March 2009 news from the Journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons

A new study suggests that while health care is one of the strongest sectors of the ailing US economy, achieving a substantial, sustainable reduction is US health care spending is not probable.

When repairing severed or damaged motor nerves with a donor nerve graft, surgeons have traditionally used a sensory nerve from another area of the patient's body. However, these patients often do not fully regain function in the injured area.

Genetic research has revealed that commercially available medicinal leeches used around the world in biomedical research and postoperative care have been misclassified for centuries. Until now, the leeches were assumed to be the species Hirudo medicinalis, but new research reveals they are actually a closely related but genetically distinct species, Hirudo verbana.