UK doctors first to perform triple ablation, a special form of cardiac catheterization

Ollie Whitaker of Whitesburg is the first known patient to have undergone triple ablation surgery, in which a catheter is inserted through a patient's blood vessels to remove a faulty electrical pathway and tissue from the patient's heart. The procedure was performed at the University of Kentucky's Gill Heart Institute.  (UK photo of Whitaker, Dr. Sammy Claude Elayi and Dr. Gustavo Morales)

"Typically, the catheter is placed into the patient's femoral artery, internal jugular or subclavian vein. The catheter is guided toward the heart, and high-frequency electrical impulses are used to induce the arrhythmia and then destroy (or ablate) the abnormal tissue causing it," reports Jodi Whitaker for UK Public Relations.

"Performing two ablations during one procedure is commonly done, but three with this complexity is basically unheard of," said Dr. Sammy Claude Elayi, a UK cardiologist. "But in this patient's case, despite the risk, I believed that we could perform three ablations."

"I'm so very pleased," said Whitaker, who had a massive heart attack 30 years ago at age 42 and had been suffering severe after-effects ever since. "I can work in my flower bed outside and do more around the house." (Read more)

Three of four UK's research professorships fund work in health

Three of the four University of Kentucky research professorships awarded for the 2012-13 school year will fund health-related work. Each award is worth $40,000.

Mark Filmore, right, who teaches in UK's Department of Psychology, will research the role that cognitive processes have in promoting risk-taking behavior. It will have an emphasis on recreational drug use, including alcohol abuse and dependence.

Douglas Andres, left, professor and vice chair of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry,  "had begun to define the molecular pathways that control adult neurogenesis, and have shown that Rit, a Ras family G-protein, plays a critical role in the survival of newborn adult neurons following traumatic brain injury," a press release reads. If that is the case, strategies that target Rit activation may be effective in helping recover or repair the injury.

In the Department of Internal Medicine, Mark Dignan, right, leads a program that focuses on cancer prevention and control in community settings using community-based participatory methods. Using the funds of his professorship, he plans to expand his training, "allowing him to conduct translational research with teams that include basic and clinical scientists as they continue their work to reduce cancer health disparities," the press release reads.

Christopher Pool, professor in the Department of Anthropology, is the fourth professorship recipient. (Read more)

Effects of concussions outlast symptoms, UK prof finds; another study says they affect thinking of teenagers more than others

A University of Kentucky assistant professor has found that the effects of a concussion may last longer than the symptoms, a finding that could influence how and when athletes are allowed to get back into a game.

Scott Livingston (UK photo), director of the UK Concussion Assessment Research Lab, used an electrophysiological measurement to arrive at his conclusion. With 18 college athletes, he placed electrodes on a limb while a magnetic-stimulating device was put over their head. They then received a brief pulse of magnetic stimulation to their brain. The amount of time it took for the athlete's limb to receive the response from the brain after the stimulation was then recorded. Nine of tyhe athletes had gotten concussions in the past 24 hours and nine had not.

The athletes were evaluated for 10 days, based on self-reported symptoms such as memory loss, headache and confusion; a computerized neurocognitive test; and the electrophysiological measurement. While symptoms from the concussion were greater within 24 to 72 hours after the injury and lessened over time as measured by self-reporting and neurocognitive testing, electrophysiological measurements show physiological changes increased as symptoms decreased.

Further investigation is needed, "especially to assess how long the disturbances in physiological functioning continue after those initial 10 days post-injury," Livingston said. "But in the meantime, sports medicine personnel caring for concussed athletes should be cautious about relying solely on self-reported symptoms and neurocognitive test performances when making return-to-play decisions." (Read more)

Meanwhile, a study at the University of Montreal has found that "Concussions affect the thinking of teenagers more than they do that of adults or children," reports Nancy Shute of National Public Radio. "But all three age groups show lasting problems with working memory after sports concussions." (Read more)

Funding available to help communities fight cervical cancer

For the second year, agencies, coalitions and community groups are invited to apply for funding to improve cervical cancer screening rates and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations in their areas. Cervical Cancer-Free Kentucky, housed in the University of Kentucky College of Public Health, has funding available and will be awarding mini-grants in the coming year, Ann Blackford of the UK news service reports.

In August, 13 agencies received CCFKy funding ranging from $7,000 to 20,000 for projects that will help residents in 19 Kentucky counties.

"CCFKy saw great results from the first year of funded projects," said Dr. Baretta R. Casey, director of CCFKy. "The projects' outcomes convinced our team that increasing the number of funded agencies in the second year will move our mission of a cervical cancer-free Kentucky forward. Let's stop the deaths of women in Kentucky from this preventable and curable disease."

About 391 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year in Kentucky and 66 Kentucky women die. (Read more)

Seven UK docs-to-be off to Morehead to train in rural medicine

Learning how to practice in rural areas is the goal of seven University of Kentucky medical students, who are off to Rural Physician Leadership Program in Morehead. (From left: Shea Poynter, Lesley Jackson, Katherine Johnson, Nathan Hudson, Katrina Winkler, Crystal Norgren and Miranda Smith)

The program "trains physicians to become practitioners and leaders for rural areas," Julie Meador writes for UKNow, the university's news service. "It was created in response to the growing health care needs evident in rural areas of Kentucky and the rest of the nation."

The training is primarily done at St. Claire Regional Medical Center and with physicians with the Northeast Area Health Education Center, who are serving as preceptors. The students will also take courses at Morehead State University's Department of Business and Public Affairs on the medical use of information technology, financial issues and debt management and community engagement for health policy.

UK gets $7 million for Alzheimer's research

The University of Kentucky has received a $7 million grant to continue its research on Alzheimer's disease. The research is conducted at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and involves clinical trials and comparing brains diseased by Alzheimer's to those that are not.

"It is the second major grant announcement for UK in two days," reports the Lexington Herald-Leader's Cheryl Truman. "On Monday, UK received a $14.5 million grant to develop pollution-catching technologies for coal-fired power plants."

The grant proves UK "is not only able to compete among the big boys but be one of the big boys" when it comes to Alzheimer's research and treatment, said Michael Karpf, UK's executive vice president of health administration.

At the Sanders-Brown center, more than 700 research volunteers from around Kentucky take part in clinical trails and a brain donation program, which allows researchers to compare Alzheimer's-affected brains to those that aren't. (Read more)