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Acute Cardiovascular Care Association of ESC launches today

ACCA was previously the ESC Working Group on Acute Cardiac Care. Today it becomes one of six ESC Associations, whose presidents are invited to ESC Board meetings. "It will be easier to inform the ESC Board about the activities of the association," said Professor Christiaan Vrints (Belgium), outgoing chairman of the Working Group on Acute Cardiac Care. "We will also have a bigger impact on the policies and the development of the ESC as an organisation."

29 Aug 2012

Risk of stroke after myocardial infarction seems to decrease with improvements in coronary care

The analysis of data from two Swedish registries was presented by Dr Anders Ulvenstam, and suggests that the reduction is due to improvements in AMI care.

29 Aug 2012

Eplerenone shown to reduce cumulative heart failure hospitalisations

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) announced results from a new post-hoc analysis of the EMPHASIS-HF trial showing statistically significant reductions in rates of cumulative heart failure (HF) hospitalisations in patients with HF treated with eplerenone compared with placebo on a background of standard optimal therapy.1 The results were presented at The European Society of Cardiology Congress (ESC) in Munich.

28 Aug 2012

ICU misdiagnosis alarmingly common in the acute care setting

Each year as many as 40,500 critically ill U.S. hospital patients die with an unknown medical condition that may have caused or contributed to their death, Johns Hopkins patient safety experts report in a recent study.

28 Aug 2012

Study explores gender-related differences in patients hospitalized for acute heart failure

Women with acute heart failure have similar in-hospital mortality to men but are less treated in the real world, according to results from the global ALARM-HF registry presented today at the ESC Congress 2012. The findings were presented by Dr John T. Parissis from Greece.

27 Aug 2012

IABP does not improve blood pressure symptoms in patients with cardiogenic shock

A balloon pump inserted in the aorta is currently the most widely used support device in the treatment of cardiogenic shock and, since its introduction in 1968, has been used in several million people.

27 Aug 2012

Miniaturized wireless sensors can save lives of wounded soldiers

Early detection of blood loss to save the lives of soldiers wounded on the battlefield is the goal of a three-year research and development project to be launched this fall at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Funded by a $1.9 million grant from the U.S. Army, the research will be conducted in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS).

22 Aug 2012

Sotera Wireless receives FDA 510(k) clearance for ViSi Mobile System

Sotera Wireless, Inc. announced today that it has received 510(k) clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its full ViSi Mobile System and is commencing sales to hospitals nationwide.

22 Aug 2012

Talk smoothes the way to better understanding sick babies

Clinicians must foster improved communication with the mothers of critically ill newborns to improve understanding of their child’s condition, research suggests.

20 Aug 2012

Communication problems between clinicians and mothers of critically ill newborns

Research from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center suggests that common language may also be the divide standing between mothers of critically ill newborns and the clinicians who care for them.

17 Aug 2012

U-M Survival Flight helicopters can save lives of all the Great Lakes states

Three new maize-and-blue helicopters will soon be saving lives in the air above the Great Lakes states, and speeding patients toward advanced care at the University of Michigan Health System's hospitals.

15 Aug 2012

Religious beliefs may adversely affect care of very sick children

Deeply held religious beliefs of parents can prevent very sick children from receiving appropriate removal of care, say researchers.

14 Aug 2012

UTSW reports successful delivery of quintuplets

Three boys and two girls were born Thursday, Aug. 9, to missionaries Carrie and Gavin Jones at UT Southwestern Medical Center, among the first sets of quintuplets delivered nationally so far this year.

13 Aug 2012

Maternal obesity and neonatal death: an interview with Dr. Jenny Cresswell

It is important to say that levels of maternal obesity in sub-Saharan Africa are low by global standards, but obesity is projected to increase over the next two decades.

13 Aug 2012

Hydrocephalus dictates age-related SAH outcomes

Age is only predictive of poor outcome after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage because of its association with hydrocephalus, say researchers.

10 Aug 2012

Patient cognition may affect EOL care intensity

Mild cognitive impairment in patients with advanced cancer may affect the intensity of end-of-life treatment and promote decision-making by caregivers, rather than patients, show US study results.

9 Aug 2012

Organ donation: an interview with David Shaw

Most donors die in intensive care units, frequently after car accidents. Once it is clear that recovery is out of the question, families will be told that further treatment is futile and the issue of donation can be sensitively raised.

9 Aug 2012

Berlin Heart EXCOR Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device proves effective and life-saving

A tiny heart pump that maintains blood flow in babies and small children with serious heart failure proved effective and life-saving in a pioneering study involving 17 institutions led by Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM).

9 Aug 2012

FDA approves Codman’s MEDSTREAM Programmable Infusion System

Codman & Shurtleff, Inc. (Codman), the global neurological device company, has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval through a PMA supplement for its MEDSTREAM Programmable Infusion System, an implantable infusion pump and catheter system used in the treatment of spasticity, a movement disorder often caused by stroke, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury.

9 Aug 2012

Manning ICU with 24-hour specialist staff does not improve long-term survival

Having round-the-clock rather than on-demand presence of an intensivist does not increase intensive care unit patients’ long-term survival rates, report US researchers.

6 Aug 2012