Latest Clinical & Research News
Telemedicine has become an increasingly important mode of care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Certain specialties lend themselves to telemedicine to a greater degree than others. One of these is psychiatry, thanks in large part to relevance of observation and conversation with patients and their families to obtain neuropsychiatric history.
In order to meet the unique demands and concerns of mothers and families expecting twins, triplets or higher-order multiples, the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) launched the Comprehensive Care Center for Multiples in December. It is the first center of its kind in Massachusetts and one of only a few in the United States.
It is well-established that chronic inflammation may lead to frailty. Less understood is the potential of anti-inflammatory medications such as aspirin to prevent this state of increased vulnerability.
Based on clinical expertise and patient volume, the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center (DF/BWCC) is one of the top programs in the country for the treatment of genitourinary cancers. The integrated center draws on the expertise of a multidisciplinary team of specialists to provide exceptional patient care.
The American College of Rheumatology’s annual Convergence conference, which took place Nov. 5–9, featured significant contributions from Brigham and Women’s Hospital physicians and scientists. The tally included over 120 abstracts: two plenary presentations, 36 oral presentations, one late-breaking poster and 86 poster presentations.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brigham’s Division of Urology has harnessed telehealth technology to ensure continuation of care for patients and improve patient outcomes.
Cushing’s disease, caused by a pituitary adenoma, is the most common type of endogenous excessive cortisol production and results in Cushing’s syndrome. This is a particularly challenging disease to diagnose and treat. Surgery to remove the pituitary tumors that drive the disease can bring it under control, but these tumors can’t always be completely removed. In addition, they frequently recur, even a decade or more after surgery.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 8 out of 10 COVID-19-related deaths in the United States have been in adults 65 years and older. As such, the novel coronavirus pandemic has had a dramatic impact on geriatric care.
E. Antonio Chiocca, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and David Reardon, MD, of Brigham and Women’s and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, have received a $14.5M Program Project grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for his research on glioblastoma. These NCI grants support multidisciplinary research that addresses a major scientific objective. The highly competitive grants are only awarded to a few research programs every five years.
A unique collaboration at Brigham and Women’s Hospital is helping patients with scoliosis and other complex spinal problems reclaim their quality of life. The Adult Spinal Deformity and Scoliosis Program, led by co-directors Hasan A. Zaidi, MD, Melvin C. Makhni, MD, MBA, and Yi Lu, MD, PhD, is one of the very few in the country to bring together specialists in neurosurgery and orthopaedic surgery to treat patients through the entire continuum of care.