Reuters Health
(Reuters Health) In comparison with early intravenous analgesia, use of early epidural analgesia does not lead to any important delay in labor progression, according to US researchers.

In the July issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. John M. Thorp Jr. of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill and colleagues note that recent guidelines suggest that a request for pain relief should be sufficient grounds for epidural analgesia. The degree of cervical dilation alone should not be the determining factor.

By Anthony J. Brown, MD
MRI is more sensitive than mammography at detecting tumors in women with a familial or genetic predisposition to breast cancer, according to a report published in The New England Journal of Medicine for July 29th. The findings suggest that MRI be used in addition to mammography in this setting.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Results of a detailed pathological study show that the small airways are the major site of airway obstruction in patients with COPD and that these are compromised by the presence of inflammatory exudates, according to findings published in the June 24th issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

With the hot days of summer come summer sports: baseball, tennis, football, both in the neighborhood and at camp. Before you send the kids out to practice — or just for a long day of play in the sun — learn to protect your child against the dangers of dehydration and heat illness. WebMD turned to Albert C. Hergenroeder, professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and chief of the sports medicine clinic at Texas Children’s Hospital, for answers to parents’ common questions.

Because of the strong magnetic field created by the equipment during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ferromagnetic metal objects can be pulled by the magnet toward the patient on the scanner table at high speed.

In our October 3, 2001 issue, we wrote about the tragic death of a 6-year-old child in New York who suffered a skull fracture and intracranial hemorrhage after an oxygen tank struck him. Prior to MRI, patients are told to remove all metal objects they may be wearing, and they are asked about the presence of any metal implants (e.g., pacemaker, prosthetic hip, implanted intravenous port). Even retained bullets and shrapnel, tattoos, and permanent eyeliner may create problems.