Tonight, in the true spirit of cycling blogs, I will tell you a story. (We definitely need to lighten things up a bit.) Consider yourself warned. It is a saga of a cat-like mountain biker, who is also a heart specialist and perhaps a less than ideal patient. But first, you may be wondering why […]
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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 […]
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 […]
Important challenge to dogma alert: You may have heard that high cholesterol leads to heart disease. Most experts accept the important role that cholesterol plays in heart disease: High cholesterol, particularly LDL (the bad kind), favors build up of plaque, which then leads to obstructed arteries and heart attack. It’s simple. It makes sense. Even […]
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An antidote…
Without trying very hard you can read about all that gives doctors the blues. CNNMoney recently reported that many docs are actually going broke. It’s true, the take-the-fun-out-of-medicine people push harder all the time. But worry not, I am not going to drone on about negative things. I’m not even going to list one. (Think […]
The gusty winds of healthcare reform have recently swept through my city, Louisville KY. Similar to what is happening across the US, hospitals in Louisville seek consolidation. Strength be in numbers and in control of patients. The problem with merging University of Louisville Hospital (public), Jewish Hospital and St Mary’s and Elizabeth Hospital (both private) […]
AF News Flash: Heart surgeons are on the case! An important trial comparing catheter ablation to surgical ablation for AF was reported at last month’s AHA meeting. The surgical ablation arm of the FAST trial used the newly-approved Atricure Synergy Ablation System. And onward goes the collegial tussle between heart doctors and heart surgeons. Before […]
There are important medical studies, and then there are landmark studies–the kind of science that disrupts the entire medical community. The most recent game-changer was published yesterday (online) in the British equivalent of the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet. Well known surgeon and author, Dr Atul Gawande and colleagues published this important look-back […]
Imagine if there was an emerging epidemic of slow cyclists. It wasn’t always like this. Despite their lack of feather-light bikes, carbon-soled shoes, wind-cheating lycra, people used to go really fast on their bikes. Are you still imagining? Imagine if people spent more money on “things†that might make them faster: they buy better equipment, […]
How about those twenty-year-olds from the new fitness, health and happiness network, the Greatist? Just because twenty-somethings gave us Facebook and Apple, do these youngers really think they can affect heart disease more than us fancy doctors? We are the experts. How could they? They don’t wear white coats or scrubs. They didn’t go to […]
I have become an AF-doctor. That means my most exciting aspect of medicine is terminating AF with watts delivered through a catheter. “Got it.” In that beautiful moment, the take-the-fun-out-of-medicine people seem far away. Huge grin! Though all that high-tech stuff is exhilarating, it’s fair to say that the most remarkable thing in AF medicine […]