High-risk patients with weakened hearts don’t benefit significantly when a device that keeps blood pumping through the body is used during angioplasty procedures to re-open narrowed coronary arteries. That was the main finding of a study that was published August 25 in...
Remember the old kid’s song, “Dem Bones,” with verses like “foot bone connected to the leg bone”? It turns out that if the song was ever updated, it might need to mention the leg bone’s connection to heart health.
An essay on the after-effects of open-heart surgery, which appeared in the August 7 issue of The New York Times, sparked considerable interest the following week among the paper’s readers, as reflected by the volume of letters to the editor on the subject.
Essay author...
Statins appear to reduce the risk of postoperative atrial fibrillation and expedite recovery following cardiac surgery, according to a new study released in the August 2010 issue of The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.
Researchers from the University of...
For several decades, open-heart surgery has been the gold-standard technique for aortic valve replacement (AVR). Now, a new technique approved in Europe and under investigation in the United States – percutaneous heart valve (PHV) replacement – may prove at least...
iPAD sales have exceeded three million since the device’s April 3, 2010, introduction in the United States. Now comes word of ways the iPAD is significantly changing the practice of healthcare.
According to a post on FutureMedica, a blog on “the future of healthcare and...
Many people who undergo an inpatient surgical procedure such as an aortic valve replacement or stent graft implantation wonder what the recovery will be like. Will I be able to resume my lifestyle? When? And how do I know if my recovery is on track?
It turns out that...
Innovation is a buzz word in many industries, but in the healthcare field it can be life-changing. OC Metro recently reported that Endologix received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test a fully percutaneous approach to abdominal aortic aneurysm...
Through the wonders of Wikipedia, we were recently conducting research on the way the operating room has changed over the years. Among our favorite facts: did you know that the operating room was called an “operating theater” in past centuries? It makes sense, if you...
Anxiety, worry and fear are all common and normal emotions that a person might feel before heart surgery. Knowledge is power, but can it help a patient deal with the stress-causing emotions of surgery?
Absolutely.
Just knowing the most common fears and anxieties that a...