Press Release
Date: 12-19-12Name: Rob Forman Phone: 973-972-7276
Email: formanra@umdnj.edu
Research by UMDNJ Expert is Chosen by NIH Institute as One of Year's "Top Findings"
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NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- The FOCUS (“Functional Outcomes in Cardiovascular Patients Undergoing Surgical Hip Fracture Repair”) study led by Jeffrey Carson, MD, has been selected by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute as one of the top 34 research findings published in fiscal year 2012 and supported by the NHLBI. Carson is Richard C. Reynolds Professor of Medicine and Chief, Division of General Internal Medicine, at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. The 34 key research findings were selected because they advanced the knowledge of blood, cardiovascular, and lung diseases.
"Dr. Carson is a dedicated physician-researcher and this multi-year this study has positively impacted the healthcare delivery system," stated Peter S. Amenta, MD, PhD, dean of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. "The FOCUS study provided high-quality evidence to guide the use of red blood cell transfusion."
The FOCUS study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, involved 2,016 patients with an average age of 82 who underwent hip fracture surgery. It found that a liberal strategy for providing red blood cell transfusions following the surgery to inpatients with cardiovascular disease neither lowered their post-surgical risk of death nor improved their recovery rates when compared to a restrictive transfusion strategy.
In speaking about the research, which the American Association of Blood Banks later incorporated into new guidelines, Susan B. Shurin, MD, deputy director of NHLBI, said, "Blood transfusions can save lives, but they are not without risks. Knowing when to perform blood transfusions may help patients avoid unnecessary medical procedures, and their associated risks, and help conserve our limited blood supply."
Additional information from NHLBI can be found here.
About UMDNJ:
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is New Jersey’s only health sciences university with more than 6,000 students on five campuses attending three medical schools, the State’s only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and New Jersey’s only school of public health. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, which provides a continuum of healthcare services with multiple locations throughout the State.
