CardioExchange Archive

February 4th, 2015

To Shock or Not to Shock — That Is the Question

Joseph G Akar, MD/PhD and Jehad Al Buraiki, MD

Jehad Al Buraiki and Joseph G. Akar offer differing perspectives, from each side of the Atlantic, on cardiac resynchronization-pacemaker therapy.

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September 22nd, 2014

Another MacGyver Moment in Pacemaker Implantation

Shengshou Hu, M.D.

Dr. Westby Fisher gets creative with his medical technology.

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April 8th, 2014

Assessing the MRI Safety of New Pacemakers and ICDs

Promporn Suksaranjit, M.D.

Promporn Suksaranjit provides an update on the safety of pacemakers and ICDs in an MRI environment.

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March 3rd, 2014

Case: Palpitations in a Young Runner with Lamin A/C Deficiency

Anna Catino, MD and James Fang, MD

Anna Catino presents our latest case: A young, male, long-distance runner experiencing palpitations, who has lamin A/C deficiency and a family history of cardiac disease. How would you manage this patient?

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October 15th, 2013

First Leadless Pacemaker Gains Approval in Europe

Larry Husten, PHD

St. Jude Medical announced on Monday that the world’s first leadless pacemaker has gained CE Mark approval in Europe. The company also announced that it was buying Nanostim, the company that developed the innovative device. The FDA recently granted conditional approval for an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) application and a pivotal clinical trial, St. Jude […]

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September 19th, 2013

A Novel Navigation System for CRT Device Implantation

Sergio Richter, MD

Sergio Richter discusses his research group’s study of a non–fluoroscopy-based tracking system that can be used when implanting a CRT device.

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May 13th, 2013

Novel Leadless Pacemaker Makes Debut at HRS 2013

Larry Husten, PHD

First results in human patients of a novel leadless pacemaker were presented last week at the HRS meeting in Denver by Vivek Reddy.  Pacemaker leads are the most common source of complications associated with pacemakers today. The self-contained device is delivered via catheter to the right ventricle, to which it is attached with a fixation mechanism.  The device […]

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May 9th, 2013

Bruise Control: Continued Warfarin Beats Heparin Bridging During Device Implantation

Larry Husten, PHD

Many patients receiving an ICD or a pacemaker are already receiving oral anticoagulants. Current guidelines recommend replacement of the oral anticoagulant with the temporary use of heparin as a bridging strategy. Now a new study, BRUISE CONTROL (Bridge or Continue Coumadin for Device Surgery Randomized Controlled Trial), offers convincing evidence that this strategy is not […]

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March 27th, 2013

Left to Our Many Devices, Which One Do We Choose?

Mark Dayer, MD PhD FRCP and James Fang, MD

A 63-year-old male smoker with type 2 diabetes presents for the first time with chest pain and shortness of breath at rest. He has no recent history of viral infection and no family history of heart failure or sudden cardiac death. Initial laboratory testing documents negative troponin, normal calcium, normal serum angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) activity, and a […]

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February 13th, 2013

FDA Approves Second-Generation MRI-Friendly Pacemaker System from Medtronic

Larry Husten, PHD

Medtronic announced today that the FDA had approved its Advisa DR MRI SureScan, a next-generation pacemaker system specifically designed and tested for use with MRI scanners. The system, which Medtronic said would be launched immediately, includes the Advisa MRI device and two CapSureFix MRI SureScan leads. Medtronic said that more than 100,000 of its first-generation Revo SureScan devices have […]

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