While angiography is the gold standard for vascular imaging in the cath lab, new intravascular imaging modalities may offer innovative ways to get a better picture of stenosis, stent placement and help guide therapy.

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) uses a tiny ultrasound transducer mounted on the tip of a catheter to image the interior of blood vessels. IVUS can be used to assess vessel/lumen diameter, lesion length, help determine the amount of plaque buildup in a vessel and its composition, and check to ensure stents have been properly placed and fully deployed.

The practice of cardiac catheter ablation may experience a big boost as catheter ablation systems are poised to be indicated for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AFib).

February 11, 2009 - Medtronic Inc.’s Reveal XT Insertable Cardiac Monitor (ICM) is now commercially available in the U.S., and renowned heart specialist Blair Grubb, M.D., professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Toledo Medical Center performed the nation’s first implant of the new device.


As coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) becomes a more common, noninvasive diagnostic standard for evaluating cardiac patients, lowering the dose of ionizing X-ray radiation has became a priority as hospitals look to reduce patient safety risks.

For more than a decade, Dr. Barry T. Katzen, medical director of Baptist Cardiac and Vascular Institute (BCVI) in Miami, FL, has pioneered the integration of surgical and interventional procedures into a hybrid cath lab/OR.

February 11, 2009 – On Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009 at 6:30 pm, Shawnee Mission Medical Center (SMMC), Merriam, KS will host an angioplasty stent placement Webcast.

Jhulan Mukharji, M.D., FACC, of Clinical Cardiovascular Associates, PA, will perform the procedure and his partner Jay Jackson, M.D., FACC, will serve as the moderator.


Recent developments in cardiac surgery and interventional cardiology with new percutaneous alternatives for aneurysm repair, valve replacements, shunt closure devices and aortic arch reconstruction have led to the creation of integrated, hybrid cath lab/operating rooms (OR) that allow both surgical and intravascular procedures.

February 11, 2009 - University of Louisville doctors at Jewish Hospital will conduct the world's first phase one FDA-approved clinical trial using adult cardiac stem cells to treat heart disease.

Abbott Vascular's XIENCE V Everolimus-Eluting Coronary is indicated for improving coronary luminal diameter in patients with symptomatic heart disease due to de novo native coronary artery lesions (up to 28 mm long) with reference vessel diameter of 2.5 to 4.09 mm.

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