In the world of endovascular devices, the rule is no longer one size fits all. The recent increase in the variety of stents for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) offers the physician of a patient with coronary artery disease (CAD) the ability to tailor treatment to the individual, rather than tailor the patient to the therapy.
Recent advances in electrocardiogram (ECG) stress testing systems include better waveform analysis algorithms, improved connectivity with electronic medical records and wireless lead systems to untether patients from the machines. In addition, Web-based software and ECG management systems are making it possible to access ECG stress reports and waveforms from anywhere at any time.
Computed tomography (CT) offers a very important, noninvasive diagnostic tool, but the price of high image quality sometimes comes with a cost of high radiation dose. This is especially true of CT angiography (CTA), which may require imaging several cardiac cycles.
Providing exceptional cardiovascular care for patients to achieve the best possible outcomes is the number one goal for ...
February 18, 2011 – A zero-footprint mobile application that enables remote access to imaging tools from hand-held mobile devices, as well as Macintosh- or Windows-based PCs is on display at the Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2011 Annual Conference and Exhibition.
February 18, 2011 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared an ultrasound software tool to measure the thickness of the intima-media layers of the carotid artery to evaluate asymptomatic patients' risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Auto-IMT, from Toshiba, is now available on the Aplio XG, Aplio MX and Xario XG ultrasound systems.
February 18, 2011 – An independent study in the journal Circulation confirmed the early and sustained clinical benefits for a system treating aortic valve disease.
Cardiac positron emission tomography (PET) is growing in popularity among cardiologists because it provides the ability ...
Clopidogrel (Plavix) has been the standard antiplatelet therapy for a decade, but it is now facing challenges with the fact that one-third of patients do not respond to the agent and new drugs offer alternatives.
Healthcare IT vendors offer a variety of cardiovascular information systems (CVIS), picture archiving and communications systems (PACS), imaging and diagnostic hardware they say will integrate into a seamless electronic medical record. However, end-users still complain this level of interoperability does not exist.
Warren Hospital, an acute care community hospital serving Warren and Hunterdon counties in rural New Jersey, supports 214 patient beds and 140,000 outpatient visits per year.
When performing radiofrequency (RF) ablation to treat cardiac arrhythmia, medical professionals must balance the safety ...
The femoral artery approach for cardiac catheterizations has been used as the gold-standard in the United States, but there is growing interest in the transradial approach. One of the main advantages of radial access is increased safety with fewer bleeding complications.
As healthcare marches toward completely wireless electronic medical records, Diagnostic and Interventional Cardiology will periodically highlight how cardiac departments around the country are working toward this goal.
Based on my observations and the devices that caught the eye of the doctors on the Diagnostic & Interventional Cardiology Editorial Advisory Board, we created the following predictions of what will be hot trends to watch in 2011.
Change Healthcare Cardiology Hemodynamics is an integrated hemodynamic monitoring system for monitoring vital signs and ...
February 17, 2011 – Abnormal heart rate turbulence is associated with an increased risk of heart disease death in otherwise low-risk older individuals, according to a study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The study appears in the Feb. 15 edition of the Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology.
February 17, 2011 – On Jan. 15, after 864 days of life with an artificial heart, Charles Okeke received a dual heart and kidney transplant at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix. Okeke had been implanted with the Total Artificial Heart, from SynCardia.
February 16, 2011 – To expand its portfolio of devices for lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD), Boston Scientific this week acquired two new technologies to treat chronic total occlusions (CTOs).