Patients with atrial fibrillation are at far greater risk of a catastrophic COVID outcomes, so steps should be taken to reduce AFib risks in addition to precautions against COVID like making, hand washing and social distancing. Images include an electromap from an AF ablation procedure and a COVID-19 from the CDC. 

In our most challenging and distressing days, it is nice to think about a post-COVID-19 world. 

But while this pandemic will end at some point, it is quite unlikely that we will completely eradicate the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) — the way we did, for instance, with the virus that causes smallpox.

January 27, 2021 — Philips Healthcare has introduced the Philips Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) Model, providing physicians a more patient-friendly solution compared to the current standard of care for managing AAA patients. Based on 3-D ultrasound, Philips AAA Model delivers clinicians accurate diagnostic information without exposing patients to high doses of radiation and nephrotoxic contrast agents.

January 27, 2021 — A New York Institute of Technology research team has secured a five-year $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for research to improve the understanding of atherosclerosis and deliver a new treatment for heart disease. 

January, 27, 2021 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Occlutech a Breakthrough Device designation for its first-in-class, implantable Atrial Flow Regulator (AFR) for heart failure (HF) patients with preserved (HFpEF) or reduced (HFrEF) ejection fraction.

January 26, 2021 — Pedra Technology, a privately held company, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the company a Breakthrough Device Designation for the periprocedural use of its Pedra Xauron Perfusion System in the treatment of critical limb threatening ischemia (CLTI).

January 26, 2021 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared Boston Scientific's Synergy Megatron Drug-Eluting Stent (DES) system. The company said it is the first platform that is purpose-built for large, proximal vessels.

January 25, 2021 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Merck's Verquvo (vericiguat). It is the first treatment for chronic heart failure approved specifically for patients following a hospitalization for heart failure or need for outpatient IV diuretics. 

Joint Interventional Meeting (JIM)

An example of 3-D computer aided design (CAD) software from Materialise being used at Henry Ford Hospital to evaluate left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction from a Sapian TAVR valve virtually implanted in the mitral valve position. Henry Ford uses both 3-D printing and CAD to plan and guide complex structural heart procedures. 

With increasing complexity of interventional structural heart disease and congenital heart disease interventions, 3-D printing of the anatomy is being used for pre-planning and practicing procedures, device sizing and as a visual reference for the soft tissue during procedures. 3-D printing has become more popular within the medical space as it has been shown to help prevent, fix and foresee procedural errors.
Cardiologists are taking a closer look at the possible long-term cardiovascular effects on COVID long-hauler patients who still show symptoms long after they should be recovered from the virus. Getty Images

With nearly a year of experience with the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, it has been found that some post-COVID patients experience long-term lingering coughs, cognitive issues and other complains months after they recover from the virus. These long-haulers are also appear to be having the heart issues as well. Determining the long-term impact of coronavirus will certainly be one of the top cardiology issues discussed in 2021.
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