Sorry this took most of the week to get out. (There was a good reason.) Better late than never I suppose. On Day 3 of the 2013 American College of Cardiology meeting, I woke up well rested and inspired to squeeze in as much learning as possible. The first order of business was putting the […]
Category: ICD/Pacemaker
The Internal Cardiac Defibrillator (ICD) can be a life-saving device. Many scientifically robust studies have demonstrated that when these machines are implanted in carefully selected patients, mortality is reduced. That is the upside–a big one for sure. The downsides of these devices are many. Our ability to predict which patient will eventually need a shock […]
It’s not normal for me to study the literature on pediatric cardiology. There’s more than enough medical science on adults to keep me busy. But this one on the quality of life in kids with cardiac devices caught my eye. Researchers found that kids with either pacemakers or ICDs (defibrillators) and their families reported significantly […]
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Would you know what to do?
At its core, this blog aims to do some good. I don’t like to ask for things. It’s not why I write. Today is an exception. I’m going to ask you to learn about and maybe support an important cause. The topic is sudden cardiac death–our number-one killer. There are a lot of folks working […]
If you have not already heard, there was more news (see theHeart.org) on the troubled St Jude Medical Riata family of ICD leads. The high voltage leads were recalled in December of 2011 and estimates are that 79,000 remain implanted. Perhaps more problematic for the company is the structural similarity of its current ICD lead […]
The thing is: I am a real fan of ICDs. I could fill this blog with ‘good’ ICD stories. These would be vignettes that describe real people who have gained beautiful years of life because of an automatically delivered shock from a device that a former paper boy implanted. Like all things therapeutic, there are […]
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Standing up for a Harvard Doctor
There was a very important article written in the NY Times today. It highlighted a common medical scenario in my world—the defibrillator (ICD) world. I am going to talk about ICDs here, but the big picture inherent in this story illustrates the important issue of how best to apply invasive therapy to elderly and sicker […]
I’m still working on recapping the Heart Rhythm Society sessions from last month. It was an incredible meeting that offered vast amounts of worthwhile information. So much really–for patients, generalists and specialists alike. Part 2 of my favorite ICD-related posts from HRS 2012 is now posted over at Trials and Fibrillations at theHeart.org. It touches […]
It took over a week to finish writing about some of the major news concerning defibrillators (ICDs) from the Heart Rhythm Society sessions this month. As therapies go, the ICD could not be much more complicated. These expensive devices are often implanted in patients at risk for–but not yet had–sudden death. The stats in this […]
Hi All, Tomorrow morning, I will be heading to Boston for the annual Heart Rhythm Society scientific sessions. As I did this January during the Boston AF symposium, I plan to keep you informed. In fact, in my new capacity as a member of theHeart.org team, I will be live tweeting and blogging the meeting. […]
There is a big story out today in the small world of electrophysiology. I’ll try to give it a non-technical wide-angle view. My friend and fellow real world doctor, Dr. Jay Schloss from Cincinnati is at it again. Jay conitunes on his quest to give doctors and patients the most useable information possible on the […]