For the third in his series of articles for European Hospital, Professor Stefan Schönberg of the Institute of Clinical Radiology and Nuclear Medicine (IKRN), University Hospital Mannheim, Medical Faculty of Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, invited colleagues at the Faculty's Cardiology and Radiology and Nuclear Medicine departments for a round-table discussion on:
According to Prof Clemens von Birgelen, cardiologist on staff at the Thorax Centre of the Medisch Spectrum Twente in Enschede, who quoted from recent studies in his inaugural as a professor at the University of Twente at the beginning of June, this might be the case.
Developments in MRI over the last few years have revolutionized the diagnosis and therapy of cardiovascular diseases. Contrast-enhanced MR angiography has established itself as a non-invasive, standard procedure for the diagnosis of vascular diseases in the thorax, abdomen and periphery.
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.
The Department for Paediatric Cardiology at the University Medical Centre, at Johannes Gutenberg University, in Mainz, has extended its range of services for lower impact treatment According to the birth register in Mainz, an annual 1.26% of newborns are diagnosed with congenital heart defects, making these the most common malformation.
Among its many specialties, the 909-bed AZ Sint-Jan AV Hospital in Bruges, Belgium, has a high level of expertise in cardiac catheterisations and electrophysiology.
Royal Philips Electronics recently announced it will acquire TOMCAT Systems Ltd., based in Northern Ireland. Terms of this acquisition were not disclosed. TOMCAT offers a software solution to collect and aggregate data relative to the cardiac care of patients, and allows for a comprehensive, patient-centric presentation of this data to care givers such as doctors and nurses.
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.
Arrythmogenic remodelling of the left atrium is a common complication of atrial fibrillation, leading to severe haemodynamic disturbances.
Cardiovascular diseases kill more than 12 million people worldwide every year and are the cause of death for more than 50% of all Europeans over the age of 65.
Boston Scientific Corporation has announced results from a pooled analysis of patients from its TAXUS IV and TAXUS V randomised clinical trials to compare the safety and efficacy of the TAXUS Express Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System in diabetic versus non-diabetic patients.
Today the key results of the Heart Failure Home Care trial, a study designed to assess the impact of a home-based heart failure monitoring system on healthcare costs for heart failure patients will be presented at the American College of Cardiology's 57th Annual Scientific Session (ACC.08).
One of the most painful problems of modern Russia is the high death rate, especially among able-bodied people. In 2005, the average life expectancy for men was 58.8 years.
Encouraged by the success of the Dual-Source CT system Somatom Definition with two X-ray tubes that simultaneously generate different energies, Siemens Healthcare has already developed six specific dual energy applications. At the ECR 2008, the company presents four new applications that simplify the diagnosis of diseases of the heart, brain, lungs and extremity joints.
'How do you treat the HIV-positive, diabetic, schizophrenic patient presenting with chest pain? By making the necessary information available for personalised medicine'
Competitive or complementary? By Florian Schwarz BS, Balazs Ruzsics MD PhD and U. Joseph Schoepf MD, of the Radiology and Medicine Departments, at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, USA.
Imaging in Internal Medicine is among the main topics for 114th Congress of the German Society of Internal Medicine (March. Wiesbaden). Specialists in internal medicine, radiologists, and nuclear medicine have developed a programme that will not only provide an overview of the values of modern imaging procedures but also tackle controversial subjects.
As announced today, MEDRAD, an affiliate of Bayer HealthCare and a leading provider of contrast injection systems used to diagnose cardiovascular disease, has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Possis Medical, leading provider of mechanical thrombectomy devices used to treat narrowed or blocked blood vessels. MEDRAD will acquire Possis Medical in a cash tender offer for US-Dollar…
According to a study that was recently published on bmj.com, researchers found evidence that a significant number of patients treated with low doses of aspirin for its antiplatelet effect are actually aspirin resistant. Such a resistance makes patients four times more likely to suffer a life-threatening stroke or heart attack.
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.
According to a recently published study in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, a vertebral fracture assessment (VFA) examination can be used to measure abdominal aortic calcification (AAC). The level of AAC can predict the likelihood of myocardial infarction as well as stroke among elderly women, independent of other clinical risk factors.
A research carried out at six hospitals in the West Midlands, UK, is evaluating the use of pulse oximetry as a screening tool for congenital heart disease in newborn babies. Approximately three percent of infant deaths are caused by these significant heart defects and at the moment only less than half of the affected babies are identified by clinical examination, the current screening technique.
Recent studies show that drug-eluting-stents perform superior than bare metal stents in the treatment of high-risk cardiac patients. At ComPaMED 2007, the Germany based company HEMOTEQ, leading designer and manufacturer of ultra-thin coatings for medical devices, presented their solutions for customized coating of stents.
USA - A team of researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology, is working to advance the integration of radio frequency identification technology (RFID) into existing cardiac sensor networks, a new wireless technology for telemedicine delivery, and will also work to enhance the security of the systems used.