for NHS patients as an add-on treatment for severe, persistent allergic asthma in adults, adolescents and children, says NICE.

NICE has published final guidance, which recommends pirfenidone (marketed as Esbriet and manufactured by InterMune) for people who have the chronic lung condition, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis with a forced vital capacity (FVC) between 50% and 80% predicted.

A poll by Doctors.net.uk shows that 70% of doctors think the NHS 111 non-emergency hotline service should be scrapped.

A new study has found that the use of regional anaesthesia in place of general anaesthesia in patients with sleep apnoea undergoing total joint replacement decreases major complications by 17%.

NICE has published final guidance recommending two treatments – vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty – for fractured bones in the vertebrae caused by osteoporosis.

Older bladder cancer patients are less likely than younger patients to receive treatments intended to cure their disease such as surgery to remove the bladder or radiotherapy.

A new toolkit from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) for the recognition and care of seriously ill patients recommends that patients admitted as emergencies should only transfer out of the acute medical unit to a ward area that has facilities to meet their clinical needs.

Ansell, a protective solutions provider, has developed a new education module, Prevention of Sharps Injuries in the Healthcare Setting, to support the European Union Directive (2010/32/EU) for implementing the Framework Agreement on prevention of sharp injuries in the healthcare sector.

A new public website has been launched – www.phin.org.uk – which enables patients and GPs to directly compare around 200 independent hospitals on a range of quality of care indicators.

Limbs & Things, a designer and manufacturer of medical training simulators, has been recognised for its innovative contribution to skills training in medicine with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation.

The NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) has published its Strategic Plan 2013-2018.

The British Obesity & Metabolic Surgery Society (BOMSS) has produced a new set of professionals standards aimed at helping surgeons achieve the highest possible level of conduct in bariatric practice.

About 440,000 new cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis emerge annually, causing around 150,000 deaths. Statistics such as these have led the Department of Health to state that antibiotic resistance poses one of the greatest threats to human health.

Experts writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine have disagreed with the conclusion that PIP breast implants do not show any evidence of significant risk to human health.