Learn about the latest advances from UCLA
Patients with metastatic or inoperable neuroendocrine tumors of the digestive tract or pancreas now have a new treatment option with the first targeted radioactive drug approved in the United States to treat gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs). Lutathera (lutetium Lu 177 dotatate), a peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) drug, was approved by the FDA for adults with GEP-NETs. About one-in-27,000 people in the U.S. is diagnosed annually with GEP-NETs, which develop in the hormone-producing cells of the neuroendocrine system.
The Divisions of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus of the UCLA Stein Eye Institute and Doheny Eye Center UCLA in Arcadia, Pasadena and Orange County specialize in the comprehensive evaluation and management of pediatric ocular disorders, including ocular motility (muscle) disorders. Strabismus (both pediatric and adult) and amblyopia are among the most common disorders treated by UCLA pediatric ophthalmologists.
Recent advances in eye imaging and treatment have dramatically improved outcomes for patients with retinal diseases and lowered the risk of severe vision loss and blindness. Doheny Eye Center UCLA retinal specialists are international leaders in the development and implementation of new noninvasive imaging technologies for diagnosing, treating and monitoring retinal diseases. In recent years, optical coherence tomography (OCT) has provided ophthalmologists with cross-sectional views of the structure of the retina, while OCT angiography renders information on vascular structures throughout the retina. Swept-source OCT provides a newer method of obtaining images in the deep retina and choroid.
Aflibercept and ranibizumab are approved by the FDA for CRVO-related macular edema; however, bevacizumab is often used off-label based on its reported efficacy and lower cost per dose — approximately $100 per injection for bevacizumab compared with approximately $2,000 per injection for aflibercept and $1,800 per injection for ranibizumab. Doheny Eye Center UCLA ophthalmologists led a multicenter, randomized clinical trial comparing bevacizumab and aflibercept for treating CRVO that showed both medications reduced macular edema and were equally effective after six months of treatment.
The MitraClip transcatheter mitral repair procedure was initially approved in 2013 by the FDA to treat patients with degenerative — or primary — mitral valve disease who are not good candidates for traditional surgery. The approval has now been expanded to include heart failure patients with functional — or secondary — mitral regurgitation whose symptoms have failed to improve with guideline-directed therapy. Because most heart failure patients with functional mitral regurgitation are in very poor health, they are usually not candidates for surgical mitral valve repair.
Intensive cardiac rehabilitation using the Ornish Lifestyle Medicine™ approach has been shown to improve health by promoting weight loss; boosting exercise capacity and body composition; and lowering cholesterol and triglyceride levels, blood pressure and depression scores. Ornish Lifestyle Medicine is the only cardiac rehabilitation program shown to slow, stop or even reverse the progression of heart disease. UCLA’s program — the first anywhere to offer Dr. Ornish’s intensive cardiac rehabilitation approach — consists of 18 four-hour sessions meeting twice a week for nine weeks. The program focuses equally on exercise, nutrition, stress management and emotional support.
The UCLA Division of Allergy and Immunology offers the latest research-based care at community offices in Beverly Hills, Porter Ranch, Santa Monica, Torrance, Thousand Oaks and Westwood, as well as to inpatients at our hospitals in Westwood and Santa Monica. In addition to offering a robust clinical food desensitization program, UCLA allergy and immunology clinicians treat a full spectrum of allergy and immunology disorders, including primary and secondary immune deficiencies, urticaria, allergic rhinitis, asthma, drug allergies, atopic dermatitis, mast cell disorders and eosinophilic esophagitis.
A significant percentage of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients being treated for urinary symptoms have such large prostates — over 80 grams in size — they are not candidates for TURP or green laser vaporization. Effective treatment for these patients requires the removal of more prostate tissue than can be accomplished with these popular, minimally invasive approaches. HoLEP — holmium laser enucleation of the prostate — is a minimally invasive procedure capable of removing a large volume of tissue to successfully treat patients with very large prostates.
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