There was much fanfare over the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emergency use authorizations (EUAs) in December for the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines. However, the vaccination program to date has fallen very far short the promises made by the government when the first vaccine was approved, with less than one quarter of the promised vaccine being delivered.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dec. 3, released an interim guidance document  to federal, state, and local jurisdictions on the allocation of initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccines. The document outlines who qualified for the first round of vaccinations with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. The priority order is given based on who is most at risk, those who are directly exposed to COVID carriers or patients on a daily bases and essential workers.

December 29, 2020 — Edwards Lifesciences announced Dec. 21 that the first patient was treated in the RESTORE clinical trial, which is evaluating the safety and effectiveness of the investigational Harpoon Beating Heart Mitral Valve Repair System in the United States and Canada. 

The Harpoon transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR) system uses a less-invasive technique than open-heart surgery in order to treat severe degenerative mitral valve regurgitation. 

December 29, 2020 — Here is a list of the top 10 news stories from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in 2020 that generated the most media coverage worldwide.

December 29, 2020 — Health Canada has approved the expanded use of the Edwards Lifesciences Sapien 3 and Sapien 3 Ultra transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) heart valves for the transfemoral treatment of patients diagnosed with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis who are at low risk for open-heart surgery. 

The Sapien 3 valves are the first transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) systems to have this indication in Canada.

COVID-19 related topics by far out-paced all other topics in cardiology in 2020 on the DAIC website. Several stories topped the list related to the cardiovascular issues with hydroxychloroquine being used as a treatment for the virus. Top new device technologies in 2020 included European approval of the Abbott Tendyne transcatheter mitral valve, FDA approval of Medtronic's new Micra AV pill-sized pacemaker, and FDA clearance of the first drug-eluting stent with short-duration dual-antiplatelet therapy.

Here are the top 25 best performing articles on the Diagnostic and Interventional Cardiology (DAIC) website from 2020. This is based on the analytics of DAIC's record 3.3 million pagesviews in 2020:

1. Kawasaki-like Inflammatory Disease Affects Children With COVID-19
This year's top videos are dominated by COVID-19's impact on cardiology and many of the videos from a series produced this year on Tuft Medical Center's cardiology program. Top DAIC cardiology videos from 2020 #TuftsmedicalCenter #Tufts #COVID19

Here are the top performing 25 videos on the DAIC website in 2020. The picks are based on Google Analytics of the DAIC website's 700,000 video pageviews in 2020, showing the top viewed videos.
Demonstrations videos of new technologoies are among the most popular video content on the DAIC website each year. Included this year are videos showing how it install a subcutaneous ICD, CT photo-realistic rendering, How to implants the Micra leadless pacemaker and many others.

December 23, 2020 — Demonstrations of new technologies and explanations of how they work are among the most popular video content on the DAIC website each year. Here is a list of the top 20 technology demonstration videos in 2020, based on analytics of the DAIC website's 700,000 video pageviews.

1. VIDEO: How the Micra AV Leadless Pacemaker Enables Atrioventricular (AV) Synchrony
Thrombus formation in the aortic arch in a 46-year-old COVID patients in the ICU. Three trials are underway to find which anticoagulant strategy is best to treat moderate and critically ill patients where COVID-causes venous thrombo-embolism (VTE) is a major cause of complications. Image courtesy of Margarita Revzin et al.

December 23, 2020 — Three clinical trial platforms working together to test the effects of full doses of anticoagulants in COVID-19 patients have paused enrollment for one group of patients. Among critically ill COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) patients requiring intensive care unit (ICU) support, therapeutic anticoagulation drugs did not reduce the need for organ support. Enrollment continues for moderately ill hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the trials. 

December 23, 2020 — The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) has made two updates to its Clinical Performance and Quality Measures on Atrial Fibrillation or Atrial Flutter. The writing committee for this 2020 document incorporated two changes to performance measures in accordance with the 2019 ACC/AHA/Heart Rhythm Society atrial fibrillation guideline focused update. 

Subscribe to
© Copyright Wainscot Media. All Rights Reserved.
Subscribe Now