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New stroke research center with Toshiba A stroke research center unmatched in the world in technology and sophistication is being established at the university with a $3.6 million gift of equipment and support services from Toshiba America Medical Systems. Toshiba has provided the most advanced equipment available to help researchers develop and perfect new minimally invasive neurovascular surgery techniques using ultra-high-tech image-guidance technology. "Minimally invasive procedures will dominate surgery in the 21st century," explained L. Nelson Hopkins, director of the new center and a pioneer in the area of endovascular surgery. "Tomorrow's neurovascular technology will be developed, tested and perfected here," Hopkins said.
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A promising treatment for premature infants A five-center trial of partial liquid ventilation to treat life-threatening respiratory distress syndrome in extremely premature infants has shown that the procedure is safe and effective, and improves lung function in some children who fail to respond to conventional treatment, increasing their chances of survival. Corinne Leach, UB assistant professor of pediatrics, headed the multicenter investigation of the procedure, which was developed by Bradley Fuhrman, UB professor of pediatrics. Leach and Fuhrman are also affiliated with the Children's Hospital of Buffalo. Results of the trial were reported in the lead article of the September 12, 1996 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Respiratory distress syndrome, the leading cause of death in premature infants, develops because the lungs of these tiny babies have yet to secrete surfactant, the substance that prevents the air sacs from collapsing. Conventional therapy for this condition-increasing the pressure and oxygen concentration inside the lungs in an effort to force more oxygen into the bloodstream‹can cause permanent lung damage and result in bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Partial liquid ventilation involves introducing an oxygen-rich liquid called perflubron into the baby's lungs. The liquid allows the lungs to inflate with less pressure than air, and permits oxygen and carbon dioxide to pass through the air sacs and into the bloodstream more easily.
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