Catheter News and Research

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In medicine, a catheter is a tube that can be inserted into a body cavity, duct, or vessel. Catheters . In most uses, a catheter is a thin, flexible tube ("soft" catheter), though in some uses, it is a larger, solid ("hard") catheter. A catheter left inside the body, either temporarily or permanently, may be referred to as an indwelling catheter. A permanently inserted catheter may be referred to as a permcath.

Spectranetics receives FDA go ahead to market laser catheters

Spectranetics Corporation has announced it has received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its TURBO elite line of laser catheters for the treatment of all stenoses and occlusions within arteries of the leg.

13 Jul 2007

Boston Scientific and CryoCor collaborate in atrial fibrillation

CryoCor, Inc. and Boston Scientific Corporation have announced a strategic collaboration in the field of cryoablation, or the use of extreme cold, for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias.

29 Jun 2007

Overview of coronary stents

Tiny, expandable mesh tubes - or stents - which help prop open clogged arteries are among the most commonly used medical devices.

8 Jun 2007

VA tops private hospitals in infection-control study

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers are more likely than non-VA hospitals to follow recommendations for preventing bloodstream infections associated with central venous catheters, says a survey of more than 500 U.S. health care centers.

3 Jun 2007

Groundbreaking robotic pancreatectomy

Surgeons at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago performed a groundbreaking robotic pancreatectomy in a 39-year-old man to relieve him of debilitating pain.

1 Jun 2007

Needle-less intravascular catheter connector valve could lead to patient infections

Patients might be at greater risk for developing bloodstream infections due to a common device used in hospitals around the country, according to a research team at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha, Nebraska.

1 Jun 2007

New wireless monitoring system to track esophageal reflux

UT Southwestern Medical Center doctors and UT Arlington engineers have developed a wireless monitoring system that uses electrical impulses to track esophageal reflux.

30 May 2007

Hospitals that have better working conditions for nurses are safer for elderly intensive care unit patients

Hospital associated infections are the number six cause of death in the United States (CDC March 2007). Nurses, as the largest workforce in the nation's hospitals, are in a unique position to positively impact the safety of ICUs if systematic improvements to their working conditions can be made.

28 May 2007

Concentrated radio waves proide new approach to treating precancerous esophagus condition

The use of concentrated radio waves appears to be a safe and effective way to "burn" away abnormal cell growth in the esophagus that can be a precursor of cancer.

24 May 2007

Care received in chain-owned nursing homes generally not on par with care received in nonprofit and singly-owned nursing homes

Standard marketing and strategic planning practices can hurt patient care throughout a nursing home chain, but only if too much emphasis is placed on such administrative standards to the detriment of clinical and facility standards, a new study indicates.

22 May 2007

Minimally invasive treatment of chronic mesenteric ischemia

Using catheter techniques perfected in the arteries of the heart, interventional cardiologists are successfully treating chronic mesenteric ischemia, a condition akin to intestinal angina.

17 May 2007

Role of PCI and coronary artery bypass grafting for the treatment of patients with left main coronary artery disease

Coronary artery bypass surgery has been the preferred treatment for patients with a blockage in the left main coronary artery, the conduit that supplies blood to about two-thirds of the heart.

15 May 2007

Angioplasty better than drugs for preventing second heart attack

After suffering a heart attack many patients still have low blood flow to the heart tissue while experiencing no symptoms and new research suggests that angioplasty is more effective than drugs for preventing second heart attacks in this situation.

14 May 2007

Mending broken hearts

The causes of "broken heart syndrome" remain a mystery, but doctors will soon have an easier time recognizing and treating this rare, life-threatening condition, thanks to data being reported at the 30th Annual Scientific Sessions of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), May 9-12, 2007, in Orlando, FL.

11 May 2007

Catheter-based aortic valve replacement is set to take off

Twenty years ago, few interventional cardiologists could have imagined that during their professional careers it would be possible to replace a diseased aortic valve using catheter-based techniques, rather than open-chest surgery.

11 May 2007

Percutaneous aortic valve replacement safe

Catheter techniques are expanding into new territory, successfully aiding in the replacement of narrowed, calcified aortic valves in patients too sick to withstand open-chest surgery.

11 May 2007

Novel catheter technique for patching holes in the heart

A novel catheter technique for patching holes in the heart may make it possible for many patients to avoid surgery altogether and others to regain enough strength to safely undergo surgical repair at a later date, according to a study reported at the 30th Annual Scientific Sessions of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.

11 May 2007

CT angiography can replace digital subtraction angiography

CT angiography (CTA) alone is an effective, noninvasive means to detect peripheral vascular disease, according to a study conducted by researchers at Charite Campus Benjamin Franklin in Berlin, Germany.

8 May 2007

MDCT eliminates need for catheter angiography for aortic injury diagnosis

Contrast-enhanced 64-MDCT that definitively reveals acute trauma to the aorta does not need confirmation from invasive catheter angiography, which saves valuable time in treating patients in trauma centers, according to a new study by researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

8 May 2007

Custom stents hold microcapsules to treat diabetes

Johns Hopkins undergraduates have invented a device to improve cell therapy for diabetes patients by anchoring transplanted insulin-producing cells inside a major blood vessel.

7 May 2007