Catheterization News and Research

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Vanguard signs definitive agreement to acquire Arizona Heart Institute

Vanguard Health Systems and Arizona Heart Institute (AHI) announced today that they have signed a definitive agreement for Vanguard to acquire Arizona Heart Institute, one of the world's leading providers of cardiovascular care. Through this agreement, AHI will align with Abrazo Health Care, a Phoenix-based subsidiary of Vanguard, to become part of its distributive cardiovascular network of community-based physicians, providing future opportunities to greatly expand cardiovascular services and patient base throughout the region.

3 Aug 2010

Functional MRI can be used to assess tumor viability

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (the disease commonly referred to as pancreatic cancer) carries the worst prognosis of any cancer. As current treatments offer minimal benefit, entirely new approaches are needed. Given the success of local therapies, as opposed to intravenous systemic therapies, for liver diseases (such as hepatocellular carcinoma), it is thought that similar local therapies may benefit patients with pancreatic cancer. To develop such therapies, it would be useful to devise targets that are easy to obtain and can indicate the efficacy of these new therapies in models of pancreatic cancer.

31 Jul 2010

Cardiva Medical, Advanced Vascular Dynamics sign agreement to distribute hemostasis products

Cardiva Medical, Inc. announced today that it has signed an agreement with Advanced Vascular Dynamics to distribute several products used for postcatheterization femoral and radial artery hemostasis in the U.S.

27 Jul 2010

Young women more likely to die in hospitals following heart attacks: Study

A new study by researchers at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School has found that women between the ages of 35 and 54 were more likely to die in hospitals following heart attacks than men of a similar age. This finding from a sample of more than 423,000 patients can be seen as surprising, given that women, on average, develop their first acute myocardial infarction -- or heart attack -- about 10 years later than men, and are overall less likely to develop myocardial infarction than are men.

23 Jul 2010

Agfa HealthCare's IMPAX HeartStation enables rapid diagnosis of 15-lead ECG studies when compared to 12-lead ECG studies at Western Maryland Regional Medical Center

Agfa HealthCare, a leading provider of diagnostic imaging and healthcare IT solutions, today announces that Western Maryland Regional Medical Center's recent upgrade to the newest version of IMPAX HeartStation ECG Management System has helped enable the rapid diagnosis and treatment of patients with posterior wall heart attacks. The Cumberland-based hospital is using the recently released features of IMPAX HeartStation to digitally review and archive 15-lead ECG studies.

22 Jul 2010

First hospital in U.S. to use portable heart/lung machine

The Methodist Hospital is the first in the U.S. to use a portable heart/lung machine to move critically ill patients easily and safely to different areas of the hospital for medical tests or from outlying hospitals to the medical center for specialized treatment. Recently approved for use in the U.S. by the FDA, the device has been used in Europe since 2008 with excellent results.

21 Jul 2010

Low-dose method of performing CT heart scans developed at Porter Adventist Hospital

As warnings and concern increase over the health risks of commonly used scanning tests involving high doses of radiation, radiologists and scientists are seeking ways to improve the safety of the tools they use in diagnosing disease.

17 Jul 2010

Philadelphia to host 52nd annual meeting of American Association of Physicists in Medicine

Next week the city of Philadelphia will host the 52nd annual meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), the premier organization in medical physics, a broadly-based scientific and professional discipline encompassing physics principles and applications in medicine and biology.

16 Jul 2010

BioSTAR biodegradable implant achieves comparable closure rates to Amplatzer ASO

A novel study by Canadian physicians reported that the BioSTARTM biodegradable implant achieved comparable closure rates to the Amplatzer Septal OccluderTM (ASO) in children with atrial septal defect (ASD). The BioSTAR device displayed successful outcomes, while avoiding issues associated with implants containing substantial amounts of metal.

16 Jul 2010

GE Healthcare Medical Diagnostics reintroduces Optison ultrasound contrast agent for echocardiograms

GE Healthcare Medical Diagnostics today announced the market reintroduction of Optison™ (Perflutren Protein-Type A Microspheres Injectable Suspension, USP), a diagnostic ultrasound contrast agent for use in select echocardiograms. Optison is indicated for use in patients with suboptimal echocardiograms to opacify the left ventricle and to improve the delineation of the left ventricular endocardial borders. The safety and efficacy of Optison with exercise stress or pharmacologic stress testing have not been established.

12 Jul 2010

SIR and 41 international societies issue first global statement defining interventional radiology

The Society of Interventional Radiology, with the support of 41 international societies representing 10,000 interventional radiology doctors, has issued the first global statement defining interventional radiology-one designed to benefit medical treatment for individuals. The statement addresses the evolution, impact and future direction of this minimally invasive specialty, emphasizing the worldwide availability of this specialized medical care.

8 Jul 2010

New Stanford Hospital to include one entire floor of hybrid rooms

Whether it's called a hybrid room or an interventional platform, Room 9 at Stanford Hospital & Clinics is that singular space where a patient can stay in one place to be diagnosed and treated, either with surgery or the latest interventional procedure, in an environment as sterile as an operating room, with all-important imaging devices, microscopes and monitors right at hand.

1 Jul 2010

Tryton announces first three implants of Side Branch Stent System in Israel

Tryton Medical, Inc., the leading developer of stents designed to definitively treat bifurcation lesions, announced that the company's TRYTON Side Branch Stent™ System has been used in three cases in Israel for the first time.

24 Jun 2010

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia first in region to implant transcatheter pulmonary heart valves

Signaling a new frontier in the treatment of congenital heart disease (CHD), The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is the first hospital in our region to implant transcatheter pulmonary heart valves in children with heart defects. This minimally invasive procedure gives patients a non-surgical option in their ongoing treatment.

18 Jun 2010

InfraReDx to demonstrate LipiScan coronary imaging system during CCC Symposium

InfraReDx, Inc., an innovative medical device company focused on developing novel diagnostic imaging technologies to accurately identify and characterize diseased tissues, today announced that its LipiScan Coronary Imaging System will be featured at the 13th Annual Live Symposium of Complex Coronary & Vascular Cases being held at The Mount Sinai Medical Center of New York, from June 16-19, 2010.

16 Jun 2010

Transcatheter valve-in-valve implantation provides option for high-risk elderly patients

Doctors at the University Heart Center in Hamburg, Germany successfully used transcatheter valve-in-valve implantation in elderly patients with degenerated bioprostheses in aortic and mitral position. This minimally invasive procedure was used as an alternative treatment option for patients who were at high surgical risk.

16 Jun 2010

Lantheus Medical Imaging reports new Phase 4 data from DEFINITY study

Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc., a worldwide leader in diagnostic medical imaging, today announced new data from a Phase 4, open-label safety study evaluating the effect of DEFINITY® Vial For (Perflutren Lipid Microsphere) Injectable Suspension, an echocardiography contrast agent, on pulmonary and systemic artery hemodynamics in patients with either normal or increased baseline pulmonary artery pressure.

14 Jun 2010

Medicare, uninsured, elderly and critically ill patients use ambulances for transport to ER: Study

Patients with Medicare or Medicaid, the uninsured, the elderly and the critically ill are the heaviest users of ambulances for transport to the emergency department, making them most vulnerable during periods of ambulance diversion. The results of a study of more than 30,000 patients taken to emergency departments by ambulance were published online Friday in Annals of Emergency Medicine ("At-Risk Populations and the Critically Ill Rely Disproportionately on Ambulance Transport to Emergency Departments").

14 Jun 2010

PulmoBind product candidate has potential for early diagnosis of PH in pediatric population

Pulmo BioTech Inc. has announced that early indications are that its PulmoBind product candidate has the potential for early diagnosis of Pulmonary Hypertension in the pediatric population. PH is a potentially life threatening and crippling disease; it is also very hard to diagnose.

9 Jun 2010

SERCA2a gene therapy proves effective in people with advanced heart failure: Researchers

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have developed a new gene therapy that is safe and effective in reversing advanced heart failure. SERCA2a (produced as MYDICAR-) is a gene therapy designed to stimulate production of an enzyme that enables the failing heart to pump more effectively.

4 Jun 2010