Baxter Regional Medical Center first in state with  3-D breast imaging

An Arkansas hospital is now home to the latest technology in breast imaging to detect breast cancer.

Baxter Regional Medical Center (BRMC) in Mountain Home (Baxter County) is the state’s only hospital – and one of only a handful of hospitals in the U.S. – to use a 3-D tomosynthesis device to screen for breast cancer.

BRMC has introduced the 3-D tomosynthesis device with a special “grand opening” at its on-campus Breast Imaging Center. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the 3-D tomosynthesis breast-imaging platform earlier this year.

Nearly 2,000 women in Arkansas were expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009, according to the most recent figures reported on the Arkansas Department of Health website. Of those diagnosed, 410 women would die.

Of the more than 8,000 breast cancer-screening sites in hospitals and clinics across the U.S., less than 100 of them have installed the 3-D tomosynthesis technology. Those using this technology are teaching/university centers.

Breast imaging with 3-D tomosynthesis provides exceptionally sharp images of the breast, helping radiologists identify and characterize individual breast structures without the confusion of overlapping tissue. The device takes multiple successive images, each at a slightly different angle along an arc across the breast. The images can then be viewed as a 3-D reconstruction of the breast.

UAMS Breast Cancer Program Accepted into National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers

The Breast Cancer Program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has been accepted for membership in the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC).

The NAPBC, a program of the American College of Surgeons, represents a consortium of national professional organizations dedicated to improving of the quality of care and monitoring of outcomes for patients with diseases of the breast.

V. Suzanne Klimberg M.D., chief of the Division of Breast Surgical Oncology and professor on the Departments of Surgery and Pathology in the UAMS College of Medicine says they’re  commited to following recognized guidelines for patient care.

Klimberg also directs the Breast Fellowship in Diseases of the Breast at UAMS and holds the Muriel Balsam Kohn Chair in Breast Surgical Oncology at UAMS.

The NAPBC accreditation is granted only to centers that are voluntarily committed to providing the best in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment and able to comply with established NAPBC standards.

UAMS Begins Clinical Trial of Breast Cancer Vaccine

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) announces the start of a Phase 1 clinical trial to study the safety of a novel vaccine to prevent the recurrence of breast cancer.

 UAMS has three research subjects enrolled in the Phase 1 clinical trial and plans on completing the trial sometime in 2012 after studying the safety of the vaccine in up to 18 research subjects. After the safety testing phase is completed, UAMS expects to conduct another clinical trial using the vaccine on up to 50 research subjects.

 The vaccine was developed by Thomas Kieber-Emmons, Ph.D., professor of pathology and holder of the Josetta Wilkins Chair of Breast Cancer Research at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at UAMS.

Here’s how the vaccine would work: The surface of a cancer cell is covered with carbohydrates. If the vaccine could trigger an immune response to carbohydrates, it would destroy the cancer cells. But it is difficult to get the immune system to recognize carbohydrates on cancer cells.

So Kieber-Emmons used a peptide to mimic a carbohydrate in hopes that the body would create an immune response to the peptide that then cross-reacts with the carbohydrate on the tumor cell and destroys the cell.

 The successful effort to initiate the clinical evaluation of this novel approach to vaccine development involved a collaborative effort between the university and three well-known service providers – AmbioPharm Inc., a GMP-compliant manufacturer of peptide active pharmaceutical ingredients, Advantar Laboratories, a GMP-compliant laboratory offering analytical and formulation development services, and NextPharma Technologies, a contract manufacturer for clinical trial materials.

St. Bernards Nuclear State’s First with Test for Suspected Parkinsonian Syndromes

The Nuclear Medicine Department at St. Bernards Medical Center has the distinction of being the only Center of Excellence in the state of Arkansas certified to use a newly Federal Drug Administration approved agent to evaluate patients with suspected Parkinsonian syndromes - such as Parkinson’s disease.

Developed by GE Healthcare, the agent is known as DaTscan. It represents the first tool physicians in the United States have access to that can help differentiate Parkinsonian syndromes from other conditions that mimic it.

It is important, points out Brad Doney, manager of the St. Bernards Nuclear Medicine Department, because in the past, physicians did not have a diagnostic imaging test that allowed them to distinguish between Parkinsonian syndromes and other conditions - like essential tremor.

DaTscan uses the first FDA-approved radiopharmaceutical adjunct imaging agent - ioflupane, which visualizes striatal dopamine transporters in the brain. Parkinsonian syndromes occur when the brain does not get enough dopamine to perform certain functions. (It’s the lack of dopamine that affects the brain’s ability to control movement and other muscle functions.)

The radiologists and staff in the Nuclear Medicine Department at St. Bernards worked closely with the manufacturer to conduct required preliminary testing of nuclear medicine cameras and equipment and performed what are known as phantom studies with the radiopharmaceutical during the FDA review process. Because of that and because its technologists have been specially trained, the St. Bernards department already is certified to perform the DaTscans. As a matter of fact, it is the only Nuclear Medicine Department in the state certified to perform the studies at the present time.

NARMC Enrolls in Program to Reduce Catheter-Associated Infections

North Arkansas Regional Medical Center will soon be collaborating with the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, Inc. on a program intended to reduce CAUTIs (Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections). The program, Stop CAUTI, will reduce CAUTIs using evidence-based interventions and the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP). CUSP is transforming care and patient safety in hospital units by improving patient safety culture and practices.

Over 600,000 patients develop urinary tract infections each year which account for 40 percent of all hospital acquired infections. Of these, 80 percent are catheter-associated infections.

North Arkansas Regional Medical Center began implementing the Stop CAUTI recommendations two years ago and infection rates have been significantly reduced.   NARMC Infection Control Manager, Susan Beeler, RN is looking forward to sharing our processes for Stopping CAUTI with other healthcare facilities in Arkansas.

Summit Medical Center Welcomes Doctor Richard Sandler to Van Buren

Summit Medical Center announces the addition of Endocrinologist, Richard Sandler to its medical staff.

Dr. Sandler is joining Internal Medicine & Associates located on the hospital campus. Dr. Sandler is a graduate of Harvard and New York University and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology.  He is coming to Van Buren from private practice in Northwest Arkansas.

Susan Barr, M.D., Urogynecology Specialist, Joins UAMS

Susan Barr, M.D., has joined the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) as a surgeon with advanced training in urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery.

Barr, an Arkansas native, is an assistant professor and chief of the Division of Urogynecology in the UAMS College of Medicine, specializing in vaginal surgery, incontinence and prolapse.

Barr received her medical degree from UAMS. She completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology and her fellowship in urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery at Saint Louis University.

Barr is certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Sparks Health System Joins Fight Against Stroke

Sparks Health System is participating in a statewide initiative aimed at improving stroke care in Arkansas.

Sparks Regional Medical Center is one of 41 hospitals in Arkansas that is teaming with the Arkansas Department of Health and the American Heart Association to form a stroke registry. The Arkansas Stroke Registry is a database of information from participating hospitals about patient emergency transport, diagnosis and treatment data.

 The Arkansas Stroke Registry is a project of the Arkansas General Assembly’s Acute Stroke Task Force. The registry will serve as a tool to help save lives and improve outcomes for stroke survivors. Each year, more than 700,000 Americans suffer a stroke. About 25% of them die at the at the time of the stroke or soon after, and 15%-30% of survivors remain permanently disabled.

The information collected in the registry is analyzed using the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® program to identify opportunities to help hospitals improve patient care while reducing stroke deaths and disability. In April 2011, Sparks Health System received the Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for a continued commitment to implementing excellent stroke care, according to evidence-based guidelines.

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