Survival Rate

Temple University Hospital will "voluntarily inactivate" its lung-transplant program later this month because of the departure of its primary lung-transplant surgeon, a spokeswoman said. The North Philadelphia hospital said the 28 patients on its waiting list for lung transplants have been notified of the change. Rebecca Harmon, director of public relations for Temple University Health System, said Temple would stop doing lung transplants May 27 but planned to resume them when it had hired a new surgeon.

Adding further evidence that experience counts in medicine, a recent study found that patients were more likely to survive a particularly deadly type of stroke if treated at hospitals that cared for large numbers of patients with that condition. The death rate for subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) - a type of stroke in which a blood vessel bursts and releases blood into the spinal fluid surrounding the brain - was 40 percent lower at hospitals that treated more than 35 SAH patients a year than at those that treated fewer than 10, according to an article published last month in the Journal of Neurosurgery.

PLAY IT AGAIN, JIMMY Unforgettable. That's what you are . . . feeling about the electronically created Natalie and Nat King Cole duet. How else to explain that "Unforgettable" has come from nowhere to place third on Hotel Atop the Bellevue pianist Jimmy Rudolph's quarterly list of 10 most-requested songs. As usual, the race for first place was between "As Time Goes By" and "Memory" from Cats, with the former coming out on top this season. TOT TRENDS They listen to whale sounds at birth, they eat special-delivery baby food, they ride around in $1,000 European prams.

Pennsylvania's 18 Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) have a stunning record when it comes to nurturing new businesses. The start-up companies that they coach have a five-year survival rate of 75 to 80 percent. That's double the typical success rate, according to Therese Flaherty, director of the Wharton SBDC. "We help people kind of avoid the mistakes," she says. "Or if they've made some, we help them fix them. " The SBDCs- there are three in the area-are funded by the federal Small Business Administration and state Department of Community and Economic Development.

On a day devoted to matters of the heart, 26 police departments in Montgomery and Bucks Counties were presented with external defibrillators to ensure that the beat goes on in the hearts of those they serve. The ceremony held at Abington Memorial Hospital yesterday afternoon ended a six-month campaign by the hospital that raised more than $240,000 from about 2,000 area residents and businesses. That money was used to buy 105 automatic external defibrillators (AEDs), portable machines the size of laptop computers that send an electric shock to the heart in cases of sudden cardiac arrest.

A chest X-ray, which provided early detection of Barbara Steiner's lung cancer, is not universally recommended as an annual precaution for smokers. The American Cancer Society doesn't recommend an annual chest X-ray for smokers who have no symptoms of lung disease. Some physicians question the cost-effectiveness of offering a chest X-ray to every smoker. A Cancer Society study performed in the 1970s found no difference in the long-term survival rates of male smokers over age 40 who had chest X-rays and those who did not. But less extensive studies have shown that early detection can make a difference in survival.

Waiting for Marco Dapkey was a promise-filled senior football season. His Neshaminy High coaches had selected him to be one of the squad's captains, he was expected to be a two-way contributor for the Redskins, and recruiting interest was growing. All that changed on June 13. Struggling with his breathing the night before and into the morning, a panicked Dapkey woke his mother, Rita. That prompted a short trip to Aria Health Bucks County, where physicians, Rita Dapkey said, thought at first that Marco might have a serious sinus infection or, maybe, pneumonia.

Writing about the Mummers and tradition, you have to go back further than the irate local correspondents. Seventy years? A hundred? C'mon, fellas. It's, like, many many thousands, give or take an eon or two. Momus the Mocker was a tradition when my ancestors were painting themselves with blue mud and howling at trees - or rolling up the last of the harvest and crowning the Green Man, then setting him on fire and rolling him down into the Mediterranean. Followed by feasting and debauchery and God-knows-what.

For the first time since he was 17, Robert Mingin, 42, has been liberated from his twice-daily insulin injections, perhaps for good. Surgeons at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania said yesterday that a pancreas Mingin received from a brain-dead donor on June 24 was functioning well and producing insulin. It is the first pancreas transplant in the Philadelphia region that has shown promise of success. Surgeons said that most unsuccessful pancreas transplants fail in the first six months, and those that succeed a year usually last indefinitely.

The Daily News article "Why Did Lolita Die?" told of a heart-transplant patient who couldn't afford her life-sustaining medication. A better headline would have been "Who Killed Lolita?" for she was surely killed. Is killed too strong a word? If, by the stroke of a pen, a bill is passed that makes life-sustaining or death-preventing treatment unavailable and the person dies, was that person killed? Webster's Dictionary describes killed as "to cause the death of. " I would agree with Mr. Webster.

Temple University Hospital will "voluntarily inactivate" its lung-transplant program later this month because of the departure of its primary lung-transplant surgeon, a spokeswoman said. The North Philadelphia hospital said the 28 patients on its waiting list for lung transplants have been notified of the change. Rebecca Harmon, director of public relations for Temple University Health System, said Temple would stop doing lung transplants May 27 but planned to resume them when it had hired a new surgeon.

Waiting for Marco Dapkey was a promise-filled senior football season. His Neshaminy High coaches had selected him to be one of the squad's captains, he was expected to be a two-way contributor for the Redskins, and recruiting interest was growing. All that changed June 13. Struggling with his breathing the night before and into the morning, a panicked Dapkey woke his mother, Rita. That prompted a short trip to Aria Health Bucks County, where physicians, Rita Dapkey said, thought at first that Marco might have a serious sinus infection, or maybe pneumonia.

Waiting for Marco Dapkey was a promise-filled senior football season. His Neshaminy High coaches had selected him to be one of the squad's captains, he was expected to be a two-way contributor for the Redskins, and recruiting interest was growing. All that changed on June 13. Struggling with his breathing the night before and into the morning, a panicked Dapkey woke his mother, Rita. That prompted a short trip to Aria Health Bucks County, where physicians, Rita Dapkey said, thought at first that Marco might have a serious sinus infection or, maybe, pneumonia.

Pennsylvania's 18 Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) have a stunning record when it comes to nurturing new businesses. The start-up companies that they coach have a five-year survival rate of 75 to 80 percent. That's double the typical success rate, according to Therese Flaherty, director of the Wharton SBDC. "We help people kind of avoid the mistakes," she says. "Or if they've made some, we help them fix them. " The SBDCs- there are three in the area-are funded by the federal Small Business Administration and state Department of Community and Economic Development.

Capt. Joel Neuenschwander was just powering down his Black Hawk helicopter after a routine transport flight the other day when the call came, the one he often waits for hours each shift to hear. It's a call that brings a jolt of adrenaline, coupled with the quiet dread that yet another fellow soldier might be horribly wounded. "Medevac, medevac, medevac. " The words are spoken sharply through the crackle of a walkie-talkie that each crew member carries around headquarters on this sprawling base north of Baghdad.

Adding further evidence that experience counts in medicine, a recent study found that patients were more likely to survive a particularly deadly type of stroke if treated at hospitals that cared for large numbers of patients with that condition. The death rate for subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) - a type of stroke in which a blood vessel bursts and releases blood into the spinal fluid surrounding the brain - was 40 percent lower at hospitals that treated more than 35 SAH patients a year than at those that treated fewer than 10, according to an article published last month in the Journal of Neurosurgery.

On a day devoted to matters of the heart, 26 police departments in Montgomery and Bucks Counties were presented with external defibrillators to ensure that the beat goes on in the hearts of those they serve. The ceremony held at Abington Memorial Hospital yesterday afternoon ended a six-month campaign by the hospital that raised more than $240,000 from about 2,000 area residents and businesses. That money was used to buy 105 automatic external defibrillators (AEDs), portable machines the size of laptop computers that send an electric shock to the heart in cases of sudden cardiac arrest.

Patient survival rates have improved for most types of organ transplants in the United States, although 80 programs - including several in the Philadelphia area - have lower-than-expected results. Liver, lung and heart-lung transplant patients have significantly better chances of surviving a year or longer than they did when the last survey was taken three years ago, the United Network for Organ Sharing said Thursday. But there were wide disparities in the success rates. The report found that 34 kidney programs, 25 liver programs and 21 heart programs had lower-than-expected survival rates for organs after a year.

The Daily News article "Why Did Lolita Die?" told of a heart-transplant patient who couldn't afford her life-sustaining medication. A better headline would have been "Who Killed Lolita?" for she was surely killed. Is killed too strong a word? If, by the stroke of a pen, a bill is passed that makes life-sustaining or death-preventing treatment unavailable and the person dies, was that person killed? Webster's Dictionary describes killed as "to cause the death of. " I would agree with Mr. Webster.

Writing about the Mummers and tradition, you have to go back further than the irate local correspondents. Seventy years? A hundred? C'mon, fellas. It's, like, many many thousands, give or take an eon or two. Momus the Mocker was a tradition when my ancestors were painting themselves with blue mud and howling at trees - or rolling up the last of the harvest and crowning the Green Man, then setting him on fire and rolling him down into the Mediterranean. Followed by feasting and debauchery and God-knows-what.