The diagnostic work-up of syncope patients often raises the question of how much diagnosis is necessary and what examination methods are really needed. To save time, specialists recommend focusing on determining whether the syncope may be caused by a cardiac problem - a question answered quite easily in many cases. Karl Eberius MD, European Hospital's new correspondent, discussed advice for…
Pegasus/Heartview LLC has announced that clinical studies of its HeartVue 6S Heart Screening System - which obtained CE Mark Approval in Europe almost two years ago - have been completed according to FDA guidelines, as a pre-marketing condition for release in the USA.
Among the many aims of the Heart Failure Association of the ESC is the establishment of networks for the HF management, education and research.
The ageing population and growing risk factors have made a significant impact on driving up the number of registered heart failure (HF) cases. Existing pharmacological strategies are improving the survival rates of acute and early-stage HF patients, ironically providing a growing body of patients with progression of the disease to HF.
Compared to 1997 people aged 60 and over receive a lot more from their physicians: Not more attention but more drugs or other medical aids. The average number of prescriptions for elder people doubled from 1997 to 2007, a report from The NHS Information Centre reveals.
The Cardiomobile developed by the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation at Queensland University, Australia, contains a Mini ECG and a GPS system linked to a mobile phone via Bluetooth. That way heart patients can do rehabilitation exercises any place and any time they want to.
The USA's National Institutes of Health aims to review blood transfusion safety
The French Health Authorities announced in February that the smoking ban — which began in February 2007 for communal buildings and work places, and was implemented in January 2008 with effect on bars, restaurants and hotels — has produced striking results.
In his lecture Focus on new therapy strategies for heart attacks, Prof. Hans Michael Piper, President of this year's Congress of the German Cardiac Society, gave some fascinating insights in to therapeutic measures after heart attacks.
During a Toshiba press conference on Monday at ECR 2008, Prof P. Rogalla Chief Radiologist CT and Prof R. Klingebiehl, Department of Neuroradiology both of the Charité University Hospital, Berlin (Germany), reported about the new diagnostic opportunities the company's latest innovation — the Aquillion ONE - offers.
During a workshop organized by the European Science Foundation (ESF), researchers discussed further steps in developing computerised “in-silico” models of the heart that simulate the real heart and enable possible drugs and therapies to be tested without risk to people.
A new test, developed at the University of Leeds, searches for a heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) which is released into the circulation following heart injury. The test seems to be more accurate in identifying patients with heart damage at an earlier course of their illness.
Poster data presented at Scientific Sessions 2007 have demonstrated that the application of clinical practice modifications, combined with advanced electronic technologies, can improve the care of patients at risk for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).
Results of a gender-specific study to assess the efficacy of the Taxus paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent in women undergoing coronary revascularisation were released at the European Society of Cardiology Congress by interventional device developer Boston Scientific.
The US firm Boston Scientific reports that it has received the Conformité Européenne (CE) Mark for its Confient implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), the company's first branded cardiac rhythm management device to treat sudden cardiac death. Containing wireless capability, the Confient ICD has been designed to reduce right ventricular pacing.
The Eastern Lithuania Cardiology Project (ELCP) - an integral inter-institutional regional project sponsored by the Lithuanian Government and the European Structural Funds, which began in 2004 - will end this year. In May, those who voted on the Lithuanian EU Support official website (a specially organised event, focusing on all EU-supported projects in all fields) nominated this project as the…
By Stefan P. Janssens, MD, PhD Russian summary and complete article in English.
Coronary stenting is the most common way of treating symptomatic ischaemic cardiopathy and stenosis of venous bypasses. Restenosis actually occurs in 30% of patients treated with non-medicated stents while "drug eluting" stents have reduced the incidence of restenosis by approximately a quarter and have proved particularly effective in diabetic patients and in the treatment of lesions…
Tissue Doppler Imaging (TDI) and contrast echocardiography open up new possibilities for exactly representing and assessing functional cardiac disturbances. This was the topic discussed by Dr. Harald Becher of John Radcliff Hospital, Oxford, and Dr. Jörg Strotmann of the University Clinic Würzburg in the framework of the Toshiba workshop “New approaches in echocardiography” at the European…
Further developments in computer and detection technology over the last few months and years have made it possible to overcome, to a large degree, the previously limitations of medical computer tomography in spatial and temporal resolution, and thus to permit “detail-true” representation of the beating heart. The diagnostic workflow and computer-tomographic diagnosis of the heart using the…
A wearable cardiac telemedicine system based on Bluetooth technology could text the local hospital if a patient is about to have a heart attack, according to a publication of two Indian researchers of the Sathyabama University in Tamil Nadu, who developed the system.
The Fred easyport, the only pocket defibrillator in the world, which Schiller brought onto the market three years ago, was a huge success so far. From next year on, the device will also supply a manual shock option. It is so small (133 x 126 x 50mm) and light (490 g including the battery) that for many doctors it is already standard equipment in their emergency bag.The fact that this ‘life…
There is no lack of IT and software solutions for putting digitisation and networks into practice; however, many hospitals wonder how the implementation will work in practice and whether the investment will prove successful.
The UK spends more of its healthcare budget on cardiovascular disease than any other country in the EU.
Previous studies have shown that tobacco smoking increases the risk ...
