As world leading hospitals, Toronto General Hospital and Toronto Western Hospital are known for their pioneering research and treatment. We’re making headlines all over.
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Archived Headlines from 2007
January 16, 2007 - Key Alzheimer gene identified by TWRI scientist
Toronto Western Research Institute Director Dr. Peter St George-Hyslop and an international team of scientists have discovered a new gene associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease. The groundbreaking study spanned five years and involved 6,000 DNA samples of volunteers from several ethnic groups.
As outlined in the current issue of Nature Genetics, the research team analyzed the faulty processing of the amyloid precursor protein – long associated with Alzheimer’s disease – and linked it to a new gene (SORL1). This breakthrough represents another critical piece of the Alzheimer’s disease puzzle – an area of specialty for Dr. St George-Hyslop. His previous research collaborations at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Research in Neurogenerative Diseases have identified two defective genes that cause aggressive early-onset forms of Alzheimer's. His team was also the first to show that Alzheimer's is a complex disorder with many causes, some of which are genetic. Related Links: February 14, 2007 - North American first: Successful bridge to lung transplant with external, artificial lung for patient at Toronto General Hospital
“…This artificial lung – the Novalung - provides the hope that we can ‘bridge’ or keep a patient alive until a life-saving lung transplant is possible.” (Toronto, February 14, 2007) – In a North American first, the lung transplant team at Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network used the Novalung, an external, artificial lung to keep a patient alive, until a set of donor organs became available for transplantation. The artificial lung functions like normal lungs, while avoiding or reducing lung injuries linked to the use of a breathing machine or ventilator. The procedure was performed because there were no other options for the patient, and the team raced again time to save the patient’s life. Subsequent procedures will be part of a clinical trial at TGH testing the artificial lung as a bridge-to-transplant for end-stage lung disease patients who are waiting for a lung transplant. The device has been used in the Balad Theatre Hospital in Iraq on soldiers who have been critically wounded and needed life-saving measures. The three-hour procedure at TGH was performed on December 2, 2006 by a 20-member team headed by Dr. Shaf Keshavjee, Director of the Lung Transplant Program at Toronto General Hospital, Director of the Latner Thoracic Surgery Research Laboratories, and Professor and Chair, Division of Thoracic Surgery, at the University of Toronto. The patient was on the artificial lung for one day until a pair of lungs and a heart became available for her on December 3, 2006. She remained on the artificial lung for one more day after the operation, allowing her newly transplanted lungs to recover from the procedure. Other key members of the team included: Drs. Tom Waddell, Marc De Perrot, Andrew Pierre, Stefan Fischer, Terry Yau, Stuart Reynolds, and cardiac perfusion manager Stephen Harwood, along with a team of OR and intensive care nurses, anesthesiologists, and other health-care professionals. “Without the artificial lung, our young patient would not be alive today to be a beloved daughter, wife and mother for her three children,” said Dr. Keshavjee. “This young woman came to TGH and was found to be so ill that she was admitted to our intensive care unit on the same day. She needed to have a lung transplant urgently and the wait for donor lungs can be between three to five months,” he said. The TGH lung transplant program performs between 80 to 90 transplants a year, making it one of the largest transplant centres in the world. Yen Tran, 21, is the mother of 4-year old fraternal twins and a 14-month-year-old son. She had rarely been sick in her life, had played soccer in high school, but began to have difficulty breathing after she had her third child. At first, she thought she was “just out of shape,” but grew alarmed when she eventually could not walk up and down the stairs in her home, and her lips and nails turned a dark blue. Yen was admitted to TGH with a condition known as primary or unexplained pulmonary hypertension, a rare lung disorder in which the blood pressure in the pulmonary artery rises far above normal levels putting a strain on the heart. Yen began to realize how ill she was and wondered if she would survive. “I hoped that I could get a pair of lungs, but I was not sure if I could wait that long,” she said, adding that after the transplant, she feels she was “brought back to life and given a second chance. I’m so grateful that I was able to benefit from the artificial lung and a generous donor for real ones. I’m so glad to be alive, and I’m so glad that I can go home to my children.” One of the most terrifying fears which patients waiting for a lung transplant face daily is that they may die before they are able to get a set of donor lungs, explains Dr. Keshavjee, adding that about 20% of patients on the waiting list die before getting a transplant. “Until now, there have been few options for these desperately ill patients, and this device provides hope that we can ‘bridge’ or keep a patient alive long enough to receive a life-saving lung transplant.” The German company NovaLung GmbH is funding the clinical trial. Toronto General Hospital is a partner in the University Health Network, along with the Toronto Western Hospital and the Princess Margaret Hospital. These teaching hospitals are affiliated with the University of Toronto. Toronto General Hospital is a national and international source for research, education and patient care, and is recognized internationally for its innovations in transplantation, surgical innovation, infectious diseases, diabetes and genomic medicine. The lung transplant program is renowned worldwide for its innovation and comprehensiveness in treating patients with severe and complex lung diseases. A pioneer in research on how best to preserve fragile lungs, the program is currently developing new molecular diagnostic and treatment strategies to repair and improve the quality of donor lungs, which could increase the number of transplants performed and survival after transplant. Media Contacts Robert Thompson, April 26, 2007 - Centre aims to become stem cell research leader
Canadian businessman Rob McEwen believes that Canada can be at the forefront of medical research with an innovative approach to curing disease. By donating part of his fortune, he is helping to fund research in the new field of regenerative medicine. August 7, 2007 - New Parnership Bolsters Fight Againt Diabetes
AUGUST 7, 2007, TORONTO – An innovative new partnership between the University Health Network and the University of Toronto’s Banting & Best Diabetes Centre will enhance diabetes education, research and patient care and expand the search for a cure. The collaboration between UHN and BBDC will allow both organizations to bring together experts with diverse backgrounds and expertise from across the University of Toronto, and the U of T Faculty of Medicine’s 10 fully affiliated hospitals and 11 community sites to collaborate on innovative prevention and treatment strategies. “The commitment and resources deployed under this new partnership will significantly enhance our ability to achieve a global impact in research, education and clinical care of diabetes,” said Dr. Daniel Drucker, Director of the BBDC. “The Centre will be a magnet for top researchers and innovators from around the world.” The UHN-BBDC partnership, which will be housed at UHN’s Toronto General Hospital site, continues a tradition in diabetes research and care that dates back to the 1921 discovery of insulin by the Nobel-winning team of Drs. Frederick Banting and Charles Best, who conducted their research at the University of Toronto and treated patients at Toronto General Hospital. A major focus of the new BBDC-UHN collaboration will be the search for a cure through the promise of innovative islet cell biology and stem cell research. “The Toronto General Hospital was instrumental in Banting and Best’s discovery,” said Dr. Robert Bell, President and CEO of University Health Network. “We are very pleased to be able to support the work of the BBDC and provide a place where diabetes research will be the focus of improving lives and ultimately curing this disease.” One in 20 Canadians – at least 1.3 million Canadians aged 12 and over – have diabetes and three-quarters of those Canadians with diabetes suffer other chronic health conditions. If trends continue with an estimated 60,000 new cases diagnosed each year, the number of Canadians with diabetes is expected to almost double to 2.4 million by 2016. August 23, 2007 - North American First Performed at Peter Munk Cardiac Center, Toronto General Hospital
Helping holes in the heart heal naturally with a new disappearing implant TORONTO, August 23, 2007 – Peter Munk Cardiac Centre clinicians at Toronto General Hospital repaired a common heart defect linked to stroke with an implant or patch that encourages the heart’s own healthy tissue to grow and heal itself, and which then disappears within months. In a North American first, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre clinicians used a novel “bioresorbable” device made of collagen and an alloy frame to treat a patient with patent foramen ovale (PFO), a common congenital heart defect. It’s a small hole in the muscular wall separating the heart into the upper right and left sides. Normally, the PFO closes at birth, but in about 30% of the population, it does not. “This type of technology is futuristic, it helps the heart heal itself and then the majority of the device gets absorbed by the body, so there is no barrier to future therapies,” said Dr. Eric Horlick, the lead interventional cardiologist at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre who performed the first procedure in North America on July 13, 2007. “By placing another type of permanent implant we effectively close the PFO, but lose access to the left atrium for further therapies that could impact heart rhythm disorders or valvulvar heart disease. That is an important consideration”. Dr. Horlick is also an Assistant Professor of Medicine at University of Toronto. Derwyn Miller, 59, has had one stroke, and was recently found to have an embolism which blocked a blood vessel in his left eye. This was an especially critical event as he is already blind in the right eye. Tests revealed that he had a PFO, and was facing either being on blood thinning medication for life or receiving an older version of an implant, which would remain permanently in his body. However, when offered the chance to be the first North American patient to receive the new technology, Derwyn eagerly accepted. The procedure took about half an hour, with Derwyn going home the same day. Since then, three other patients have had the procedure and all are doing well. “I was very happy to be the first patient to have this done. It was critical for me to reduce the risk of getting blood clots in my good eye, “ said Derwyn, adding that he was surprised at how quickly he recovered from the procedure. Usually, patients with PFO have no symptoms, but among young patients who have had a stroke of undetermined origin, the PFO may be implicated as the cause. Under certain conditions of increased pressure inside the chest (such as squatting, coughing or sneezing), blood may travel from the right upper chamber to the left upper heart chamber. If there is a clot or other type of particle in the blood in the right side of the heart, it can easily cross the PFO, enter the heart’s left side, and then travel out of the heart to the brain, causing a stroke, or into a coronary artery, causing a heart attack. Until now, these heart defects were usually treated with permanent implants or with blood thinners. In the new procedure, Dr. Horlick and the multidisciplinary team of interventional cardiologists, nurses, and technologists used the BioSTAR implant to patch the opening in Derwyn’s heart. The device, manufactured by NMT Medical of Boston, encourages the heart’s own tissue to grow over it, closing the hole and absorbing the device’s collagen mesh. To date, the device has been used in Europe, and now in Toronto through the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre. It is in clinical trials in the U.S. and not yet commercially available for patients there. “The Peter Munk Cardiac Centre is one of the world’s leading training centres for new technologies to treat structural heart disease,” said Dr. Horlick, adding that “We are expert in interventional technologies and repairs that once required open-heart surgeries and which now allow the patient to recover faster and more easily.” During the procedure, a catheter or tube is threaded from the groin through a vein to the left atrium of the heart. A small delivery catheter that holds the device is slipped into this tube and advanced to the septum, the wall which separates the heart into the left and right sides. The implant is pushed through the hole in the septum and is opened out like an umbrella. The device is then retracted until the umbrella-like device covers the hole. A second patch is deployed on the other side of the septum wall so that the hole is firmly plugged on both sides. With time, most of the device dissolves and is covered by natural heart tissue. The procedure is monitored by a sophisticated, miniaturized real-time echocardiogram performed from the inside the heart , which displays the beating heart, including the chambers and the major blood vessels, helping the cardiologist to accurately guide and place the device and assess the effect of placement. Dr, Horlick adjusts and interprets the echo in real time as the procedure progresses Toronto General Hospital is a partner in the University Health Network, along with the Toronto Western Hospital and the Princess Margaret Hospital. These research hospitals are affiliated with the University of Toronto. The scope of research at Toronto General Hospital has made this institution a national and international source for cardiovascular discovery, education and patient care, as well as for its innovations in transplantation, surgical innovation, infectious diseases, diabetes and genomic medicine. In addition, the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at Toronto General Hospital trains more cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons than any hospital in Canada. November 20, 2007 - Belinda Stronach raises $1 million for breast cancer reconstructive surgery
TORONTO, ON (November 20, 2007) – Belinda Stronach today announced she has raised more than one-half of the funds needed to create The Belinda Stronach Chair in Breast Cancer Reconstructive Surgery at the Toronto General and Western Hospital Foundation and committed to raising an additional $1 million to complete the funding for the Chair. Dr. Marla Shapiro, author of Life in the Balance – My Journey with Breast Cancer, family physician and medical journalist, was instrumental in involving Ms. Stronach with the efforts to establish the Chair at University Health Network and the University of Toronto. Ms. Stronach, whose personal experience with breast cancer began in the spring of 2007, feels that her commitment to the Chair will raise awareness about breast cancer reconstruction and address a gap in the care of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer. “I want more women to be aware that this surgery is available to them and I also wanted to give the program at Toronto General Hospital and the University of Toronto the resources to expand so that more surgeons may be trained in the techniques necessary for successful breast cancer reconstruction,” said Ms. Stronach. Dr. Marla Shapiro is a major advocate and has been instrumental in the creation of the Belinda Stronach Chair in Breast Cancer Reconstructive Surgery. “This Chair will enable the development of patient education programs and clinical research to improve outcomes for women seeking reconstruction,” said Dr. Shapiro. “It will also support the training of surgeons with special focus on the techniques and procedures of breast reconstruction so that we’ll have more experts with an interest in carrying out the surgery across the country.” A Chair is supported with endowed funds, which assures a steady stream of revenue to support a variety of activities. It is an academic appointment and is held by an established or emerging leader in a particular field who normally holds the rank of professor or associate professor at the University of Toronto. Stronach’s fundraising to date, and her commitment to raise an additional $1 million, will help to retain and recruit the brightest stars, advance research and improve the quality of life for breast cancer survivors. “This is a top surgical priority for University Health Network and will be the cornerstone for the development of a comprehensive program for breast cancer reconstructive surgery,” said Dr. Robert Bell, president and CEO of UHN. “This donation will help us to recruit and train more surgeons to perform reconstructive surgeries so we can reduce wait times and be able to offer this option to more women, at our hospital and at hospitals across the country. At present, it is estimated that only 10 per cent of women diagnosed with breast cancer discuss the option of breast reconstruction with their health care team. The Belinda Stronach Chair in Breast Cancer Reconstructive Surgery will help raise awareness and make the treatment available to more women for whom it is an important part of their treatment.” To make a donation to the Belinda Stronach Chair in Breast Cancer Reconstructive Surgery, please visit: www.belindastronachchair.ca About The Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation |
