Feb 9, 2007 —A new multihospital initiative began in Michigan this week that will rush faster treatment to the state’s residents who suffer heart attacks. Thirty-five hospitals are banning together as part of a statewide project coordinated by the Michigan Chapter of the American College of Cardiology and the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center with support from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan/Blue Care Network.

Feb 9, 2007 — Research spanning three decades links a newly discovered gene variant in women to greater susceptibility to developing heart disease.

Feb. 8, 2007 - The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and Thomson Medstat announce hospitals can now participate more efficiently in the American Heart Association's award winning quality improvement program, Get With The Guidelines (GWTG). An enhancement to the Thomson Medstat Core Measures software allows hospitals to transfer patient data for acute myocardial infarction and heart failure directly into the GWTG patient management tool.


Like medieval knights in battle, stent-wielding cath-lab doctors arm themselves with heavy and cumbersome lead garments to avoid repeat exposure to radiation when performing traditional angiographic procedures.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” explained Rafael Beyar, M.D., director of Invasive Cardiology at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel. “The heavier these aprons are, the more protective they are. Some of my friends wear two of them because of fear of exposure.”

But instead of increased cancer risk, these doctors end up with back pain and disc problems.

Status quo is probably not a phrase in Dr. Cynthia Tracy’s professional vocabulary, because, in her daily combat against a disease that’s currently affecting more than two million Americans, good tools and treatment are simply not good enough.

A growing trend toward physician preference for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in diagnosing heart disease represents a marked departure from traditional reliance on echocardiography, SPECT and cardiac catheterization. A recently released study by IMV Medical Information Division indicates a shift over the next three years to more sophisticated imaging modalities, such as MRI, and IMV estimates that 59 percent of U.S. cardiologists are already ordering MRI or magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) on a monthly basis.

There’s no denying it: Whether you’re a gadget geek or a technophobe, technology has invaded your world, both personally and professionally — of course, how you and all of us control and optimize that reality is up to us individually.

I recently read a “60-Minute” feature segment on Yahoo.com called “Working 24/7,” which explored the impact of wired and wireless technology on our culture, and it would be easy to draw unfavorable conclusions if you happen to actually enjoy having any life apart from your work.

Author’s Note: For this inaugural article I begin with an insider’s look on the “health” of drug-eluting stents and what lies ahead for this much-debated device.

Feb. 7, 2007 — Cardium Therapeutics and its operating unit InnerCool Therapies have announced they will launch two next-generation systems for patient temperature modulation. Both solutions are expected to be cleared and commercially available within the next two quarters, the companies report.

The rapidly advancing field of patient modulation focuses on improving outcomes following major medical events such as stroke, cardiac arrest and heart attack, as well as on the management of patients experiencing trauma or fever.

Feb. 7, 2007 — Cardiologists at the University of Mississippi Medical Center are pioneering the use of an implanted, state-of-the-art cardiac resynchronization therapy device (CRT) that employs radio frequency technology to monitor the cardiovascular status of heart failure patients from their homes.

UMC cardiologists can connect with patients directly and get up-to-the-second information about their heart status from miles away. The physicians can also use the remote monitoring device to automatically obtain and record precise blood pressure and weight measurements.

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