ACHRI Research Linking Moms’ Smoking to Babies’ Heart Defects Published in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics
LITTLE ROCK — Research linking a mother’s smoking habit to her newborn’s heart defects conducted by the Arkansas Center for Birth Defects Research and Prevention at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI) has been published in Pediatrics: The Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The study was conducted by a team of researchers at ACHRI and included more than 3,000 infants with heart defects identified by the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS), as well as more than 3,900 infants who do not have heart defects. The NBDPS is one of the largest case-control studies ever done on the causes of birth defects. Mothers of all the babies who participated in the study were asked several questions, including whether they smoked during the month before conception through the end of the first trimester. Women who indicated that they had smoked were more likely to give birth to infants with septal heart defects than women who said they had not.
The scientists did not notice an increase in the risk of having a baby with congenital heart defects among those women who said they were exposed to second-hand smoke.
The manuscript documenting their results, titled Maternal Smoking and Congenital Heart Defects, is published in this month’s edition of Pediatrics. It is available online at http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/121/4/e810 .
New Surgical Technology Helps Conway Regional Treat Heart “flutter”
CONWAY — Conway Regional Health System is now using high-frequency ultrasound technology to treat atrial fibrillation, a fluttering effect caused by abnormal beating in the upper chamber of the heart.
Cardiothoracic Surgeon Dr. E. J. Chauvin, became the first surgeon in the state to use the St. Jude Medical EpicorTM Cardiac Ablation System which employs high frequency ultrasound technology to safely block the nerve tissue that is causing atrial fibrillation.
The procedure is used to treat patients who have been diagnosed with heart arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation, a condition that causes the upper chamber of the heart (atria) to beat abnormally erratic and fast, or to “flutter.”
Dr. Chauvin believes the EpicorTM Cardiac Ablation System will be effective for 80 to 85 percent of all patients who have atrial fibrillation.
Conway Regional recently announced that it is moving forward with a $25 million, two-story expansion of its women’s and surgical services.
National Committee For Quality Assurance Honors Arkansas’ Dr. Joe Thompson With 2008 Health Care Quality Award
WASHINGTON – Dr. Joseph W. Thompson, MPH, was presented with the 2008 Health Care Quality Award by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), during a dinner ceremony in Washington DC on April 1.
Dr. Thompson is director of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement and Surgeon General for the State of Arkansas.
Other award recipients were Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and King County (Wash.) Executive Ron Sims.
Dr. Thompson was recognized as one of the nation’s leading advocates for prevention and healthy lifestyles. Specific accomplishments recognized during the ceremony include his leadership role as primary architect of the landmark Tobacco Settlement Act of 2000 and successful efforts to combat childhood obesity whose centerpiece involves measuring the body mass index of every Arkansas public school student and sending the results home.
Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield Recognized for Brand Excellence
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield has been named along with 15 Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies as a recipient of the Brand Excellence Award sponsored by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA).
The annual award honors Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies that excel in developing and enhancing the overall image of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Brands, some of the most recognized and trusted in the world. The Brand Excellence Award program began in 1995.
The winning companies are evaluated on six brand excellence measures. This year, Arkansas Blue Cross was recognized for exceptional performance in Enrollment Growth — high percentage of new members enrolled over the previous year.
Arkansas Children’s Hospital PULSE Center Welcomes New Arrival
LITTLE ROCK — The Pediatric Understanding and Learning through Simulation Education Center (PULSE Center) at Arkansas Children’s Hospital celebrated its first birthday on Monday with news of a new arrival.
The PULSE Center welcomed a baby boy to its growing family of computerized medical simulators. The infant, manufactured by Laerdal and known as a SimNewB®, weighs 7 pounds and measures in at 21 inches in length. Arkansas Children’s Hospital is one of the first simulation centers to have the SimNewB®.
The neonatal simulator accurately represents a full-term baby boy who is in the 50th percentile for weight and length. It can be manipulated by computer to act as a limp, cyanotic newborn with no vital signs or as a vigorous healthy infant who moves and cries. The simulator comes with an umbilicus that can be assessed, cut and even catheterized for IV access.
The addition of a smaller simulator that closely resembles a newborn will help the PULSE Center provide better training for medical personnel who treat infants. SimNewB will be incorporated into teaching scenarios for several disciplines and across many areas of the hospital, including the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Transport Department.
The PULSE Center is among the nation’s first comprehensive simulation education facilities dedicated entirely to pediatric care. The facility boasts state-of-the-art education and training through medical simulation, innovative teaching and assessment and the use of standardized patients.
ConvaCare Management and the Make A Wish Foundation
ConvaCare Management and our Family of Homes are helping make a wish come true for a little girl. Please go to www.katv.com, click on the banner at the bottom regarding the Make a Wish Foundation and Oprah’s Big Give. You will see an ad for our new home, Chenal Heights Nursing and Rehab-which is now open and admitting! If you click on the ConvaCare icon, you will learn more about our homes across the state.
CARTI Launches Campaign to Educate Arkansans on Early Cancer Warning Signs, Screening Guidelines
Educating Arkansans on the early warning signs and screening guidelines of various cancers is the focus of a new campaign being launched by the Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute (CARTI) in Little Rock, starting with an emphasis on colorectal cancer.
“Early detection is the key to prevention when it comes to cancer,” said Mary Machen, CARTI Director of Community Outreach.
Machen, a licensed social worker and a 32-year oncology professional, is currently touring the state with a cancer awareness and screening advocacy program titled “Take Up for Yourself.”
The program, the latest installment of CARTI’s on-going CancerAnswers® series, examines five of the currently most common cancers for which screening processes and guidelines exist. In addition to colorectal cancer, Machen’s presentation also addresses breast cancer, cervical cancer, prostate cancer and skin cancer.
Machen explained that individuals receiving positive screening results are referred to their primary care physician or specialist who can then use screening results to either diagnose or dismiss the actual presence of cancer.
Colorectal screening should begin earlier and continue more often for people: with a personal history of colorectal cancer or adenomatous polyps; a strong family history of colorectal cancer or polyps; a personal history of chronic inflammatory bowel disease; or a family history of a hereditary colorectal cancer syndrome.
Shipp Joins UAMS Faculty as Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist
LITTLE ROCK – Dr. Carl Shipp, a board-certified otolaryngologist with more than 26 years experience treating not only ear, nose and throat problems but also head and neck diseases,, has joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine.
Shipp, an assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology of the College of Medicine, will see patients at UAMS and in the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System. Previously, he was in private practice at clinics in Texarkana, Texas for 23 years and most recently in the Atlanta, Ga., area for the last four years .
Shipp earned his medical degree in 1977 from the Louisiana State University School of Medicine. He served an internship and residency in otolaryngology at UAMS.
Shipp was certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology in 1982. He is a fellow in the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery.
Lisa Sherrill, ANP, Earns Credits at SUNA Symposium
MOUNTAIN HOME — Lisa Sherrill, certified family nurse practitioner at TerKeurst Urology Clinic, attended the Society of Urologic Nurses and Associates 2008 Symposium in Tampa, Fla. During the symposium, she completed general and concurrent sessions about pelvic pain and pelvic floor disorders and other topics to earn 18 credits of continuing medical education.
Sessions she completed included: pharmacologic management of pelvic pain, gastrointestinal disorders associated with pelvic pain, painful bladder syndrome or IC (interstitial cystitis), tibial nerve stimulation for overactive bladder, and biofeedback for incontinence in adults and children.
Sherrill participated in a second session pertaining to children about pediatric voiding dysfunction. She also studied bladder outlet obstruction in women, urinary tract infections, and attended a research networking luncheon.
An advanced practice nurse at TerKeurst Urology Clinic since 2006, Sherrill received her master’s degree in nursing at Arkansas State University. She assists Dr. John S. TerKeurst, an American Board of Urology certified physician, who has practiced here since 1989.
Myeloma Research Foundation Awards $750,000 Grant to UAMS
LITTLE ROCK – An internationally known organization dedicated to funding research of multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood’s plasma, today awarded a $750,000 grant to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) for work aimed at finding why the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatment sometimes changes from initial treatment to relapse.
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF), the largest nonprofit foundation dedicated to accelerating a cure for multiple myeloma, announced its first awards to apply the emerging field of proteomics to translational research in multiple myeloma to researchers at UAMS, Indiana University and the University of Michigan.
UAMS researchers in the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy received a three-year grant to continue its analysis of proteins in myeloma cells and their changes through the course of the disease from initial diagnosis through chemotherapy, remission and relapse. Through a comparative analysis of plasma cells from healthy volunteers and patients with myeloma, scientists anticipate being able to shed light on the molecular basis of disease initiation and progression, as well as develop methods for predicting these processes in order to help physicians personalize treatments.
St. Anthony’s to Offer M.A.S.H. Program
MORRILTON — St. Anthony’s Medical Center is once again accepting applications for the two-week daytime summer program designed to give high school students the opportunity to explore health-related careers. The M.A.S.H. program, or Medical Applications of Science for Health, will run June 16-27 and, thanks for to funding from Farm Bureau, is offered at no cost to the participants.
Through M.A.S.H., sophomores and juniors will learn basic first aid and life support techniques, including CPR certification. In addition, participants will get hands-on experience with dissection, casting and suturing. The program also includes a complete overview of health-related careers and job shadowing with area medical professionals.
Students will be exposed to nursing, general practice doctoring, physical therapy, occupational therapy, surgery, radiology and other medical occupations at St. Anthony’s during the camp. M.A.S.H. also equips high school students with important team-building and leadership development skills. A graduation ceremony will take place upon completion of the program.
The statewide M.A.S.H. program will be in its 15th year this summer and has helped more than 400 students in 25 camps across the state decide if a healthcare career is right for them.
UAMS College of Pharmacy Receives $100,000 Grant
LITTLE ROCK – The College of Pharmacy at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has received a grant of $100,000 from USA Drug to be used for a new communications skills program.
The gift will be made over a five-year period.
The gift will be used for several new initiatives related to the development and assessment of communications skills among pharmacy students from the time of application to the end of the pharmacy curriculum, including these new activities:
- Support of a newly developed interview that will become integral to the admissions process within the UAMS College of Pharmacy
- Support of curricular innovations that emphasize the development of communication skills needed by pharmacists in patient counseling, hiring, and managing employees, and working with other health care professionals
- Supplies for health screenings and for teaching medication therapy management skills
- Support for counseling and clinical skills competitions that build confidence in students while putting the theory into direct action
Hembree Regional Cancer Center Welcomes Traci Webb as New Director
FORT SMITH — St. Edward Mercy Health System announces Traci Webb as the new Director of Radiation Oncology of the Hembree Regional Cancer Center.
Prior to joining St. Edward Mercy Health System in March, Webb was Manager of Radiation Oncology for Deaconess Hospital in Oklahoma City.
Webb is a graduate of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, where she received her Bachelor’s of Science in Radiologic Technology, specializing in Radiation Therapy.
May 2008
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