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ANs in the media
and other related literature
Here is how you can find medical articles on-line. Also, a great site for latest AN research news is the Johns Hopkins "What's New" site.
Magazine: Time, April 12, 1999 (p. 70)
What to read: a short article about a woman who won a lawsuit against her
surgeon for removing her breast due to cancer. Even though he says that she is the one who
decided to have a radical mastectomy rather than a partial one, and even though there were
no medical guidelines in place stating that patients should be advised against radical
mastectomies, she now claims that he should have known that a radical mastectomy was
not necessary, and should have done a better job in convincing her not to have it!!
This really makes one wonder about all the AN patients and their decision-making
process: like non-radical mastectomy, FSR exists, and is even medicare-approved, yet not
mentioned by most surgeons during consultations with AN patients. It is true that there
are currently no guidelines that tell them to mention it, but this woman's legal theory
can mean trouble ahead.
Journal: The New England Journal of Medicine, April 8, 1999
(Vol. 340, No. 14)
What to read: Correspondence about Management of Acoustic Neuroma
Comment: There are letters from surgeons, GK providers, and FSR
providers, for a range of opinions. In fact, this is the first time this prestigious
publication covers FSR. It's on the web, at http://www.nejm.org/content/1999/0340/0014/1119.asp
Journal: Neurosurg Focus 5 (3)
What to read: Quality of life following AN surgery (Article 3, Sept. 1998)
Comment: This is a wonderful article (here is the link),
proposing the use of a quality-of-life (QOL) scale for follow-ups of all AN patients, so
QOL outcomes are given more consideration than they are now. We strongly support
this idea!
Book: Vestibular
Rehabilitation, 1999 (Susan Herdman)
What to read: The whole book.
Comment: this is for ANers with vestibular problems who really
want to understand what's going on and how to treat it.
Book: Important Advances in Ocology 1996 (DeVita, ed)
What to read: Chapter 13, "FSR", by authors from the Joint
Center for Radiation Therapy (Harvard Medical School).
Comment: Their perspective is from conventional FSR, i.e. 25 to 30
sets, but for AN, there is a comment that hypofractionation (that is, 3 to 5 sets) is
intriguing and warrants further investigation (p. 222).
Publication: American Journal of Otolaryncology 1999
Jan;20(1):65-8
What to read: "Transforming growth factor-beta1 expression in human
acoustic neuroma" (by M. R. Cardillo et. al. from the University La Sapienza, Rome,
Italy.)
Comment: Progress is being made towards being able to predict AN
growth, to be able to differentiate rapidly progressive or potentially recurrent tumors
from slow-growing tumors that are unlikely to recur.
Publication: Plastic Reconstr Surgery 1999 Feb;103(2):473-80;
discussion 481-2
What to read: "Free split and segmental latissimus dorsi muscle
transfer in one stage for facial reanimation" (by W. Wei et. al. from Shanghai Second
Medical University, China).
Comment: In a study involving 86 patients with long-standing facial
paralysis, 80 achieved satisfactory results with this state-of-the art procedure.
Publication: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, spring
1999
What to read: an article by Dr. Salvatore V. Pizzo (Duke University)
reporting his discovery that ATP synthase promotes the growth of blood vessels
which feed tumors in humans.
Comment: Please see our discussion of this
discovery.
Dutch literary internet magazine: Writersblock (http://www.writersblock.net), 2/99 issue
What to read: A piece by the Archiver Ya'akov Almor about his AN
experiences of the past three years, including both microsurgery and radiation - in
Dutch.
Comment: To find it, press "Archief" (Archive), then
"Auteur" (author), then select "Ya'akov Almor" and hit
"submit", then find the piece dated "Februari 1999". The editors
added a few nice illustrations and even provided a link to the archive!
TV show: CBS 60 Minutes, sometime in 1999
What to watch: a segment on AN treatments, including interviews at SIUH
Comment: We wish we knew more to tell you!
Publication: New England Journal of Medicine, November
12, 1998
What to read: "Long Term Outcomes after
Radiosurgery for Acoustic Neuromas", by L.Dade Lunsford, MD
Comment: The Pittsburgh radiosurgeons report long-term clinical outcomes
for 162 patients treated with Gamma Knife between 1987 and 1992. We thought it was very
worthwhile and worth passing along.
Web site: http://www.sph.umich.edu/eih/UMSCHPS/ln-t1.htm
What to read: Health Impacts of Low-level Radiation, Bernard L. Cohen, Univ. of
Pittsburgh
Comment: (from a patient) This site discusses the incorrectness of the
standard linear/no-threshold theory. This fundamental theory is the
one on which all the governmental regulations on low-level radiation exposure are based.
When I read this I was boggled to realize that this theory, which has led to the
Radon scares and moving the mine-tailings in Colorado, is now seen as wrong. This
text has great value to show that what is stated as 'absolute known truth' by the experts
can change, and how futile it is to think experts know what the truth is -- they just have
a better guess at it.
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Last Edited: Wednesday, October 30, 2002