January 2005

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Volume 5 Issue 1

Editorial Staff

Clinical Editor
Bradley Knight, MD
Executive Editor
Laurie Gustafson
Managing Editor
Jodie Elrod
Production Manager
Alexa Flinn

Editorial Correspondence

Jodie Elrod, Managing Editor, EP Lab Digest
HMP Communications, 70 E. Swedesford Rd
Suite 100, Malvern PA 19355
Telephone: (800) 371-0791

Fax: (866) 488-8273
Email: jelrod@hmpglobal.com
Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy for Drug Refractory New York Heart Association Class IV Congestive Heart Failure Status- Post
In Brazil, in 1983, Dr. Randas Batista, disheartened by the shortage of donor hearts developed a procedure (later coined the Batista procedure) as an alternative to heart transplantation.1-3 The Batista procedure attempted to reverse the effects of r…
Shocking News: Athletic Patients with ICDs Pose Complex Management Issues
Case Presentation Our patient is a 17-year-old competitive, successful, high school basketball player with a full athletic University scholarship. During a game in his senior year of high school, he had sudden collapse on the basketball court. Dumbf…
A Systematic Approach to Catheter Ablation of Atrial Flutter
Patient History The patient was a 70-year-old female who presented with a history of recurrent paroxysmal AFL. Echocardiogram demonstrated a normal heart; electrocardiogram (ECG) showed a typical atrial flutter characterized by a dominant negative F…
Cryotherapy: The Year in Review
The year 2004 brought a number of important events in cryotherapy. CryoCath Technologies, Inc. remained the only company with FDA-approved products for clinical use in cryoablation of arrhythmias. In 2004, the FDA approved the use of the Freezor Max…
Building EP/Pacing Services in a Cardiology Practice
As Heart & Vascular Care began to develop their own Arrhythmia Services Department, they determined the number of pacemaker patients was approximately 800. The ICD or device patients numbered to close to 250. In total, the Arrhythmia Services Dep…
2004: The Year of Continuing Progress in Catheter Ablation Strategy for Atrial Fibrillation
While there was no real breakthrough in the field of catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) in 2004, there was continuous progress in that field. This progress included the emergence of other strategies for ablation and the continuous develop…
10-Minute Interview: Charlie Young, MD, Director, Electrophysiology Service, Kaiser Permanente Santa Teresa Hospital, San Jo
Please describe your medical background and education. Why did you choose to work in the field of electrophysiology? I completed my undergraduate at UC Berkeley, then graduated from Stanford Medical School. I performed my postgraduate clinical train…
Central Baptist Hospital
What is the size of your EP lab facility and number of staff members? What is the mix of credentials at your lab? The Electrophysiology lab at Central Baptist has three dedicated EP labs. There are five electrophysiologists that practice here. Our te…