On the last day of ESC2013 I attended a press conference entitled Update in Rhythmology. The purpose was to highlight four rhythm-related studies released at ESC2103. The most noteworthy of the four abstracts involved gender-related issues in atrial fibrillation therapy. French researchers used a 1.6 million patient database (including 1200 French GPs) to come up […]
Tag: CRT
Heart rhythm doctoring made news again. This time it was a WSJ report on CRT—cardiac resynchronization therapy. What is CRT? (Briefly) CRT devices, formerly known as bi-ventricular devices, involve placing an extra lead in a vein branch of the left ventricle at the time of pacemaker or ICD implantation. The extra lead allows the right […]
This year’s American Heart Association (AHA) meeting is brimming with news. Since the WSJ had ICD devices in its corporate news section today, it seems a good place to start. Here is the summary: (The short version) According to the RAFT study, patients who are ICD candidates, and have a left bundle branch block fare […]
Today was one of those days where you are hopelessly behind schedule, always thinking 3 tasks ahead, and wondering when the finish line will appear. After bemoaning the misuse of ICDs yesterday, today I found two pretty sweet examples of how implantable titanium and silicone can enhance and extend the lives of real patients. The […]