Pregnant women often experience symptoms of dizziness or palpitations, most of which are benign. These can be due to arrhythmias that are either new or due to underlying conditions that have been unmasked by pregnancy. Understanding the physiologic changes and the types of arrhythmias that occur during pregnancy can help the practitioner identify when further interventions are necessary.

Physiology
Several hemodynamic changes occur during normal pregnancy, including an increase in blood volume and cardiac output, and decreased systemic vascular resistance and blood pressure (BP)

Tell us about the Baseline ICD Registry. How many participating physicians and hospitals were there? How many device implants were reported?
In the first year of the Baseline ICD Registry, 3,249 physicians participated from 1,117 hospitals; the number of implants continues to grow. In the 2006 annual report published in the September 2007 edition of HeartRhythm Journal, there were 108,341 ICD implantation procedures recorded; the current number of implantations is at about 195,000 with 1,480 hospitals enrolled.

Is it too late for more hospitals to s

What is the size of your EP lab facility and number of staff members? What is the mix of credentials at your lab?
Orlando Regional Medical Center has three dedicated EP labs. A fourth lab is scheduled to open in January 2008. After the new lab opens, reconstruction on an existing EP lab will begin. Once completed, we will have two single plane Siemens labs and two Siemens biplane labs with the GE CardioLab IT monitoring systems. We have eight dedicated electrophysiologists, along with a few cardiologists and surgeons who perform implants in the EP lab.
The staff consists of an EP

Background and Introduction
The intent of this article is to familiarize the reader with not only the minimum standards associated with the design of electrophysiology labs, but also guidance and innovations in the planning and design of EP labs.
Through personal experience, it is not uncommon to find the EP lab being one of, if not the most neglected physical component of the Cardiology Department. Often, the EP lab is found to occupy the oldest, smallest, or more remote areas of the department. Staff often become accustomed to working in these conditions and are not aware of stan

Dear readers,
This month we hear from electrophysiologists, allied professionals, EP organizations, and EP advocates (even an architect, too!). Highlights from our November issue include:

Registered Nurse (RN)

New Questions:

Continuous improvement means improving quality and reducing costs by enhancing the efficiency of care delivery processes. These processes involve all cardiovascular specialties and have a substantial impact on how a department or hospital operates. In this article, we look at how best to utilize standards and competencies, and how their use can aid in each cath lab s ongoing quest for continuous improvement.

October 31 - November 2, 2007
American Academy of Medical Administrators (AAMA) 50th AAMA Annual Conference
Location: Town & Country Resort, San Diego, California
Contact: Holly Estal, EdM, Director of Education
Tel.: 847-759-8601
Email: info@aameda.org
Website: www.aameda.org

During the school year, twenty percent of America s population spends at least part of their day on a school property. Common sense would conclude that automated external defibrillators should be deployed on school campuses to provide protection from the risk of sudden cardiac arrest for all age groups.
Parents, teachers, administrators, coaches, parents, grandparents, neighbors and students can all be found on a school campus at any given part of the day. Adults can be attending sporting events or attending a concert, teachers can be in the classroom or on the playground, coaches can