Here are some of the latest health and medical news
developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
3 Brands of Pet Treats Possibly Linked to Dog Illnesses
Some specific brands of jerky pet treats possibly linked to
kidney failure and other serious illnesses reported in at least 600
dogs in the United States are cited in internal Food and Drug
Administration documents.
Of 22 "Priority 1" cases listed in a log of complaints from pet
owners and veterinarians, 13 cited Waggin' Train or Canyon Creek
Ranch jerky treats or tenders, both produced by Nestle Purina
PetCare Co., according to the documents obtained by
msnbc.com.
Three other cases listed Milo's Kitchen Home-style Dog Treats,
produced by the Del Monte Corp. The rest of the cases listed single
brands or no brand.
An FDA spokeswoman said Priority 1 cases involve animals aged 11
or younger for which medical records that document illness are
available,
msnbc.com reported.
Officials at Nestle Purina and Del Monte officials said their
pet treats are safe. FDA officials said repeated tests have found
no solid link between the dog illnesses and any jerky treat brand
or manufacturer.
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Doctors Repair Airway Disorder in Fetus
In what they say was a world-first surgery, Spanish doctors
fixed a blocked bronchial tube in a 26-week-old fetus while she was
still in her mother's womb.
The fetus had bronchial atresia, a condition in which the air
tubes (bronchi) leading from the trachea to the lungs do not
connect properly with the central airways. The condition results in
the death of the fetus in 90 percent of cases,
Agence France-Presse reported.
The surgery, which lasted 30 minutes, was performed in late
2010. The doctors used an endoscope to go through the fetus' mouth
and connect the right bronchi with the central airways.
Eleven weeks after the procedure, the mother gave birth to a
5.5-pound girl named Alaitz, which means "joy" in the Basque
language. The baby is now 16 months old and healthy.
"It is the first time in the world that this has been achieved. It is the first time that it has been tried and it turned out well," Eduard Gratacos, the head of the maternal-fetal medicine department at Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, said at a news conference Tuesday, AFP reported.
"It is an extremely delicate operation since it is carried out near the heart on tissues as thin as cigarette paper. But without this fetal therapy, the baby would not have survived," Gratacos explained.