Cardiologists believe they can restore coronary arteries thanks to a new generation of stents that help the body to strengthen collapsed vessels. Elsewhere, patients’ own stem cells are being programmed to rebuild cardiac muscle in HF patients.
Ultrasound expands its role in cardiac imaging with disruptive applications. Fasten your seat belt. Cardiac diagnostics is entering a zone of turbulence. Manufacturers of leading systems continue to mine data from the sonic signal that opens new fields for research. John Brosky reports
The Catharina Hospital (Eindhoven, the Netherlands) and Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) today announced the results of a clinical study involving the treatment of 136 patients with complex heart rhythm disorders such as atrial fibrillation (AF).
The potential of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) is still largely untapped. One novel application might be ablation follow-up. The first MRI-guided cardiac interventions were performed at Herzzentrum Leipzig, but, as far as coronary imaging is concerned, MDCT remains superior to MRI
Computed tomography (CT) is the modality of choice for many diagnostic issues. Whilst currently its major strength is the visualisation of anatomical detail, future technological improvements may also reduce radiation exposure.
Researchers in Germany have suggested that, for certain patients, newly developed coronary CT angiography techniques can provide good quality images with very low dose radiation.
The 2013 ESC Guidelines on Cardiac Pacing and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy¹ developed in collaboration with the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), have created a new classification system for bradyarrhythmias according to mechanisms rather than aetiology.
Smoking increases the risk of heart disease and stroke by five-fold in people under the age of 50 and doubles risk in the over-60s.
More than half of Germany’s population aged between 18 and 74 years cannot show off a gapless set of teeth, and that’s similar in France and worse only in Poland, according to a 2012 study, which also investigated oral hygiene.
Numerous cardiac muscle cells die following myocardial infarction, due to reduced blood flow in the affected muscle areas. What remains is a scar, which also mechanically affects cardiac pumping. The muscle itself has no, or hardly any, capacity to regenerate itself.
Not such a rare situation: A patient is due for an MRI scan to clarify a diagnosis. However, it transpires that this patient is fitted with an implant, say an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), which is contraindicated for MRI examinations.
How the different advanced cardio vascular imaging technologies fit together in managing cardiac patients, will be one of the main themes explored at the International Conference on Nuclear Cardiology and Cardiac CT (ICNC 11).
CT scanners now nicely cover morphology. The challenge is moving to CT functional imaging without frying patients
MRI has become the gold standard for many indications in cardiac imaging, apart from imaging the coronary arteries. For function and morphology assessment, MRI is the leading technology. A further advance into as yet unknown territory is myocardial imaging aided by one of the first integrated 3-Tesla PET/MR systems currently used at the Institute of Radiology, Essen University Hospital,…
Patients with cardiac implantable electric devices (CIED) need ongoing and lifelong follow-ups. Due to the growing number of CIEDs, the demand for follow-up visits is increasing rapidly and already pushing clinics to maximum capacities.
Arterial stiffness of the central human blood vessels leads to increased work for the heart and damages microstructures in the organs. However, measuring blood vessel elasticity inside the body is not that easy.
Royal Philips Electronics today announced the signing of an agreement with City Hospitals & Clinics, a Bulgarian healthcare group, to equip their new hospital in Sofia, Bulgaria.
In the highly competitive US market for interventional radiology, Siemens introduced a ground-breaking new imaging chain for the Artis line that sets a new standard for image quality.
The new Aquilion ONE ViSION is the widest, fastest, thinnest-slice CT ever built, capable to pushing both anatomical and functional studies to new levels.
To treat heart problems, common sense says we should look to the heart. New European research based on an advanced ultrasound system suggests that stiffening of the arteries plays a key role
Artificial hearts, originally designed to bridge the time on the waiting list for a heart transplant, in recent years have increasingly become an independent treatment option for patients with chronic heart failure (HF).
Ultrasound is enthusiastically embraced by cardiologists in guidelines as essential for evaluating a patient's heart. Now visualisation of 3-D wall motion takes ultrasound to a higher level, opening a new understanding of heart mechanics
Cardiovascular diseases, the most common cause of death in the West, includes diseases for which early detection is an important objective in cardiac imaging – particularly for coronary artery stenosis. Diagnosis is often made in the cardiac catheter laboratory. Now, however, CT scanning advances provide a lower impact alternative to that invasive exam. PD Dr Thomas Schlosser, Consultant at the…
