If there’s one thing physicians at Ochsner Heart & Vascular Institute (OHVI) are not, it’s camera shy. If their in-hospital TV studio isn’t convincing enough, just ask John Reilly, M.D., if he’s ever broadcasted a live procedure before.
“As a matter of fact, just last Friday we broadcasted some live cases to a meeting in Germany,” the associate director of OHVI’s cath lab said during a break one recent afternoon. “We also broadcasted to the TCT meeting in September. We actually have become pretty well accustomed to this type of work.”
Deadly Connection: Hypothyroidism and Heart Disease

Thyroid hormone has multiple effects on the cardiovascular system. These include increased cardiac contractility, increased cardiac output, decreased systemic vascular resistance and electrophysiological and pro-angiogenic effects.[1-4] The cellular and molecular mechanisms that have been proposed for these effects include genomic and non-genomic (extranuclear) actions. The active form of thyroid hormone, triiodothyronine (T3), enters the nucleus and binds to the specific nuclear receptors (TRa or TRĂź).

Although cardiac ultrasound has been around for many years, the technology is not static. Manufacturers are constantly looking for ways to improve the imaging, make the technology more accessible, affordable and now more portable.
The two most compelling changes in cardiac ultrasound are portability and improved imaging. Historically, one had to make a choice between portability and image quality. The newer machines have overcome the obstacles of combining clear images and small size.
Portability

Three years ago AHA and ACC published Evidence-Based Guidelines for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Women, and the document is accessible to anyone online at either www.acc.org or www.americanheart.org — the bottom line is, doctors know that CVD can be prevented. But why, then, are so many women still living in the dark and dying in great droves from heart disease?

Exercise Tolerance Testing (ETT) is a diagnostic tool, consisting of the RHE cycle, that is used in conjunction with scientifically validated exercise testing protocols to create a more accurate, sensitive and comfortable test, according to the company.
Quadriceps, hip flexors, gluteus, hamstrings, shoulders, chest, triceps and back can be utilized to complete the revolutions. The high amount of musculature improves mechanical efficiency, allowing the subject to achieve an adequate intensity level while remaining comfortable and minimizing impact on joints.

The Avanta Fluid Management Injection System is intended to help cardiovascular healthcare professionals improve patient and operator safety and create precise clinical outcomes while providing process and cost efficiencies. It is capable of controlled delivery of contrast at low flow rates and low pressures in variable mode to enable injections of small vessels like the coronary arteries, as well as at high flow rates and high pressure in fixed mode for larger vessels and peripheral imaging.

March 13, 2007 — Cardica Inc. announced today it has received $1.25 million in payments from Cook Medical for development and high volume production tooling for the Cook Vascular Access Closure Device, an innovative automated system designed to close access openings in femoral arteries after interventional vascular procedures.

March 13, 2007 — Fujifilm Medical Systems USA Inc. has chosen Hitachi Data Systems, to provide a range of advanced storage solutions for Fujifilm’s Synapse Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) customers.

The arrangement is expected to support healthcare providers in securing, managing, accessing and sharing burgeoning volumes of patient imaging data with Hitachi’s cost-effective, end-to-end solution.

March 12, 2007 — Nebraska Heart Institute, Lincoln, NE, will broadcast a minimally invasive, endoscopic ablation procedure for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) on www.OR-Live.com this Thursday, March 15.

This investigational procedure includes bipolar ablation to isolate irregular electrical impulses, identification and ablation of potential AF triggers known as the ganglionic plexi (nerves on the surface of the heart) and exclusion of the left atrial appendage — a potential source of thrombus.

March 12, 2007 — FORTUNE Magazine has named St. Jude Medical Inc. one of “America’s Most Admired Companies” for 2007. St. Jude Medical ranked No. 1 in the Medical Products and Equipment Companies category.

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