Last night I gave a twenty-minute presentation on ICDs to a group of hospice and palliative care professionals. It was a real honor to speak to such an enlightened and dedicated group of caregivers. These are people who really get it. I wasn’t restricted in what to say about ICDs. They kindly gave me plenty […]
Category: ICD/Pacemaker
…patients might die. My newest post is up on Trials and Fibrillations over at theHeart.org. A heart rhythm doctor makes a living using and installing medical devices. These man-made, man-engineered and man-maneuvered devices can sometimes epitomize beautiful therapies. (Ask the former vice-president if he likes medical devices.) When used skillfully, complex medical devices may save […]
Slightly over a year ago, the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched an investigation of a large number of institutions regarding concerns that implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) procedures were performed for reasons outside of the criteria set forth in Medicare’s National Coverage Decision (NCD). This investigation occurred just after Al-Khatib and others published a report January […]
Tough week. Sometimes the catheter falls into place easily, and sometimes it does not. This week, ‘not’ dominated. I wish it was just the procedures. Difficult cases that string together–and for some reason they tend to come in clumps–was not the hardest part of the week. Hardly. The real tension-inducer was fending off, dealing with, […]
I can’t possible write two posts tonight. Therefore, please consider this Cycling Wed post a mosaic. (I like that word, don’t you? Give me a break smarties.) Seriously… Today, my friend and fellow heart rhythm doctor Jay Schloss (Cincinnati) published this meticulous and well-balanced essay concerning the recent recall of St Jude Medical’s Riata defibrillator […]
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ICD stories can be shocking…
Though ancient for social media, I thought this week-old but bizarre defibrillator story might be worth a mention. From the South Florida news feeds, Implanted defibrillator killed Gateway man after wife’s heart stopped. Here’s the skinny: In October, an 80 year-old woman—with an internal defibrillator– and her 85 year-old husband of 60 years were enjoying […]
From one of my favorite journals, Applied Physics Letters. (Just kidding.) Could the vibration of the heart be harnessed into energy to drive a pacemaker generator? Nifty stuff here. They just need to overcome that thorny issue of bio-compatibility. JMM From Medical News Today.
How do doctors decide on treatments? How do you decide? And yes, you should decide! What inputs go into making this important decision? Let me make it simple. Basically, there are only four. (As they say in the Hamburg EP lab…â€It’s easy.â€) First, since I am an older doctor, I’ll start with… Risks: In deciding […]
Cardiac devices were in the news today. And you guessed it; the reports centered on problems. In this case the story includes dramatic visuals. The St Jude defibrillator wire, Riata, a commonly-used wire has been ‘recalled’ by the FDA because of electrical failures in at least 10% of cases. The dramatic part here includes the […]
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Ventricular Fib… contagious?
This doesn’t happen everyday. The dangers of having two hearts. And we think it’s bad when pulmonary veins reconnect? JMM P.S. How do you fill out the checklist on this one? Reversible cause? Here is the original case report for you Annals of Emergency Medicine subscribers.
Two studies published today really gave my thinking brain a workout. The first study: The prestigious medical group, the American College of Physicians (ACP) provocatively decreed, in its recent ethical guidelines, that doctors have a responsibility to use parsimony in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. As reported today on the NPR health blog, Shots, […]