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Journalists: For links to web-video and audio files, see the bottom of this post.
Preventing deadly ruptures of the blood vessels in the brain is the aim of a new Mayo Clinic project to help radiologists detect aneurysms with far greater speed and accuracy. The new method uses analytics technology developed by the Mayo and IBM collaboration, Medical Imaging Informatics Innovation Center and has proven a 95 percent accuracy rate in detecting aneurysms, compared with 70 percent for manual interpretation. Project findings were reported in the Journal of Digital Imaging (published online Nov. 24, 2009).
Already saving patients’ lives, the project has examined more than 15 million images from thousands of patients since the project began in early July. It uses technology that combines advanced imaging with analytics to highlight likely aneurysms for faster detection. This helps radiologists identify them before they result in brain hemorrhage or neurological damage. In the future, Mayo Clinic expects to use the same approach for other radiology detection tests such as the diagnosis of cancer or vessel anomalies in other parts of the body.
“This fully automatic scheme is significant in helping radiologists detect aneurysms in magnetic resonance angiography exams,” says Mayo radiologist Bradley Erickson, M.D., senior author of the study and co-director of the Medical Imaging Informatics Innovation Center at Mayo Clinic.
A Mayo Clinic article published in the December 2009 edition of Minnesota Hockey Journal gave a medical and psychosocial perspective of concussions in ice hockey.
Aynsley M. Smith, PhD and Michael Stuart, MD of Mayo Clinic’s Sports Medicine Center, and Dave Dodick, MD, Mayo Clinic neurologist, authored the paper, entitled “Concussion in Ice Hockey: What’s the Buzz?”
Mayo experts answered discussed topics such as who is most likely to get concussed, signs and symptoms of concussions, treatment, and prevention.
On Friday, January 22, a Mayo Clinic research team will land in Mendoza, Argentina to begin a month-long expedition monitoring extreme athlete Diane Van Deren as she climbs Aconcagua not once, but twice. During the second climb she will race to the summit, a climb she hopes to complete in record time.
Bruce Johnson, Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic cardiology researcher, will be monitoring Diane’s vital signs remotely from base camp. More background on the research is on Advancing the Science, Mayo Clinic’s research blog.
In the photo above, Diane participates in the “60 Minute Pack Test,” an endurance performance based test where she is supposed to walk or run as far as she can on a treadmill when the grade is at 15 percent and while carrying a pack that’s 25 percent of her body weight. The distance covered on the treadmill, oxygen consumption response, and heart rate response are the important physiological variables examined. The purpose was to see what percentage of her maximal oxygen consumption and heart rate (maximal aerobic capacity) she can exercise at for 60 minutes.
Dr. Bruce Johnson and Diane Van Deren review results of baseline tests completed at Mayo Clinic in December.
You can follow Diane’s progress on Twitter via the #XMedicine hash tag, or by following @MayoClinic. We also will post periodic updates, including video and photos from Aconcagua, here on Mayo Clinic News.
Update 1/20/10: Diane’s first update from Argentina:
Good Morning Argentina! What a great way to start the morning and head out early with a small breeze and sunshine begging to rise. It’s 70 degrees here this morning and coming from Colorado with a high of 40 degrees and snow…it’s a heat wave here! I’m running in this huge park that’s miles in length and width and I got lost even though it’s not far from the hotel! Every time I asked for directions the louder and more excited folks got! But I made it back…had a wonderful breakfast…what a treat to be here! Leaving, now, for a trek around the city. Yes, I have my map. Adios! Di
Update 1/21/10: The Rochester Post-Bulletin has a story about the project today. Diane also sent an update:
Hey Guys! Marc and Heidi arrived about an hour ago with Damian, who will be one of our guides on the mountain. Damian is Willie’s brother and was just helicoptered to some of the camps to drop off food, etc. for our first group. His face is very red from the winds on the mountain. It was a clear day on Aconcagua but the winds can be a challenge. So FYI round one we are meeting tonight at 6 to go over details. It’s hot – maybe 100 degrees today. See the Mayo group tomorrow…can’t wait! Love to all – Di
Update 1/22/10: Here is some video from the Mayo Clinic team’s arrival in Argentina, where they were met by Diane, who had arrived earlier in the week:
Update 1/23/10: A message from Dana Sparks, from Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, who is facilitating the film crew and communications from the scene:
Sun is shining and cooler temps this morning. Last night was a team dinner with over 20 climbers from all over the world! Diane said North Face has identified some of them to be stationed at different points on the mountain for safety, when she and Willie do the speed ascent. Everybody is loading gear into trucks right now for the trip to Penitentes where Dr. Johnson will do his orientation describing the research equipment and the teams plan to monitor Diane on the climbs. Our camera crew has more gear than the 3 climbers combined! We’re on the trail…will update soon and when we can get reception. Oh- I just asked Diane if she has a message and she asked for everyone to keep all the climbers in their prayers for a safe journey.
Update 1-25-10 - For the newest photos, visit Mayo’s research blog, Advancing the Science.
Update 1-27-10 -
Message from Luke Johnson – “We made it to base camp.. about 14000 ft. Everything is going great thus far. Diane is healthy and ready to rock!”
Update 1-28-10 -
Message from Dr. Bruce Johnson – “Limited access here at basecamp. All is well, still strategizing with Damian, Willie, Diane and us. Altitude is 4000-4500 meters. Our team is many of the TNF The North Face South American leadership, guides, porters, mules. A rest day today, but about a 1000 m climb tomorrow. no more mules. We spend our time now acclimating and pushing gear up higher and higher camp 1, 2, 3. Diane is doing extra training each day. We have lots of footage, interviews, etc. We also have with us an executive, Hector D’Amico, of the largest newspaper in Argentina, La Nacion. He did an interview with us today. They all love Mayo Clinic! There is much to learn in field studies, but so far so good. This has been a bad year for cerebral edema on the mountain, but not sure why at this point. possibly related to large changes in pressure. Most of us have lost 3-5 lbs.
Message from Diane -”Quick note on Damian’s computer. All is good… we climbed to first camp today with heavy pack and gear unloaded and the group came down. Will took me up to 17000 feet to prepare for speed attempt. A little more climbing to prepare for round two– feeling great! That’s the highest I’ve ever been –beautiful! I’m sitting next to Bruce and Luke going over monitoring today. All is good… everyone is healthy and doing well. Now the hard work begins for all with gaining of altitude. Love to all! got to go xoxo Di”
Update 1-30-10: Message from Diane:
Wow what a day! I was going to try and call but it’s either a phone call or a shower! Sorry, this girl needs a shower before we head up the mountain. So, what a day today I have to share with you. Mayo Clinic here and Willie going over our different training we need to be doing for speed attempt. Willie took me to 18000 ft today…all my oxygen saturation levels and heart rate etc are perfect today! Was really special because Mayo went over emergency meds I have etc. with Willie and how my wirng system is showing all signs. It really was so great to feel awesome climbing to 18000 feet! Willie knows people on the mt. and we did see some high altitude sickness. Med teams came for them quickly. When Willie and I got to 18000 feet at Camp Nido we had lunch with the med staff there and they will assist us on mt if emergency is needed for Willie and me. So great to meet the staff. It was stunning to be on top of the mt on a crystal clear blue sky day and you could see forever! I told Bruce and Luke that I think this is a glance of what heaven is going to be like. It was great to climb and feel in my element. No headache, no tightness of lungs etc. As we know there can be lows also but when it all comes together its wonderful! Tomorrow we will take gear to camp one and we will not have contact for maybe 6 7 8 days as it depends on weather conditions on the mt. No summitting today because of the winds. Well love to everyone and keep prayers for everyone…start the summit tomorrow xo Di
Update from Kasha Rigby – “As we bathe in the alpenglow of this evening we forget the storms of the last few nights. we are all at plaza de mulas, our basecamp, and feeling well. the weather has been predictably unstable – sunny and clear in the mornings but by mid day clouds building with electricity and rain. we had one clear night where we were able to identify the southern cross and watch a magical moonrise, but the last couple nights have been rain down lower and snow higher, mixed with gropple and hail. the infamous andean winds have luckily not hit us yet.
willie arrived this morning after running in from the highway in 3 hours – a journey that took us two days. we were starting to worry he might have to winter over in antarctica. he arrived feeling fresh, before those of us languishing on a rest day had even begun breakfast. he brings the news that weather should improve for at least the next 4 days giving us time to establish ourselves higher on the mountain.
in the meantime we eat and drink and rest. acclimitization and hydration are such critical pieces for success higher on the mountain. monitored by our mayo clinic doctors we have all become compulsively interested in our heart rates and blood/oxygen saturation. today we all weighed in and each have lost between 2-5 pounds and we have not even really started the climb. we have been going through a series of resting and step tests to see how our bodies react and recover
we are a formidable group – 22 now with willie, but moving together with an amazing efficiency that can only be attained with each member being highly conscious of working as a group. it is impressive to be with such skilled and professional individuals, each adding their unique perspective and experience.
tomorrow we take a load to camp one, a steep scree climb, and then come back to basecamp for one more night.
being here with diane and her team of mayo doctors/scientists is such a great honor. watching diane pace herself and the focus of the team is a treat and an inspiration!
Update 1-31-10: From Willie Benegas
we brought a load of hard gear, food and some tents to camp one yesterday, just over 16,000 feet. our group of 22 represents el salvador, argentina, chile, the us, uk, and venezuela so at this point many of the group are at a new high point with each step – for many their first real climb of a mountain. it brings a sweet freshness to our climb.
we have moved into a high pressure weather system with the full moon but with this comes evidence of winds up high. last night we were treated to a ridiculous sunset and then full moon rise over the ridge of aconcagua.
diane and willlie strike out ahead of the group each day and were headed out again early this morning while the rest of us sorted gear and rested at camp. on their accelerated acclimitazation program they went to over 18,000 ft today. kasha has held full yoga classes each afternoon with the the peak on one side and the crashing of seracs on the other – breathtaking surroundings in which to practice. damian is madly keeping things organized and flowing smoothly for our giant group with such mixed experience and objectives, we will run through another set of tests with the mayo doctors this afternoon.
and tomorrow we head up the mountain. our plan will be to set three camps on the mountain over 4 days and then head for the summit. with good luck and weather we hope to summit on on the 5th and be back in basecamp maybe that night or the next day. no dispatches while we are on the mountain but we will take heaps of pictures to share.
we are headed out! the winds of yesterday turned most people off the summit but look like they have settled down a wee bit. wish us luck!
Update 2/6/10:
The Mt. Aconcagua Expedition is taking a respite after enduring at least 4 nights of 60 mph winds and -20 degree temperatures. Hopes were high they might reach the summit by this weekend …but in true collaborative form, the team of climbers decided to trek back to base camp at 14,000 feet and renew themselves for another attempt, in a few days. The Monday forecast is much improved with winds supposedly dying down early in the week.
A Mayo Clinic study found that combined positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) scan of the whole body appears to detect cancer in individuals with paraneoplastic neurologic disorders more accurately than some other commonly used tests. This study was posted online today in Archives of Neurology and will appear in the March print issue.
Paraneoplastic neurological disorders are thought to occur when the immune system of a patient with cancer becomes activated to fight the cancer cells, but accidentally attacks the brain or nerves as well. Paraneoplastic neurological disorders are uncommon and usually appear in patients even before their cancer is diagnosed.
Andrew McKeon, M.B., B.Ch., and colleagues analyzed the medical records of 56 patients with suspected paraneoplastic neurologic disorders whose standard evaluations (including CT) did not reveal cancer. All of them underwent PET-CT at Mayo Clinic between 2005 and 2008. PET-CT detected cancer in 18 percent (10 patients).
According to Dr. McKeon, four of the 10 detected cancers using PET-CT were outside the anatomical scope of CT of the chest, abdomen and pelvis and the other six detected cancers were too small to be detected by appropriate regional CT. Thus, he explains, CT alone is not sufficient to exclude cancer in cases with a high index of suspicion for cancer.
Journalists: For links to audio files, see the bottom of this post.
A Mayo Clinic study published in the January issue of Archives of Neurology found that moderate physical activity performed in midlife or later appears to be associated with a reduced risk of mild cognitive impairment. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a transitional state between normal aging and the earliest features of Alzheimer’s disease.
Portions of this study were first presented at an American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting.
Yonas Geda, M.D., a Mayo Clinic neuropsychiatrist, and his colleagues studied 1,324 individuals without dementia who were part of the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging. Participants completed a physical exercise questionairre between 2006 and 2008 and were assessed by an expert consensus panel and classified as having normal cognition or mild cognitive impairment. A total of 198 participants were determined to have mild cognitive impairment. Midlife moderate exercise (brisk walking, aerobics, yoga, strength training or swimming) was associated with a 39 percent reduction in the odds of developing the condition. Additionally, moderate exercise in late life was associated with a 32 percent reduction.
According to Dr. Geda, physical exercise may protect against mild cognitive impairment via the production of nerve-protecting compounds, greater blood flow to the brain, improved development and survival of neurons and the decreased risk of heart and blood vessel diseases. Or, he explains, a second possibility is that physical exercise may simply be a marker for a healthy lifestyle.
Journalists: The following audio clips from Dr. Geda are available for download and use in your stories.
A new public television health series and video podcast featuring Mayo Clinic physicians and patients from the Florida campus will launch Sunday, Jan. 10.
Health Matters, produced by WJCT in Jacksonville, Fla., focuses on important health issues and medical care innovations in North Florida. The hour-long show will reveal the personal stories and experts’ advice about exciting new ways to improve health, practice better nutrition and live healthy lives. The inaugural episode focuses on surgical innovations and will feature stories on robot-assisted surgery at Mayo Clinic as well as the bariatric center, liver transplant program and intraoperative MRI.
Mayo Clinic in Florida is the primary underwriter for the series that will run every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. on WJCT7-1 (Comcast 8 and 440) and 8:30 p.m. on WJCT7-4 (Comcast 212). To see more about upcoming episodes, go to the Health Matters Web site.
Mayo Clinic Staff and Patients Featured in New WJCT Health Series
The Mayo Clinic Diet has been one of the great urban legends of the last half century, especially since the invention of email. One mythical version was based on eating grapefruit, another on bacon and eggs, and a third on cabbage soup.
As Editor-in-Chief Donald Hensrud, M.D., says, “It’s the healthiest way to lose weight quickly there is.” Here’s a TV story that introduces the new book:
You also can see Dr. Hensrud discussing the diet on the Martha Stewart Show on Monday, January 4. Dr. Hensrud will be live on CBS Early Show on Monday, January 11. And here’s an article from today’s Washington Post in which Dr. Hensrud was interviewed for a holiday-related story on the pros and cons of drinking.
For more background and discussion on the Mayo Clinic Diet, check out the Mayo Clinic Diet blog.
Journalists: For links to web-video and audio files, see the bottom of this post.
Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a new technique known as STATISCOM to identify seizure origins in the brain. The increased accuracy of STATISCOM over the SISCOM technique, used previously, improves surgical accuracy and increases probability of seizure freedom for patients with epilepsy. The new technique will be described in the January 2010 issue of Neurology.
Epilepsy is a disorder characterized by the occurrence of two or more seizures, and it affects more than 3 million Americans. “About 10 percent of patients with epilepsy have very frequent seizures that are not controlled by medication and adversely affect their quality of life,” says Elson So, M.D., a Mayo Clinic epileptologist and an author of this paper. “These patients should be evaluated for epilepsy surgery. In doing so, it is imperative that we can clearly and distinctively pinpoint seizure location in the brain. In many cases, the standard tests of MRI and EEG cannot do so.”
Mayo Clinic researchers had previously developed SISCOM, or subtraction ictal SPECT coregistered to MRI, as a tool for epilepsy surgery evaluation. In this method, a SPECT, or single-photon emission computerized tomography, scan taken during a seizure is compared with a resting scan. The differences in the two scans are mapped onto an MRI, highlighting the active seizure area(s). Mayo Clinic researchers understood that a limitation of SISCOM is that it does not account for the normal variation in blood flow in a patient’s brain from minute-to-minute. This led to the development of STATISCOM, or statistical ictal SPECT coregistered to MRI. STATISCOM adds the step of considering these normal ariations, and factors this into the subtraction process. The result is a more accurate identification of the active seizure area(s) in a patient’s brain.
“Every individual’s brain waves, blood flow and heart rate vary from minute to minute, even second to second,” says Dr. So. “By recognizing this with STATISCOM, we are able to show a result that is much more distinctive and clear with regard to seizure localization. In fact, the accuracy of the ‘hot spot’ within the temporal lobe is nearly three times better with STATISCOM than with SISCOM.”
In a Mayo Clinic study comparing SISCOM and STATISCOM, the ability of blinded reviewers to detect an abnormality with STATISCOM was two times better than their ability to detect the same abnormality with SISCOM.
“If we are able to pinpoint seizure location with STATISCOM, and if that finding corresponds with the patient’s MRI and EEG studies, the likelihood of that patient benefiting from surgery is about twice greater than if the seizures cannot be localized with these means,” says Dr. So. “Thus, STATISCOM is a powerful tool that will help us improve surgical accuracy and increase the probability of seizure freedom in our patients.”
Journalists: The following web-video and audio clips with Dr. So are available for download and use in your stories.
Journalists: For links to web-video and audio files, see the bottom of this post.
Ten years ago, Mayo Clinic investigators published a seminal paper on mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Since then, thousands of papers have appeared in the medical literature focusing on this early stage of cognitive disorders. According to Mayo Clinic scientists, understanding MCI plays a critical role in the efforts to identify the earliest markers of Alzheimer’s disease and develop therapies to stop or slow its progression. This month, Mayo Clinic investigators authored a review paper in the Archives of Neurology summarizing both the progress that has been made in the field of MCI and the challenges that remain.
“There is currently a push toward identifying individuals at the earliest clinical stage of Alzheimer’s disease. This is important because the earlier you can intervene with therapies, the more likely you are to prevent further damage to the brain,” says Ronald Petersen, M.D., Ph.D., neurologist and director of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. “Over the past decade, we’ve come to realize that MCI may represent the very earliest clinical features of Alzheimer’s disease. Most studies, both here at Mayo Clinic and elsewhere, have demonstrated that individuals with MCI have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease within two to five years.”
The growing interest in MCI also has led to a variety of drug treatment trials that have tested whether it’s possible to slow the progression of MCI to Alzheimer’s disease. According to Dr. Petersen, almost all of these trials have been negative, but it continues to remain an active area of investigation.
“We’re optimistic with regards to potential treatment for MCI and, ultimately, Alzheimer’s disease,” says Dr. Petersen. “MCI is a stage at which individuals are minimally symptomatic, but there is a great deal left to preserve. As researchers and pharmaceutical companies work to design therapies to intervene at the earliest possible stage, we’re hopeful that we’ll eventually be able to stop or slow the rate of cognitive decline.”
The Mayo Clinic Study of Aging has played a significant role in the past decade’s MCI research. Another way Mayo Clinic investigators are participating in the current research efforts is through leadership in the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI).
Journalists: The following web-video and audio clips with Dr. Petersen are available for download and use in your stories.
Rochester, Minn. ― John Noseworthy, M.D., who moved into the president & CEO role at Mayo Clinic in November, conducted his first briefing with local media today.
Mayo Clinic began a planned leadership transition last May when its Board of Trustees elected Dr. Noseworthy to succeed Denis Cortese, M.D., as president and CEO of Mayo Clinic. Mayo has a long history of smooth leadership transitions starting with the Mayo brothers, and this succession process has been under way for more than a year. Dr. Cortese and Dr. Noseworthy worked together over the past seven months until Dr. Cortese’s retirement in November.
Dr. Noseworthy is a professor in the Department of Neurology and has served as medical director of the Mayo Clinic Department of Development and as vice chair of the Mayo Clinic Rochester Executive Board. He recently led the “Mayo Clinic in the Year 2020” task force to help establish long-term institutional direction.
Born in Melrose, Mass., he received the M.D. degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, completed his neurology training at Dalhousie University and the University of Western Ontario and a research fellowship at Harvard Medical School. In 1990, he joined Mayo Clinic, and served as chair of the Department of Neurology from 1997 to 2006.
Dr. Noseworthy specializes in multiple sclerosis, a field he contributed to for more than two decades in the design and conduct of controlled clinical trials receiving research funding from the Medical Research Council of Canada, the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (USA) and the National Institutes of Health. He played a pivotal role in founding the Sylvia Lawry Centre for Multiple Sclerosis Research in Munich, Germany in 2001 for the purpose of advancing research into effective therapies for this illness. He is the author of more than 150 research papers, chapters and editorials and is the author or editor of several books including the three-volume textbook Neurological Therapeutics: Principles and Practice now in its second edition. From 2007 to 2009 he served as editor-in-chief for Neurology, the official journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Below are some soundbites from Dr. Noseworthy at today’s media briefing.
