News Release

Cedars-Sinai Medical Tip Sheet for October

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

“WE’RE ALL ONE PEOPLE,” SAYS WHITE MUSLIM ORGAN DONOR WHO GAVE ONE OF HER KIDNEYS TO AN AFRICAN AMERICAN CHRISTIAN IN A JEWISH HOSPITAL

Patricia Abdullah, Sherman Oaks (CA), and Mike Jones, Los Angeles, have more in common than her kidney. Even though their backgrounds couldn’t be more diverse – he’s an African American Christian male and she’s a White American Muslim woman who is, by birth, a descendent of the Hawaiian Ali’i (royal family) – they are equally committed to the concept that “we’re all one people. “There’s no black or white, no Christian, Muslim or Jew, and no Arab or non-Arab,” says Abdullah, who donated one of her kidneys to Jones last week. “Differences just don’t mean anything; they’re not valid. There are no races; there are just human beings!” she says emphatically.

THE LARRY KING CARDIAC FOUNDATION AND GUIDANT CORPORATION DONATE SURGERY, EQUIPMENT TO GIVE 29-YEAR-OLD HESPERIA WOMAN A LIFE-SAVING DEFIBRILLATOR

Thanks to the combined efforts of the Divisions of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, The Larry King Cardiac Foundation and Guidant Corporation, a 29-year-old Hesperia, CA, woman whose family suffers from Long QT Syndrome was able to receive a life-saving medical device. When her 7-year-old son, P.J., excitedly reached for a donut, then suddenly collapsed in January 1998, 26-year-old Titia Domijan, Hesperia, CA, had no idea how drastically her life was about to change. She would soon learn that she, her mother and two of her four children had a congenital heart disorder she had never heard of – a genetically linked disease that is almost impossible to detect unless doctors are looking specifically for it, but which can cause sudden death – with no advance warning. To view this full release online, please go to: http://www.cedars-sinai.edu/newsmedia/images/Cardiology-LKCF-LongQTSyndr.PDF

NATIONALLY RENOWNED CARDIOLOGIST AND CHAIR OF ACC’S PREVENTION OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES COMMITTEE AVAILABLE TO DISCUSS NEW AHA GUIDELINES

If you're seeking a highly qualified expert to discuss the new AHA Guidelines, C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD, is available. A board-certified specialist in cardiovascular diseases, she has served since 1991 as Director of the Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. In 2001, she was appointed Director of the Women’s Health program and Chair holder of the Women’s Guild Chair in Women’s Health. She currently serves as Chair of the American College of Cardiology’s Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases Committee. Notably, Dr. Bairey Merz serves as Chair of a multi-center study called Women’s Ischemic Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) that received its initial funding in 1997 from the NHLBI. Because the study triggered many new projects, the NHLBI announced in 2001 funding for a five-year WISE extension. Cedars-Sinai’s Women’s Guild also awarded a $150,000 grant to fund research that grew out of the initial project.

POSSIBLE PRECURSOR TO “OPTICAL BIOPSIES” IN BRAIN SURGERY AND A “WATER CHANNEL” INVOLVED IN BRAIN SWELLING

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute will present information on two recently conducted animal studies at the annual meeting of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The first study used technology known as time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy to non-invasively distinguish between normal tissue and tumor mass. The second study investigated the mechanisms that cause swelling of the brain. Its title is “The Role of Aquaporin-4, a Molecular Water Channel, in Cerebral Edema. This research builds on the discovery about a decade ago of “water channels,” proteins that allow water to pass through cell membranes. To view this news release online, please go to: http://www.cedars-sinai.edu/newsmedia/images/MDNSI-CNS2001-Aquaporin&Inf.PDF

IRRADIATED BALLOONS MAY HELP PREVENT PLAQUE RE-GROWTH IN BLOCKED ARTERIES

A clinical trial studying the use of radioactive balloons as a means of preventing artery blockages from re-growing in people who have previously been treated with coronary artery stents is underway at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and other sites nationwide. According to Raj Makkar, M.D., co-director of the Cardiovascular Intervention Center and co-director of the Interventional Cardiology Research Program in the Division of Cardiology at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, the purpose of the trial is to determine whether placing a balloon with a radioactive source in it directly at the site of the blockage reduces or prevents re-growth of scar tissue inside a stent in people with blocked arteries.

###

To pursue any of these story ideas, please call 1-800-880-2397. For other Cedars-Sinai stories, please go to http://www.cedars-sinai.edu/newsmedia/xmldefault.asp?Page=5.5


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.