The therapeutic potential of adult stem cells in cardiovascular diseases
By Bodo E. Strauer (Düsseldorf, Germany) Russian summary and complete article in English.
Cardiovascular diseases
E-SIRIUS Trial: Safety and efficacy of drug-eluting stents
Cordis Corporations' CYPHER stent is a Sirolimus-eluting coronary stent used for treatment of patients with coronary artery disease. The five-year results of the E-Sirius Trial show that in comparison to bare metal stents the CYPHER stent offers sustained clinical benefits.
For and against - Absorbable metal stents
Coronary stents provide wall wrapping of dissection, prevent elastic recoil, and reduce restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. In addition, drug eluting stents loaded with antiproliferative agents inhibit intimal hyperplasia and offer a further reduction of restenosis.
Cardiac Diagnostic Imaging - Significance of ultrasound
Some of the medical procedures and equipment showcased and discussed at the MEDICA 2007 are sure to provide medical experts with plenty of discussion material. In cardiac diagnostic imaging a minor revolution is taking place, with ultrasound procedures increasing in significance. But innovation in x-ray methods is also continuing.
The therapeutic potential of adult stem cells in CVDs
Cardiac infarction is characterised by tissue ischaemia with loss of contractile heart muscle.
Robot moves steadily in on catheter ablation
The Sensei Robotic Catheter System, a first generation robotic platform launched by Hansen Medical at the USA's Heart Rhythm Society Scientific Sessions in May this year, is in use in Europe.
Cardiologists meet to sum up progress
During a meeting of cardiologists in Prague earlier this year to exchange experiences with new methods and treatments to control atrial fibrillation, Dr Josef Kautzner, Head of Cardiology Department at IKEM (Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine) pointed out that numbers of patients with AF will more than double during the next 20 years.
TWA predicts mortality in patients with normal ejection fraction
An increased TWA (T-wave alternans) is a significant indicator of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, as well as of sudden cardiac death in patients with mostly normal ejection fraction, according to a recently published study by researchers led by Dr Tuomo Nieminen.
FRED® easyport
Cardiac infarction and cardiovascular failure are two of today's most frequent emergencies. SCHILLER's FRED® easyport® pocket is the only pocket defibrillator in the world.
Trial to raise awareness of gender and CVD
More women than men die of cardiovascular disease (CVD) every year, yet females receive only 33% of angioplasties, stents and bypass surgeries; 28% of implantable defibrillators, and 36% of open heart surgeries.
Platinum chromium alloy enhances design
Boston Scientific Corporation has commenced enrolment of a targeted 1,500 patients for the Taxus Perseus clinical trials, planned to take place in 100 international centres.
Ready for action: The 17.5 kg heart-lung machine
The Lifebridge B2T (bridge-to-transport) is the first, fully portable emergency life support system for patients suffering cardiogenic shock, or those showing signs of imminent cardiogenic shock.
Progenitor cell transfer for cardiac repair after
Progenitor cell transfer to repair the damaged heart has emerged as an innovative and promising recent development in cardiovascular medicine.
Cardiac resynchronisation therapy
Switzerland - A clinical trial of cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) in patients with advanced heart failure and a narrow QRS complex
NEW BP-measuring device
A new blood pressure (BP) measuring device that provides, along with all the conventional cardiovascular parameters, the cardiac stroke volume, peripheral resistance and arterial augmentation, has been developed at the Austrian Research Centre (ARC), Vienna-Seibersdorf. The result of seven years' work by researchers, the device, named CardioMon, is now ready for sale.
CTA benefits coronary artery bypass graft patients
Cardiac CT angiography (CTA) performed after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery can reveal a high prevalence of unsuspected cardiac and significant non-cardiac findings that might otherwise be overlooked, according to a study by researchers at the University of Maryland Medical Centre, Baltimore ('Cardiac CT Angiography after Coronary Bypass Surgery: Prevalence of Incidental Findings', Pub:…
Determining body weight in the elderly
Elderly people lose their physical reserves and are thus more susceptible to diseases. Very often not only one but several organs are affected. Consequently, prophylactic measures such as control of body weight to determine the patient's nutritional status become crucial.
Furore over increased balloon angioplasty units
A decision by Ab Klink, Minister of Public Health, Wellbeing and Sports, to increase the number of balloon angioplasty facilities in hospitals to 30, has prompted the NVVC - the Dutch cardiologists association - to express concern that there will be too many centres and too few patients, and specialists will not be able to maintain the level of skills for this procedure.
Cardiac MSCT Study Assessment with Sure Plaque-Software
Ongoing refinement of modern helical multi-slice CT (MSCT) scanners offers the opportunity for very high temporal and spatial resolution thin-slice data set acquisition. The reconstruction techniques offered (multisegment reconstruction) result in improved temporal resolution down to 40-200 ms and thus also reducing motion artifacts. The SURECardio software package makes possible optimum studies…
Monitoring of Coronary Stenting
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…
Monitoring of Surgical Bypasses
The aortocoronary bypass is an important surgical method for multivessel coronary revascularization, especially in the presence of complex lesions and in diabetic patients. It is can improve the prognosis of patients with three vessel disease and with left ventricular dysfunction1 . With regard to the type of graft used, bypasses are split into venous and arterial types. The use of venous…
Tissue Doppler Imaging
Tissue Doppler Imaging (TDI) is an emergingnon-invasive ultrasound technique that makes it possible to measure velocities at any point of the ventricular wall during the cardiac cycle. Over the last ten years, TDI has been proposed as a feasible and useful imaging tool that provides information on regional wall motion dynamics.
Cardiac CT
Along with a high local resolution, the cardiac CT imaging also requires a high time resolution where the image data acquisition must be synchronised with the cardiac cycle by means of parallel ECG recording, and the measuring volume must be acquired in a single breathhold cycle. The multi-slice CT copes well with these requirements as it allows for acquiring continuous volume data sets of the…
Automatic Quantification of Left-ventricular Function
The evaluation of the size and function of the left ventricle in patients with suspected heart disease is a central diagnostic problem. In contrast to other methods of evaluating left-ventricular function (e.g., angiocardiography, right-sided heart catheterization, radionuclide ventriculography or MRI), transthoracic echocardiography is a widespread and readily available procedure that is not…
Tissue Doppler Imaging for assessment of pseudonormalization of the mitral inflow pattern
Impairment of left ventricular relaxation may lead to pulmonary congestion and symptoms of heart failure even in patients with preserved systolic function. Doppler echocardiography has become the non-invasive method of choice for the assessment of both systolic and diastolic dysfunction. However, Doppler-derived parameters such as mitral inflow velocity, deceleration time and isovolumic…
