Care Delivery

This channel includes news on cardiovascular care delivery, including how patients are diagnosed and treated, cardiac care guidelines, policies or legislation impacting patient care, device recalls that may impact patient care, and cardiology practice management.

New hypertrophic cardiomyopathy guidelines highlight importance of exercise, new drug class
HCM is widely underdiagnosed, but the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association hope their new guidelines can help cardiologists learn more about the potentially fatal condition and improve patient care.
Dual-action thrombectomy device could give cardiologists a new tool for treating acute PE
The new device is believed to be the first of its kind, using both aspiration and mechanical clot disruption to remove blood clots.
ChatGPT struggles to evaluate heart risk—but it could still help cardiologists
Relying on the AI-powered chatbot for heart assessments could be "dangerous," researchers warn, but the technology may still be helpful in certain situations.
Next-day discharge after TAVR with a self-expanding valve: 4 key takeaways
Researchers explored STS/ACR data from nearly 30,000 TAVR patients, presenting their findings in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Medicare reimbursement down 29% for cardiologists, 58% for heart surgeons
Physician payments are down slightly across the board, but they've fallen significantly for a handful of specialties. Researchers examined the long-term impact this trend could have on patient care.

The Boston Scientific Watchman device is a transcatheter device implanted in the left atrial appendage (LAA) to seal it off so atrial fibrillation patients can got off of anticoagulant therapy.

Real-world Watchman patients experiencing fewer complications after LAAO than seen in clinical trials

The study's authors compared findings from the PROTECT-AF and PREVAIL clinical trials with data from the NCDR LAAO Registry, focusing on short-term and long-term outcomes.

May 3, 2022

Illustration showing four innovative heart failure technologies: The V-Wave interaterial shunt to relieve pressures between the left and right sides of the heart; the Carillon Transcatheter mitral valve annuloplasty system; the Revivent TC system and the AccuCinch device. Interventional cardiology heart failure cleveland clinic

4 promising heart failure therapies interventional cardiologists should keep an eye on

The devices, currently being investigated by teams of heart specialists, could make a big impact in the years ahead.

May 3, 2022

Brugada arrhythmogenic substrate that causes VT and sudden cardiac death. This study showed ablation of this substrate area could help prevent sudden cardiac arrest in these patients.

Epicardial ablation in Brugada syndrome reduces sudden cardiac death

A late-breaking study at Heart Rhythm 2022 found epicardial ablation in Brugada syndrome helped significantly reduce sudden cardiac arrest in these patients, increasing their survival.

May 3, 2022

A large proportion of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) end up in emergency rooms (ERs), but there are inherent issues with most hospital ERs handing off these patients to electrophysiologists for followup care. The ER2EP Study presented at the 2022 HRS meeting found better results of there is an organized pathway for AF patients to follow. #AFib

New-look protocol boosts outcomes among AFib patients in the ER

A large proportion of patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib) end up in emergency rooms (ERs), but there are inherent issues with most hospital ERs handing off these patients to electrophysiologists for follow-up care.

May 2, 2022

Veteran cardiologist Morton M. Mower, co-inventor of the automatic ICD, dies at 89

“I think he was the most brilliant person I’ve ever met," one long-time colleague said.

May 2, 2022

Same-day discharge for AFib ablation a success thanks to telehealth

The new analysis, presented during Heart Rhythm 2022, focused on patients treated at a high-volume facility during the COVID-19 pandemic.

May 2, 2022

A late-breakling study session at the 2022 Heart Rhythm DSociety (HRS) conference. Here is a list of all the late breaking studies at #HeartRhythm22

Links to the late-breaking studies at Heart Rhythm 2022

Heart Rhythm 2022, held from April 28 to May 1 in San Francisco, included a wide range of studies presented by some of the industry's leading specialists.

May 2, 2022

Illustration of a left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) procedure using a Watchman device. Image courtesy of Johns Hopkins Medicine. #LAA #LAAO

Same-day discharge after LAAO associated with strong outcomes, significant cost savings

A new analysis found that 30-day outcomes do not significantly change when LAAO patients go home the same day as their procedure.

April 28, 2022

Around the web

Health Imaging

New imaging protocols proposed to curb rise of cardiovascular infections

Eleven medical societies have signed on to a consensus statement aimed at standardizing imaging for suspected cardiovascular infections.

Radiology Business

What does radiology have to do with climate change?

Kate Hanneman, MD, explains why many vendors and hospitals want to lower radiology's impact on the environment. "Taking steps to reduce the carbon footprint in healthcare isn’t just an opportunity," she said. "It’s also a responsibility."

Care Delivery

New hypertrophic cardiomyopathy guidelines highlight importance of exercise, new drug class

Dual-action thrombectomy device could give cardiologists a new tool for treating acute PE

ChatGPT struggles to evaluate heart risk—but it could still help cardiologists

Next-day discharge after TAVR with a self-expanding valve: 4 key takeaways

Medicare reimbursement down 29% for cardiologists, 58% for heart surgeons

Around the web