Topic

Atrial Fibrillation


Medtronic posts strong earnings, but guidance dropped due to shaky sales

Top Stories | Tuesday, August 24 2010
Medtronic’s financial results for its first quarter of fiscal year 2011, which ended July 30, revealed a double-digit increase in net earnings, despite a slight drop in revenues.
 

Biotronik puts MR-compatible pacing systems on EU market

New Products | Tuesday, June 15 2010
Biotronik has released its ProMRI pacing systems—Evia pacemaker and Safio pacing leads—to the European market.
 

CMS removes separate NCD for MRA

Industry News | Friday, June 04 2010
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has decided that because blood-flow determination with MR angiography (MRA) is a “specific application” of MRI, a separate National Coverage Determination (NCD) is not necessary and the noncoverage language will be removed.
 

Strong CV sales propels Medtronic in Q4, FY10

Top Stories | Wednesday, May 26 2010
Medtronic has reported impressive financial results for its 2010 fourth quarter and fiscal year, which ended April 30.
 

HRS: Experts debate doc involvement, quality measures in healthcare reform

Top Stories | Tuesday, May 18 2010
Written by Justine Cadet
DENVER—The six-week-old healthcare reform legislation aroused a heated debate between former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., NPR journalist Juan Williams and physicians Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, and Richard I. Fogel, MD, who discussed government involvement and the questions that remain about quality measures within clinical practice, during the opening plenary session of the 31st annual conference of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) on May 13.
 

DoJ report uncovers healthcare fraud settlements, actions in 2009

Industry News | Monday, May 17 2010
According to the 13th annual Department of Justice (DoJ) Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program report for fiscal year 2009, the federal government won or negotiated approximately $1.63 billion in judgments and settlements and U.S. Attorneys' offices opened 1,014 new criminal healthcare fraud investigations involving 1,786 potential defendants.
 

ACC: PINNACLE Registry aims to improve outpatient cardiac care

Conference News | Tuesday, March 16 2010
Written by Gina Narcisi
QATLANTA - Originally piloted two years ago as the Improving Continuous Cardiac Care IC3 registry, the recently rebranded PINNACLE registry is the first and only ambulatory registry for cardiovascular conditions in this country, noted William Oetgen, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine at Georgetown University, at the 59th annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) annual conference on March 16.
 

RSNA: Cardiac CT could replace fluoroscopy for valves w/ less radiation dose

Conference News | Sunday, November 29 2009
Written by Justine Cadet
CHICAGO—Cardiac CT can advantageously replace fluoroscopy for evaluation of bileaflet valves, according to a prospective analysis that confirms recent retrospective studies, presented Sunday at the 2009 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) meeting.
 

Kaiser scores $54M+ in NIH/ARRA grants

Industry News | Wednesday, October 14 2009
Kaiser Permanente has received 22 grants worth more than $54 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.
 

Hansen debuts updated robotic catheter system, new catheters

New Products | Tuesday, September 15 2009
Hansen Medical has received FDA clearance for its next-generation Sensei X robotic catheter system. Also, the company is introducing the Artisan Extend control catheter in the U.S., and the Lynx robotic ablation catheter, an irrigated ablation catheter, in Europe.
 

Siemens, SurgiVision to develop MRI-guided cardiac EP system

Partnerships & Alliances | Tuesday, September 08 2009
Siemens Healthcare and SurgiVision of Irvine, Calif., have formed an agreement for the co-development and commercialization of a real-time MRI-guided cardiac electrophysiology (EP) system.
 

Medtronic receives CE Mark for updated MRI pacemaker

Regulatory News | Monday, June 22 2009
Medtronic has received the European CE Mark for its second-generation pacemaker for use with MRI machines, the Advisa DR MRI SureScan pacing system.
 

FEATURE: Multi-site initiative cuts CCTA dose by half

Top Stories | Tuesday, June 09 2009
A multi-facility program using ECG gating and kV reduction allowed Michigan providers to halve coronary CT angiography (CCTA) radiation dose for thousands of patients with no effect on image quality, according to a study in the June 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
 

ASE: 3D echo allows for better diagnoses

Conference News | Monday, June 08 2009
Physicians can better predict potentially life-threatening cardiac events with real-time, 3D echocardiography, according to a study presented at the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) meeting in Washington, D.C.
 

Circulation: MRI method could predict outcomes in a-fib patients

Clinical Studies | Wednesday, April 08 2009
Researchers have found that advanced visualization with delayed-enhancement MRI holds promise for predicting treatment outcomes and measuring disease progression for patients with atrial fibrillation, according to study appearing in the April 7 issue of Circulation.
 

Cardima completes $20M private sale of stock

Financial News | Tuesday, March 03 2009
Cardima, a medical device company focused on the treatment of atrial fibrillation, reported that it has completed the private sale of approximately 18.52 million shares of common stock to an accredited investor for $20 million.
 

HR: New 3D imaging tool is efficacious as atrial fibrillation ablation guide

Clinical Studies | Thursday, February 26 2009
Three-dimensional rotational atriography overlay is a new imaging method with reduced radiation exposure that may replace pre-procedural CT scans for catheter navigation and atrial fibrillation ablation, according to a study in the February issue of HeartRhythm.
 

New MRI method detects left atrial wall scarring in patients with atrial fibrillation

Clinical Studies | Monday, October 06 2008
Noninvasive imaging of the left atrial wall with MRI is a recent advancement and a powerful tool to evaluate injury related to radiofrequency energy delivery during atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation, according to a study in the Oct. 7 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
 
Web Exclusives

Feature: U.S. needs national strategy to curb imaging overutilization

Medical imaging overutilization--a growing concern in the U.S.--exposes patients to unnecessary radiation, while also adding to rising healthcare costs, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in Radiology. In an interview, William R. Hendee, PhD, lead author, reviewed various methods by which medical imaging could be curtailed.

Radiology: Prelim study shows CE breast CT outperforms CT, mammo

Dedicated contrast-enhanced (CE) breast CT delivered significantly improved conspicuity of malignant breast lesions, including ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), compared with unenhanced breast CT and mammography, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology.

Radiology: Rad role may evolve as image-guided biopsies trend up

CT, ultrasound and MRI have helped shift biopsy techniques away from more invasive approaches toward image-guided percutaneous techniques, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology. The trend toward less-invasive approaches translates into enhanced safety and efficiency and could lead to more interaction between patients and radiologists.

CMS Webinar: Incentive payments to offset EHR adoption, not reimburse

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) EHR incentive payments are not considered reimbursement for money expended on EHR technology, but are intended to offset the cost associated with adoption and ongoing meaningful use, according to CMS during an Aug. 12 webinar.

CMS webinar: Eligible professionals can expect EHR incentives in 2011

Funding incentives for EHR use is the main goal of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) meaningful use initiative, and there are incentive programs for both hospitals and eligible professionals, according to Elizabeth Holland, health insurance specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke during a CMS-sponsored webinar Aug. 8.

Webinar: Stage 1 of meaningful use is for quality reporting acclimation

Stage 1 requirements for meaningful use incentives aim to strike a balance between the overall goal of EHR use and widespread adoption, while avoiding added work, said Jonathan Teich, MD, PhD, chief medical informatics officer at Elsevier Health Services, during a HIMSS webinar titled “Meaningful Use: Safety and Quality of Care.”

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