A thumb-sized sound processor worn behind the ear and held in place by a small, magnetized titanium implant inserted under the skin is now being offered at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center to people with single-sided sensorineural hearing loss and for those with conductive hearing loss who cannot wear conventional hearing aids.

As the number of women having twins has increased, so has the odds of developing a serious pregnancy complication called twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS). This disorder affects as many as 15 percent of identical twin pregnancies, and results in uneven blood flow between the fetuses. Until recently the outcome was usually death or disabilities for the surviving babies.

A simple test could reinvent how scoliosis is cared for in adolescents. NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital is among the first centers nationally to offer ScoliScore™, a new DNA-based molecular test that helps predict the risk of spinal curve progression. In other words, the test provides doctors with actionable information about the likelihood that an abnormal spine curve will get significantly worse or stay the same.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center has established a new Prostate Cancer Institute, dedicated to pursuing aggressive and innovative prostate cancer treatments while providing patient care in a comfortable and compassionate setting. Dr. Ashutosh Tewari, a leading robotic urologic surgeon, has been appointed as its director.

CBS News anchor Katie Couric and physicians from The Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health at NewYork-Presbyterian will host a seminar on screening for colon cancer at the Center on Thursday, March 26, 2009. The seminar is free and open to the public.

On March 25th 2009, Steven J. Corwin, MD, the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, appeared on NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams to discuss electronic medical records.

A new book by Dr. Panchali Dhar, an anesthesiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, called "Before the Scalpel: What Everyone Should Know About Anesthesia" (Tell Me Press) demystifies the process and terms associated with anesthesia and arranges the information in an easy-to-understand, topic-by-topic sourcebook.

Three patients at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center were among the first in the United States to be implanted with a next-generation artificial heart pump called the DuraHeart™ Left-Ventricular Assist System. The surgeries took place earlier this year. NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia is one of only three centers in the U.S. currently enrolling patients in a clinical trial studying the device.