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Maximum performance in a compact electrocardiograph Headquarters: SCHILLER AG, Altgasse 68, CH-6341 Baar Phone +41 41 766 42 42, Fax +41 41 761 08 80 sales@schiller.ch, www.schiller.ch FOR USERS WHO VALUE STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY: Easy 1-2-3 steps Power and flexibility of a PC in a portable ECG Bidirectional Wi-Fi communication Culprit Coronary Artery Algorithm™ for early STEMI detection Explore the new ECG world: SCHILLER’s CARDIOVIT FT-1 CARDIOLOGY www.healthcare-in-europe.com 11 Dr Ashraf Kitmitto is a Reader in the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Manchester. Having established her own research group she worked on structural studies of proteins mediating excitation-contraction coupling, leading to the determination of the first 3-D structure for the L-type voltage- gated calcium channel. This research has now developed to encompass the morphological changes that occur to the cellular structure of the heart as cardiac failure develops, using state-of-the art 3-D electron microscopy imaging methods. able to look, in 3-D, at the nano- architecture of the cells around the damaged area of the heart and see the changes following a heart attack. ‘The regular pattern of T-tubules – like spokes on a wheel – is really important because it means the whole heart cell can receive the same information and it can con- tract together. But, following a heart attack that regular structure is lost, so some parts of the cell will get the signal and other parts won’t. ‘Now, we can see what’s going on; the next step is to find out why and how we can intervene to prevent heart failure development.’ BHF Associate Medical Director Dr Mike Knapton said: ‘This inter- esting research and the beautiful images may hold key clues to reduc- ing the permanent damage caused by a heart attack.’ Other talks in the session includ- ed clinical imaging for vulnerable plaques: VH-IVUS, CT and OCT by Professor Martin Bennett; Materials Science in Cardiovascular Research: a new perspective (Dr Sergio Bertazzo); and how SICM microsco- py/FRET reveals molecular and cel- lular basis of heart failure (Professor Julia Gorelik). ‘DISCHARGE is a large multicentre randomised trial that aims to deter- mine whether CTA helps to reduce myocardial infarction, stroke and cardiovascular death,’ explained Professor Marc Dewey, a team mem- Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the major killer worldwide. Its early detection can save the lives of many. Computed tomography (CT) has shown tremendous results in this area, but its advantage over more invasive techniques remains to be demonstrated, especially in patients with low to moderate risk. Across Europe, a large team of investigators decided to do just that through the new DISCHARGE study. Mélisande Rouger interviewed team member Marc Dewey, Professor of Radiology at the Charité University Hospital in Berlin, about the study’s aims and design. Continued on page 12 not so much trouble. But for me, if I want to learn about PET/MR, I have a lot of work to do to under- stand the PET part. The opportunity is there to have a lot of data, but what can you do without the skills?’ Bucciarelli-Ducci underlines. Last, but not least, a number of issues come up with 3-T cardiac MR: artefacts can ruin pictures and patients with non MRI-conditional devices or metallic cerebral clips cannot be screened with 3-T. Robert Gropler from St Louis, USA, who also spoke during the session, summed up the situation and outlined the perspectives for the near future. ‘PET MR is slowly being introduced in the clinic and it will remain slow for a while. It’s challenging but strategies are com- ing. We have to keep the industry involved. The most money is going to oncology, so we need to make it shift to cardiac. ‘Finally, radiation exposure is not trivia. CT strategies are reducing radiation but, in the US, you can see that risk areas, such as vaccines, food, etc. are getting pushed back. I could see that for radiation expo- sure as well,’ Gropler warned. Stable chest pain and suspected CAD Seeking CT’s role Phone +41417664242, Fax +41417610880

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