Attacking a platelet-depleting autoimmune disease in a whole new way, an experimental drug is helping patients with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) once again produce healthy amounts of platelets -- with no major side effects. That's the conclusion of a new, multicenter study led by Dr. James B. Bussel, professor of pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medical College, attending pediatrician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and director of the Hospital's Program for Platelet Disorders. His team's findings appear in The New England Journal of Medicine.

A major clinical trial finds that a combination of two common medications, tolterodine (Detrol LA) and tamsulosin (Flomax), works better than either drug alone for men struggling with lower urinary tract symptoms, including tough-to-treat overactive bladder (OAB).

In a New York City first, interventional cardiologists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center implanted the Watchman stroke-prevention device in a patient with chronic atrial fibrillation (AF), an irregular heartbeat associated with a six-fold increased risk of stroke. The procedure is part of a Phase II multicenter clinical research trial comparing the investigational device to the standard treatment, the blood-thinner Coumadin.

For the 170,000 morbidly obese patients who undergo bariatric surgery each year in the U.S., the stomach-reducing procedure is just the first step back to health and self-esteem. The emerging field of post-surgical body contouring remains relatively new and unfamiliar to many non-specialists, however.

Toddlers and young children who watch violent movies, including Halloween horror films, television shows or video games may be more likely to develop anxiety, sleep disorders, and aggressive and self-endangering behaviors. The Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia University Medical Center study, which was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), was presented on Oct. 28 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry in San Diego.

Thousands of Americans suffering from the chronic inflammatory bowel condition known as Crohn's disease are leading longer, healthier lives due to innovative new surgeries, according to experts at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Robotic surgery, largely pioneered for prostate cancer surgery, is rapidly being adapted for use in other areas, including for bladder cancer patients. Urologic surgeons at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center now have significant experience — and have demonstrated considerable success — with robotics for removal of the bladder, also known as cystectomy. Their findings are published in a recent edition of the peer-reviewed publication, the British Journal of Urology-International.

The lives of three Los Angeles–area kidney transplant patients were transformed by one of the West Coast's first three-way living donor kidney transplant chains, made possible through the generosity of a non-directed, altruistic kidney donor from New York City -- announced today at a joint news conference.