This is an exciting time in the REPROCESSING industry, especially for Alliance Medical Corporation and our customers. Since the publication of the FDA’s Guidance Document in August of 2000, and most recently, the Medical Device User Fee and Modernization Act of 2002 in October, reprocessing has been codified in federal law. Now, more and more hospitals are turning to reprocessing as a proven method for safely reducing supply costs and waste.

As interventional electrophysiology makes the technique of transseptal catheterization imperative, there is a growing need for more accessible training in the procedure. This was the impetus behind a new interactive CD-ROM, which offers an educational resource encompassing textbook information and live lab demonstrations. Prior to the creation of this CD, clinicians needed to search numerous textbooks, papers, and other resources for information before they could begin learning the technique. This CD brings all of the information to one readily accessible place, helping prepare clinicians to be proctored.

There has been some exciting news in the medical field these days. That is because in February 2003, Indiana Heart Hospital will open its doors and became the world's first all-digital, paperless and filmless, cardiac care facility

This article presents a dual-center experience, acquired over the course of more than 200 CRT system implants since 1999, and is intended to describe the process utilized to prepare and implant CRT systems. Although much of this information might be useful for the implanting physician, it is intended primarily for allied professionals tasked with setting up and attending these cases. St. Luke’s and Aurora Sinai Medical Center experience encompasses market-released device implants as well as clinical study protocols from Guidant and Medtronic corporations. Experience with more than 10 implanting physicians who have a very broad range of experience was referenced for this publication.

Like many previous years, the year 2002 was marked by further proliferation of technology in cardiac procedures. Within the field of cardiac electrophysiology alone, many new catheters and mapping and ablation equipment were introduced, facilitating more complex ablation, and newer implantable devices were approved. In particular, the implementation of the relatively new form of therapy for congestive heart failure, cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) predominated the year. Soon after the approval of the biventricular pacemaker, InSync (Medtronic, Minneapolis, Minnesota) in late 2001, two “high-power” CRT devices were approved in 2002, the InSync ICD (Medtronic) and the Contak CD (Guidant Corporation, Santa Clara, California) for the management of patients with congestive heart failure and ventricular tachyarrhythmias. The many patients considered for implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy were screened for CRT as well. This proliferation of CRT implementation impacts

Carle Heart Center is part of Carle Foundation Hospital, which is the primary teaching hospital for the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Urbana Champaign. The Electrophysiology lab at Carle Heart Center offers full-service EP testing and treatments including radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and RFA of super-ventricular and ventricular aneurysms. Carle EP Center provides the latest, most advanced treatments for patients diagnosed with abnormal heart rhythms and other EP problems. They have a specially developed lab with the newest computer-guided equipment. Services at their lab include radiofrequency catheter ablation, cardioversion, and implantable cardioverter defibrillator and permanent pacemaker implantation.