The first patient tests of a new leadless pacemaker show that the device can deliver the same life-saving therapy as a traditional single-chamber pacemaker without potential lead-related complications. The findings are part of the LEADLESS trial and were released at Heart Rhythm 2013, the Heart Rhythm Society’s 34th Annual Scientific Sessions.

During the American College of Cardiology 2013 (ACC.13) annual meeting in March, vendors discussed several trends they are observing in the cardiac ultrasound market and displayed the latest echo advances.

The Aspirus Heart & Vascular Institute (AH&VI) services 14 counties in north central Wisconsin and an additional seven counties in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The institute receives patients from five hospitals within its system and approximately 10 other hospitals from within this service area. With such a large, mostly rural population — patients come from as far away as 80 miles or more — the organization needed to find a way to more efficiently serve its ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and heart valve repair patients.

There is a growing trend in the use of small, portable extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) systems for hemodynamic support. In years past, ECMO systems were a tool of the operating room, primarily for bypass surgery. Older systems required a perfusionist to watch the machine 24 hours a day while it was in operation. Today’s ECMOs use consoles that are much easier to use and do not require a full-time person to monitor. Also, as the technology has been miniaturized, simplified and now uses a percutaneous access system, ECMOs are being used outside the OR, including the cath lab, when a large amount of support is needed that cannot be provided by IABPs or pVADs.

For patients who received stents to restore blood flow through the main arteries supplying blood to the brain, inflating a tiny balloon inside the arteries after implantation of the stent reduced restenosis, or repeat blockages, of the treated arteries, making them less likely to reclose. Modifying the order in which carotid stenting and balloon angioplasty is performed could also alter risk of stroke complications, according to the investigators of the Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy versus Stenting Trial (CREST) sub-study presented at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2013 Scientific Sessions.