Catheterization News and Research

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WATCHMAN Device helps reduce stroke risk, stop use of blood thinners in patients with atrial fibrillation

MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute now offers patients with irregular heart rhythm a minimally invasive option to reduce the risk of stroke, as well as enable stopping long-term use of blood thinning medication. Physicians at MedStar Heart at MedStar Washington Hospital Center were the first in the Washington metropolitan region to successfully implant the WATCHMAN Device on June 16 in two patients with atrial fibrillation (A-fib).

3 Jul 2015

UCLA cardiologists use less invasive approach to replace heart valve

Last summer, after a long career as a successful entrepreneur and a brief retirement, Richard Whitaker was helping to start another new company. Unfortunately, a serious health concern caused a couple of interruptions in his work on the new venture. One of Whitaker's heart valves wasn't working properly, which caused congestive heart failure and led to two hospitalizations within several months.

2 Jul 2015

DC Devices announces completion of enrollment in REDUCE LAP-HF trial for diastolic heart failure treatment

DC Devices, Inc., a medical device company pioneering first-in-class structural heart devices for heart failure, today announced that it has completed enrollment and implants in the REDUCE LAP-HF trial, an open label, multi-center, single-arm study of the InterAtrial Shunt Device (IASD) – the world's first transcatheter device for the treatment of diastolic heart failure (DHF), which is also known as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

22 Jun 2015

Rapid cooling procedures prior to catheterization reduce extent of myocardial infarction

After an acute myocardial infarction, patients treated with rapid lowering of body temperature by combined cold saline infusion and endovascular cooling had less heart muscle damage and reduced incidence of heart failure. Therapeutic hypothermia was especially protective against heart muscle damage in patients with a large area of myocardium at risk according to an analysis of two clinical trials published in Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

10 Jun 2015

Physicians at UH Case Medical Center implant revolutionary device to treat right ventricular heart disease

University Hospitals Case Medical Center physicians in the Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute were the first in the state of Ohio to implant a revolutionary device to treat right ventricular heart disease.

5 Jun 2015

Essential Medical to highlight MANTA Large Bore closure system at 2015 Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference

Essential Medical, Inc., a privately held medical device company, announced today that it has been invited to speak at the 2015 Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference in New York city on June 4th.

3 Jun 2015

Unfors RaySafe launches LowerMyDose.com to educate physicians, clinical staff on radiation exposure risks

For years, the radiology industry has focused on reducing, or eliminating patient exposure to radiation. Recently, the industry has shifted attention to the cumulative effect radiation exposure has over the course of a physician's career.

3 Jun 2015

Botulinum toxin A effective for treating bladder disorders

While Botulinum toxin A (BTX-A), known to the public as Botox, is commonly associated with smoothing wrinkles for a more youthful appearance, three studies presented at the 110th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association are proving BTX-A to be more than just a cosmetic solution.

17 May 2015

Fecal transplantation cures C. diff infection, eliminates multi-drug resistant pathogens

A fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) not only cured a case of Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infection in a 66 year old man; it eliminated populations of multi-drug resistant organisms both in the patient's gastrointestinal tract, and several other body sites.

7 May 2015

New guide helps doctors, nurses to identify hospital patients who may benefit from urinary catheter

What's the only thing worse than having a urinary catheter when you're in the hospital? Having one and getting a urinary tract infection (UTI) - or worse - as a result. Now, a new detailed guide gives doctors and nurses information to help decide which hospital patients may benefit from a urinary catheter - and which ones don't.

6 May 2015

St. Luke's Celebrates Groundbreaking for New Hospital in Monroe County

St. Luke’s University Health Network has broken ground for the new St. Luke’s Hospital-Monroe Campus, adjacent to Wigwam Road and Route 611, in Bartonsville. This will be the first new hospital in Monroe County in 100 years.

30 Apr 2015

Medicure records net revenue of $3.3 million for first quarter 2015

Medicure Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, today reported its results from operations for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015.

30 Apr 2015

Young age and small body weight predispose pediatric CHD patients toward re-intervention

A retrospective review of 633 adults and children who underwent bioprosthetic pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) for congenital heart disease between 1996 and 2014 indicated that the risk of re-intervention was five times greater for children than adults, with the likelihood of re-intervention decreasing by 10% for each increasing year of age at surgery.

29 Apr 2015

Survey: 52% of acute coronary syndrome patients don't take their prescribed OAP therapy

People with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) who undergo an angioplasty procedure and receive a heart stent are prescribed an oral antiplatelet (OAP) therapy and aspirin to help prevent a heart attack, a blood clot in their heart stent (stent thrombosis), or even death.

28 Apr 2015

Pulmonary Hypertension Center at RI Hospital receives PHA accreditation

The Pulmonary Hypertension Center at Rhode Island Hospital is one of the nation's first centers of its kind to be accredited by the Pulmonary Hypertension Association. For those affected by pulmonary hypertension (PH), accreditation assures them and their providers that they have access to the most advanced care available in the country.

20 Apr 2015

Study finds no statistical difference between CTA and functional stress tests

A new type of CT scan initially costs slightly less than the traditional stress test to diagnose blocked coronary arteries in patients with chest pain, but its lower cost did not translate into medical care savings over time, according to an analysis by Duke Medicine researchers.

23 Mar 2015

Using arm as access point for catheter-based heart procedures lowers risk of major bleeding, death

Patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing coronary angiogram, a procedure used to assess blockages in the heart's arteries, had a significantly lower risk of major bleeding and death if their interventional cardiologist accessed the heart through an artery in the arm rather than the groin, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 64th Annual Scientific Session.

23 Mar 2015

Cardiac catheterization performed through wrist can reduce bleeding, lower mortality

The groin is the usual access point for investigating or treating the heart with a catheter, but using the wrist as access point reduces bleeding and lowers mortality. These findings are from an international study with major involvement from the University of Bern published today in the Lancet.

19 Mar 2015

Study compares effectiveness of CT scan and traditional stress test in patients with chest pain

Patients with chest pain have similar rates of heart attacks and other major cardiac events within two years whether they were evaluated with a new type of CT scan or the traditional stress test, according to results presented today by Duke Medicine researchers at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology.

17 Mar 2015

Minimally invasive surgery helps elderly patients with severe aortic stenosis live longer

Elderly patients once considered too frail or too sick for aortic valve replacement surgery are living longer, with better quality of life, following a minimally invasive surgery, compared to patients who did not undergo surgery, according a study published in The Lancet today.

16 Mar 2015