EZbra breast dressing facilitates easy and safer recovery after various breast procedures

EZbra Advanced Wound Care Ltd is about to launch its EZbra– a sterile, disposable, all-in-one breast dressing in US markets. The unique dressing aims to address the various needs and challenges that patients face while recovering from breast surgery. Founded by Efrat Roman– EZbra is a women-led start-up based in Israel and aims to design innovative wound care products for breast and chest surgery.

Every year, about 13 million breast procedures are performed globally, yet there is no uniform standard for breast dressing. EZbra is designed to meet the needs of surgeons and patient both.

The design enables the operating surgeons to customize it according to each patient and procedure need. EZbra allows for stabilization of breast implants and holds drain in addition to offering tailored compression level and adaptation to individual breast anatomy.

It is free from latex and does not adhere to the skin wound providing protection from Medical Adhesive-Related Skin Injuries (MARSI) and other adhesive related complications.

At the same time, it helps patients to ease the healing process and improve the body image. It can be worn under any top and hugs the body snuggly providing feminine shape and defined anatomy. It is easy to apply with detailed instruction so that patients can change at any time in the privacy of their own home. It comes in 3 different sizes – to cover a range of breast and body shapes and varying bra sizes.

“We are proud to bring our product to the US market and to introduce our solution to surgeons and their HCP staff to provide patients with a tailored, sterile and disposable breast dressing option,” said Efrat Roman, a breast cancer survivor, and EZbra CEO. “Our goal is to offer a quality post-operative option while providing patients with the independence, dignity, and self-esteem they deserve during recovery.”

Here is a video showing how to apply the EZbra dressing

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ACOG updates its recommendations for treatment of Dysmenorrhea and Endometriosis in the Adolescent

The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) has issued new guidance on diagnosing and relieving dysmenorrhea in adolescents, published in December issue of Journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Obstetrician and gynecologists frequently come across adolescents with dysmenorrhea in their practice due to high prevalence ranging between 50% to 90%. It is also responsible for recurrent short-term school absenteeism and reduced quality of life.

Most of the adolescents suffering from dysmenorrhea have primary dysmenorrhea–– painful menstruation in the absence of pelvic pathology.

If the physician suspects it to be primary dysmenorrhea, no pelvic examination or ultrasound is indicated in the initial evaluation. The patient should be put on empirical therapy after a careful history and physical examination.

If the patient does not respond to empirical therapy with NSAIDs and hormonal treatment in 3-6 months, she should be investigated for secondary causes or irregular treatments.

The most common cause of secondary dysmenorrhea is endometriosis, the other being obstructive anomaly of the reproductive tract (hymenal, vaginal, or Mullerian), uterine fibroids and polyps, adenomyosis, cervical stenosis, and adhesions.

Patients who do not respond to treatment for primary dysmenorrhea should be investigated for secondary causes which include pelvic examination and pelvic ultrasound. If pathology is detected, treatment of the cause is warranted.

If no pathology is seen, suspect endometriosis and consider a diagnostic laparoscopy. About 75% of adolescents and young adults with dysmenorrhea who do not respond to NSAIDs and hormonal therapy have endometriosis as the primary pathology. 

Endometriotic lesions present a different appearance in adolescents as compared to a young woman and are typically transparent or red and are challenging to diagnose.   

If a young woman is diagnosed with endometriosis, treatment consists of biopsy of the lesions along with destruction, ablation, or excision of the visible lesions at the time of initial laparoscopy. The patient should also be started on suppressive medical therapy to prevent further endometrial proliferation.

Consideration should be given to placing a levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) at the of diagnostic laparoscopy to minimize the pain of insertion later. 

If patients do not respond to conservative surgical therapy and suppressive hormonal therapy, they often benefit from at least six months of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist therapy with add-back medicine.

NSAIDs are the principal medications used for pain relief in endometriosis, and there is no role of long-term opioids in the management of endometriosis, besides being used by a specialized pain management team.

ACOG committee opinion No. 760

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Novel blood test to detect ovarian cancer at an early stage shows promising results

A new blood test developed by researchers from Adelaide, Australia has the potential to diagnose early and late stage ovarian cancer. The test is engineered from a bacterial toxin and is highly effective in detecting levels of a specific biomarker released in blood by the tumor cells.

With lack of early-stage symptoms and no known definitive screening test, ovarian cancer is difficult to detect at early stages. However, it has a 90% five-year survival rate if detected early as opposed to only 20% five-year survival if detected at the later stages.

The research was published in the November issue of the Journal of Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.

Human tumor cells undergo aberrant glycosylation and release N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc)-containing glycans in the bloodstream. The researchers from University of Adelaide and Griffith University noted that a subunit of toxin produced by Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli recognizes Neu5Gc containing glycans and can be used as a test to detect the abnormal glycans in sera of ovarian cancer patients.

The research team previously used a Neu5Gc-specific lectin, SubB2M, to enhance recognition of Neu5Gc-containing glycans but in the study, they utilized the optical detection technique of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to detect the binding between SubB2M and Neu5Gc in sera of cancer patients.

In a study involving 69 patients, which included 22 healthy patients and the rest were from all four stages of ovarian cancer, the team showed that Neu5Gc-containing tumor antigens have the potential to serve as diagnostic markers for detection of early-stage ovarian cancer.

Neu5Gc were increased in a majority of stage I/II ovarian cancer and is also uniformly elevated in stage IIIC and IV of ovarian cancer. The test showed a sensitivity of 90% for detection of ovarian cancer for stage I/II, that increased to 100% for stages III and IV of cancer.

“Ovarian cancer is notoriously difficult to detect in its early stages, when there are more options for treatment and survival rates are better. Our new test is, therefore, a potential game changer,” says Professor James Paton, Director of the University of Adelaide’s Research Centre for Infectious Diseases in a media release.

Ovarian cancer is responsible for more cancer deaths than any other cancer of female reproductive tract and ranks fifth in all cancer deaths among women. According to The American Cancer Society, about 22,240 women will receive a new diagnosis of ovarian cancer, and about 14,070 women will die from ovarian cancer in 2018.

The team is currently planning on more extensive studies and looking for commercial partners to bring the test into the market as early as possible.

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