Massachusetts General Hospital

Red Sox prospect Ryan Westmoreland out of ICU at Phoenix hospital. Boston Red Sox minor league prospect Ryan Westmoreland has been out of the intensive care unit and into the neuro rehabilitation unit at the St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix on Friday.

RED SOX NOTEBOOK PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - Ryan Westmoreland, the Red Sox' 19-year-old outfield prospect, underwent successful surgery yesterday in Phoenix to remove a cavernous malformation in his brain. According to a release by the team, Westmoreland remains in the intensive care unit after the five-hour procedure, but ``has come through the surgery well.'' ``Due to the complexity of this surgery, Ryan will face a difficult period initially before beginning his recovery,'' the release read. Dr. Robert Spetzler of the Barrow Neurological Institute performed the surgery at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. ``It sounds like very encouraging news,'' Sox manager Terry Francona said. ``We're obviously thrilled about that. We're thankful.'' Anthony Rizzo, a fellow Sox prospect and a cancer survivor, got the news in a text message from a good friend of Westmoreland's while on the bus on the way to Port Charlotte for last night's game against the Rays. According to Rizzo, the

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Screening all pregnant women for a rare but fatal genetic disease is too expensive, researchers say in a new report that adds to a recent controversy about whether genetic tests are worth the cost.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Screening all pregnant women for a rare but fatal genetic disease is too expensive, researchers say in a new report that adds to a recent controversy about whether genetic tests are worth the cost.

Dr. Jennifer LaFemina had been caring for the woman with the mysterious illness for nearly three weeks. Suddenly one afternoon, the woman's blood pressure dropped and her pain intensified. It became clear she would die that night. LaFemina, a surgeon in training at Massachusetts General Hospital, felt she should stay late to help the family. But doing so would violate national rules limiting work hours for medical trainees. So LaFemina did something she'd never done before: She asked a colleague to fill in for her the next morning so she could stay with her patient that night. It is the sort of simple request that was for many years unheard of in hard-driving surgery training programs, where worrying about hours was tantamount to admitting you weren't up to the job. ``In past years I would have never asked someone to cover for me,'' she said. ``It might have been perceived as weak. If your grandmother died, you'd still be working.'' LaFemina's decision that night in December is part of

CAMBRIDGE - Harvard University, the liberal arts bastion that tried several times in the early 20th century to unload its engineering program on MIT, is in the midst of a scientific renaissance. The number of Harvard students declaring science and engineering majors has risen 27 percent in the past five years and now accounts for nearly a third of the university's undergraduates. This school year, Harvard introduced one of the country's first undergraduate degrees in human developmental and regenerative biology, known on campus as the stem cell major. Last week, it approved a major in biomedical engineering, to debut next fall. And over the next five years, Harvard's three-year-old School of Engineering and Applied Sciences hopes to begin offering majors in electrical engineering, applied physics, and mechanical engineering. The recent push is reshaping the university as it responds to the changing needs of students and to those of a modern world urgently seeking answers on climate cha

BRUINS NOTEBOOK PHILADELPHIA - After a meeting with a neuropsychological specialist yesterday at Massachusetts General Hospital showed little progress in his condition, Marc Savard will most likely miss the rest of the season, according to Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli. Savard visited Dr. Kelly McInnis, who confirmed that the center has shown little improvement since Sunday, when he suffered a Grade 2 concussion at the hands of Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke. Savard's symptoms include sleep disruption, dizziness, sensitivity to light, nausea, and difficulty concentrating. ``Not certain that he'll miss the rest of the year, but I'd say it's up there as far as probable,'' Chiarelli said. If Savard's season is over, the 32-year-old center will finish with 10 goals and 23 assists in 41 games. He sat out 24 games because of a broken foot and a partial MCL tear. Chiarelli has sent Savard text messages but has not talked to him yet. All quiet - for now After watching the hit on Savard Sunda

Ray Tye was one of Boston's biggest philanthropists, but he didn't much care for the title, and he was even less interested in drawing public attention to his private donations. The chairman emeritus of United Liquors, who died of cancer in his Cambridge home yesterday at 87, gave away millions, often covering the medical expenses of people described in news stories as unable to afford life-saving care. ``He always did this quietly,'' said his wife, Eileen. ``He never wanted his name chiseled into a hospital facade or put on a plaque.'' And he agreed to be the public face of the Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation, established in his honor by his wife and friends, only because it might prompt others to contribute to the good will he saw as his life's work. ``Ray Tye was a great Bostonian and an even greater source of inspiration,'' Mayor Thomas M. Menino said in a statement yesterday. ``He did so much for so many, always offering help to those that needed it the most. His legacy of helping

In a few weeks, an empty lot near the Garfield Middle School in Revere will be transformed into a garden. As the weather warms up, youngsters will be able to get a refurbished bike for free from the Police Department and take a ride along Revere Beach. Their parents will be encouraged to take community walks on the seashore and explore city-run healthy eating classes. There is no time to lose, says Kitty Bowman, director of Revere CARES, a coalition of local officials and physicians at Massachusetts General Hospital charged with improving community health. An estimated 29.2 percent of the city's adult residents qualify as obese, some of the highest obesity levels in Greater Boston and in the state. Overall, an estimated 21 percent of adults are considered obese in Massachusetts. ``You look at the data and you see a very strong need here,'' said Bowman, who recently secured a $50,000 state grant to launch a host of local fitness initiatives, including the Garfield garden and Revere Beac

The federal Medicare program has cited Massachusetts General Hospital for serious problems found during a routine inspection last month, according to a letter sent to the hospital's president yesterday. The letter does not describe the violations found by inspectors, but an agency official said the most serious involved the January death of a patient whose heart monitor alarm had been inadvertently turned off, a case reported by the Globe last month. The government sent the hospital a detailed report, but that report does not become public until later this month, after Mass. General has submitted a plan to correct the problems, which it must do by March 15. One deficiency discovered by inspectors ``constituted a serious and immediate threat to the health and safety of patients,'' according to the letter from Richard Shaw, Boston regional head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Spokeswoman Roseanne Pawelec said Shaw was referring to the January death. It occurred before

Investigators are looking into an elderly heart patient's possible "psychiatric issues" after he allegedly tucked a revolver into the folds of his hospital gown and shot a nursing supervisor who tried to wrest the gun away.

Police: Elderly patient charged in Conn. hospital shooting may have 'psychiatric issues'. Investigators are looking into an elderly heart patient's possible "psychiatric issues" after he allegedly tucked a revolver into the folds of his hospital gown and shot a nursing supervisor who tried to wrest the gun away.

Two studies published yesterday are expected to reignite an emotionally charged debate about whether young athletes should be screened with a heart test to reduce the small risk of sudden death from an undiagnosed heart problem. In the first, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University added an electrocardiogram, known as an ECG, to a routine physical for students. This strategy doubled the number of students with heart disease who were detected, compared with those who did not receive an ECG with their physical. The vast majority of athletes who die suddenly are felled by an abnormal heart rhythm, which can often be detected with an ECG, a test of the heart's electrical activity. However, the Harvard study also found a large number of ``false positives'' - tests indicating a problem when there is none - that would subject athletes to additional costly testing to rule out a heart ailment. Still, based on the findings, Harvard is routinely giving ECGs to all its

Ana can sit on the couch for only about five minutes before it's time to move. First she rides her bright blue unicycle a few times around the dining room table. Then she gets on a swing hung from the doorway and pumps until her feet can touch the ceiling. A few minutes later she's doing laps around the table on her RipStik - a skateboard-like balance board. Then she runs outside and climbs the back fence (more fun than going through the gate), to jump on a trampoline. After mastering a flip, she manages to climb back into the house through an open window. Life with Ana, who turns 11 this month, is action-packed. The fifth-grader has sensory processing disorder - her brain doesn't process information from her five senses in a typical way - leaving her unable to sit still (her muscles just have to move), wear socks (they're too irritating), concentrate in a busy classroom (so much to look at and hear), or be in the same room with a hot pizza (the aroma is overpowering). ``You know when

People at risk of a stroke because of narrowed neck arteries can be safely treated with a less drastic option than the surgery done now, the largest study ever done on these treatments concludes.

Stroke study finds neck stents as good as surgery for fixing narrowed arteries. People at risk of a stroke because of narrowed neck arteries can be safely treated with a less drastic option than the surgery done now, the largest study ever done on these treatments concludes.

Diets rich in fat, trans fats, raise a woman's risk of stroke after menopause, study finds. A moment on the lips, forever on the hips? A bad figure is hardly the worst of it. Eating a lot of fat, especially the kind that's in cookies and pastries, can significantly raise the risk of stroke for women over 50, a large new study finds. We already know that diets rich in fat, particularly artery-clogging trans fat, are bad for the heart and the waistline.

Diets rich in fat, trans fats, raise a woman's risk of stroke after menopause, study finds. A moment on the lips, forever on the hips? A bad figure is hardly the worst of it. Eating a lot of fat, especially the kind that's in cookies and pastries, can significantly raise the risk of stroke for women over 50, a large new study finds.

A moment on the lips, forever on the hips? A bad figure is hardly the worst of it. Eating a lot of fat, especially the kind that's in cookies and pastries, can significantly raise the risk of stroke for women over 50, a large new study finds.

Diets rich in fat, trans fats, raise a woman's risk of stroke after menopause, study finds. A moment on the lips, forever on the hips? A bad figure is hardly the worst of it. Eating a lot of fat, especially the kind that's in cookies and pastries, can significantly raise the risk of stroke for women over 50, a large new study finds.