Aortic dissection is rare, but when it occurs, a patient’s prognosis can be poor, even with timely medical diagnosis and treatment. It is the most frequently diagnosed lethal condition of the aorta. In the past, a type A dissection had been treated with surgery and a type B dissection with drugs to lower blood pressure and heart rate. Another option, thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR), where a stent-graft is placed inside the aorta, was introduced in 1999. This procedure restores the normal aortic anatomy to prevent aortic expansion or rupture. A study in the April issue of the Journal of Endovascular Therapy evaluates the performance of a specific stent-graft, the Relay thoracic stent-graft.
May 11, 2011 – Terumo entered into a purchase agreement to acquire Harvest Technologies Corp, which is working to commercialize the world's first point-of-care stem cell therapy.
May 11, 2011 -The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) will host its 22nd Annual Scientific Sessions: The Patient the Image: The Role of Cardiovascular Ultrasound in Clinical Decision Making (ASE 2011), June 11-14 at the Palais des Congres de Montreal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Providing exceptional cardiovascular care for patients to achieve the best possible outcomes is the number one goal for ...
May 10, 2011 – The Impella percutaneously deployed ventricular assist device showed an overall average hospital charge savings when compared to the standard-of-care intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP). The economic analyses is based on data from the PROTECT II study, which compares Impella to IABP hemodynamic support.
May 10, 2011 – Patients suffering from blockages of the arteries to the kidneys now have access to a new stenting treatment option with the launch of Cook Medical’s Formula Renal Balloon-Expandable Stent at the Society for Cardiovascular Angioplasty and Intervention (SCAI) 2011 Scientific Sessions. Commercial availability of Formula follows pre-market approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this year for use in patients with atherosclerotic disease of the renal arteries.
May 10, 2011 – A simple blood test may help prevent a serious complication associated with a contrast agent commonly used in MRI exams, according to a study published in the July issue of Radiology.
Cardiac positron emission tomography (PET) is growing in popularity among cardiologists because it provides the ability ...
May 10, 2011 – Thirty Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) members visited Capitol Hill on May 2 to meet with congressional offices on a variety of issues facing the nuclear medicine and molecular imaging community. Forty-eight meetings were held with staff members from key congressional committees and from the local districts of the SNM members.
May 10, 2011 – The world's smallest and thinnest high-energy cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds) and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) to treat heart failure and sudden cardiac death and offer excellent longevity were launched this week in Europe. Boston Scientific Corp. announced the launch and first implants of its Energen and Punctua CRT-Ds and ICDs in Europe and other international markets.
May 10, 2011 – In a “real-world” test of treatments for an overly thickened heart muscle, the use of alcohol injections to shrink the unwanted tissue appears to be significantly safer and less expensive than open-heart surgery to cut it away, according to a study presented today at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2011 Scientific Sessions.
When performing radiofrequency (RF) ablation to treat cardiac arrhythmia, medical professionals must balance the safety ...
May 9, 2011 — John Webb, M.D., FSCAI, has traveled the globe teaching fellow physicians how to repair or replace faulty heart valves using minimally invasive techniques. In a keynote Founders’ Lecture delivered at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2011 Scientific Sessions last week, he recount the challenges that arose in developing valve therapies that avoid open-chest surgery. Instead, interventional cardiologists use slender tubes, or catheters, that are threaded into the heart through blood vessels.
May 4, 2011 -- Two new clinical studies will use the Carillon Mitral Contour System, an investigational device for percutaneous treatment of functional mitral regurgitation (FMR).
May 6, 2011 — In the case of angioplasty and stenting, readmission rates due to procedural complications are less than 1 percent, according to a study presented at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2011 Scientific Sessions.
Change Healthcare Cardiology Hemodynamics is an integrated hemodynamic monitoring system for monitoring vital signs and ...
May 6, 2011 – Rhythmia Medical Inc. and Endosense have engaged in a joint development project to integrate the contact-force data provided by Endosense’s TactiCath force-sensing ablation catheter into Rhythmia’s advanced three-dimensional cardiac mapping, visualization and navigation system.
May 6, 2011 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has released its list of pre-market approval (PMA) decisions for new or enhanced medical devices from March 2011.
May 6, 2011 – The report recommends training focused on three levels of competency based on the individual interventional cardiologist's level of experience with simple and complex cases, including patients with challenging anatomy.