News Release

Cedars-Sinai Medical Tip Sheet - November 25

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Holiday Celebration: A 9-Year-Old Temucala, CA, Boy is Tumor-Free for the First Time in his Life
Thanks to high-tech intraoperative duplex scanning and the steady hands of a Skull Base Surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a 9-year-old Temecula, CA, boy who has had a tumor since birth will celebrate the holidays tumor-free. Located under the boy's left eye and in front of his carotid artery, the tumor caused a severe eye infection earlier this year and blindness was a very real possibility. Worse still, this type of tumor has the potential for malignant degeneration. In other words, while it was initially not cancerous, it could have become malignant -- and capable of metastasizing -- at any time. Using intraoperative duplex scanning provided the surgeon with visual and auditory images that constantly showed how close he was to the artery, enabling him to remove the tumor in its entirety without damaging the blood vessel. Interviews: Hrayr Shahinian, M.D., Director, Skull Base Institute; Benjamin Smith, Patient

Coping with Diabetes during the Holidays: Medical Expert Available
Philip Barnett, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Comprehensive Diabetes Outpatient Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is available for interviews on positive ways and tips for coping with the holidays when you have diabetes. Dr. Barnett will also be the featured speaker at a free diabetes seminar on Monday, Nov. 30, at 6:30 p.m. The seminar will be held at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Thalians Auditorium, 8730 Alden Drive, Los Angeles, CA. Interviews: Philip Barnett, M.D., Ph.D.

New Clinic Specializes in Treating Infectious Diseases in Children Adopted Internationally
An estimated 10,000 babies and children from abroad (90 percent from third-world or developing countries) are adopted each year by American families. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases is developing a new clinic specializing in identifying and treating infectious diseases in these internationally adopted children. The first baby to go through the clinic is a 5-month-old boy adopted from Vietnam. Interviews: Moshe Arditi, M.D., Director, Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease

Clinical Trial Studies Use of Antibiotic in Preventing Heart Attack
A common, inexpensive antibiotic could reduce a second heart attack in patients who have already suffered an acute heart attack.In a clinical trial involving 1,400 patients, Cedars-Sinai medical Center scientists, as well as collaborators at two facilities in Israel and three in Europe, are testing the effectiveness of the common antibiotic, Azithromycin, in preventing recurrent heart attacks. Interviews: Bojan Cercek, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Coronary Care Unit; P.K. Shah, M.D., Chair, Division of Cardiology

So Near and Yet So Far . . . FDA Approves Laser Vision Correction for Farsightedness
The FDA has approved VISX Excimer Laser Systems for the correction of hyperopia (farsightedness) via laser surgery. Cedars-Sinai laser vision correction pioneer James Salz, M.D., headed the Los Angeles-area clinical trial that led to the approval. He is available to discuss what the availability of the advanced procedure will means for the 22 percent of Americans who suffer from hyperopia. Interviews: James Salz, M.D.

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