by Joseph C. Marek, MD and Moeen Saleem, MD, Midwest Heart Foundation, Midwest Heart Specialists
Midwest Heart Foundation (MHF) was established in 1988 as a non-profit research and education foundation dedicated to improving the prevention and management of cardiovascular and related diseases through research, education and community leadership.
MHF augments the efforts of the American Heart Association, which brings national attention to heart disease by making things happen at the community level such as building relationships and delivering programs.
by Mauricio Lomba, Project Manager and Arts Lead, SE London Cardiac and Stroke Network (SELCSN)
The Silent at Heart Project uses art as an expressive means to promote awareness of sudden cardiac death in the United Kingdom. Read more about this innovative project.
he Heart Rhythm Society, co-chair of the Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) Coalition, applauds the introduction of Senate Concurrent Resolution 93 and House Concurrent Resolution 393, which call for a National Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) Awareness Month in October. Introduced by Representatives Lois Capps (D-CA) and Chip Pickering (R-MS) and Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND), the resolutions will support efforts to raise awareness about the risk of SCA, improve the public’s ability to identify warning signs, encourage individuals to seek medical attention in a timely manner and promote the need for further research into the causes of this leading killer.
While treadmill exercise stress testing is an essential tool in the prevention, detection and treatment of cardiovascular disease, physicians are often challenged to gain clear images of the heart when a patient is at peak stress level.
That is changing at the Ohio State University Medical Center, where researchers have designed equipment to provide high resolution images of the heart at a critical stage of testing that have previously been difficult to obtain using standard testing procedures. Superior images of the heart are obtained with a test lasting less than one hour.
HUYA Bioscience International announced the outcome of its pre-investigational new drug (IND) consultation meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for HBI-3000 (Sulcardine sulphate), a promising anti-arrhythmic compound sourced from China. The Agency reviewed and agreed with HUYA's IND-enabling CMC and toxicology plans and high-level Phase I plans pending review of non-clinical and clinical data to be submitted as part of the complete IND package. The FDA also agreed to accept data generated in China as 'supportive information' that will support the submission of a U.S. IND and the initiation of a U.S. Phase I trial. HUYA anticipates filing an IND application for HBI-3000 in Q1 2009.
Hansen Medical, Inc., a developer of robotic technology for accurate 3D control of catheter movement during cardiac procedures, has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance to market the CoHesion™ 3D Visualization Module for use in complex electrophysiology (EP) mapping procedures. This integrated EP solution offers a software interface between the Hansen Medical Sensei™ Robotic Catheter system and the EnSite™ System advanced mapping software from St. Jude Medical, Inc. Hansen Medical’s platform solution offers physicians the ability to instinctively navigate a catheter during the diagnostic phase of a complex cardiac arrhythmia procedure. The new CoHesion module imports the EnSite System’s 3D cardiac chamber model with anatomic labeling into the Sensei system’s main navigation window, allowing physicians to see the location of Hansen Medical’s Artisan™ Control Catheters within the heart in 3D.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Xience™ V everolimus-eluting coronary stent system for the treatment of coronary artery disease. Xience V is the only drug-eluting stent to have demonstrated superiority over Boston Scientific’s Taxus® paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent system in two randomized head-to-head clinical trials. Xience V will be launched in the United States immediately. Abbott also supplies a private-label version of Xience V to Boston Scientific called the Promus™ everolimus-eluting coronary stent system. Promus is designed and manufactured by Abbott and supplied to Boston Scientific as part of a distribution agreement between the two companies.
Medtronic, Inc. announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the Medtronic Attain StarFix® OTW (over-the-wire) lead (Model 4195). As the first active fixation left-heart lead for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), the Attain StarFix lead has demonstrated a zero percent chronic dislodgement rate*.
Overall, including the acute dislodgements at one day post-implant, the lead has a low 0.7 percent dislodgement rate. These dislodgement rates are supported by one of the industry’s largest and longest-running left-heart lead clinical studies involving 385 implants followed for up to four years. Traditional passive fixation left-heart leads, where there is no active mechanism to fix the lead in place, show average dislodgement rates of 2-8 percent based on several published clinical studies.
The use of radio frequency identification devices appears to have the potential to cause critical care medical equipment to malfunction, according to a study in JAMA.
“Applications of autoidentification technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID) in everyday life include security access cards, electronic toll collection, and antitheft clips in retail clothing. RFID applications in health care have received increasing attention because of the potentially positive effect on patient safety and also on tracking and tracing of medical equipment and devices. The current expenditure levels on RFID systems within health care in the United States are estimated to be approximately $90 million per year with 10-year growth projections to $2 billion,” the authors write.
Procedure Scheduling
I am looking for references pertaining to block scheduling of procedures in EP labs. Does anyone use this method and what are the rules?
— LeeAnne Hockey, RCIS, Sentara Heart Hospital, Norfolk, VA
(To reply to this question, please type “Procedure Scheduling” in your subject line.)
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Attention Readers: Practical EP addendum
The editors of Practical Electrophysiology would like to point out a correction made in Table 27.1 on page 210. Please note that this table heading should read "Table 27.1: Isoproterenol Infusion Rate (µg/min) for Single-Stage HUT”. Please make a note of it in your records that it should read micrograms, not milligrams. We sincerely regret the error.
by Kevin O’Sullivan, Charlton Memorial Hospital, Fall River, Massachusetts
I have been involved with cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology for almost 30 years. I started out as a biomedical technician and then gravitated into the cath lab. My first day in the lab was in January of 1979. Over the following decades, I moved from the clinical environment to industry and back again...several times.
