Toshiba Service Earns The Most Top Rankings In IMV ServiceTrak Imaging Cardiovascular X-ray User Survey
As health care facilities today seek the best value in imaging and customer service, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc.'s Service organization strives to deliver top-tier service and customer satisfaction. The result of this dedication was once again confirmed by IMV, Ltd., which provides independent analysis of service trends in the imaging industry. In IMV's 2009 ServiceTrak™ Imaging report on cardiovascular X-ray system service, Toshiba received more top rankings than any other imaging vendor. Toshiba's cardiovascular X-ray service received the top ranking in 18 out of 36 attributes, including overall service performance, overall satisfaction with a manufacturer, reliability of hardware and reliability of software.
Cardiologist Available To Comment On Bill Clinton's Heart Condition
On Thursday, February 11, former president Bill Clinton experienced chest pains and was taken to a New York City hospital where he underwent a stent procedure to open one of his coronary arteries, according to published reports. This, six years after he had quadruple bypass surgery. Brian H. Annex, M.D., chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine in the Department of Medicine at the University of Virginia Health System, is available to speak expertly about Clinton's procedure and the signs and symptoms of heart disease that should not be ignored. Annex's clinical and research areas include a focus on peripheral arterial disease (PAD) where blockages in arteries cause illness and ongoing problems.
New Study Uses Adult Stem Cells In Effort To Save Limbs Of Patients With Peripheral Arterial Disease
Grant Medical Center recently completed the nation's first published study of a new procedure that may give hope to millions of patients facing lower limb amputations from peripheral arterial disease (PAD). PAD is a painful circulatory problem in the legs that affects 10 million Americans. If left untreated, it can lead to serious complications such as stroke, amputation and death. The December issue of The Journal of Vascular Surgery has published the results of a clinical trial at Grant documenting the outcomes of nine patients who received a groundbreaking transplant of adult stem cells. The study was designed to see if the stem cells would cause new blood vessels to grow bypassing severely narrowed or clogged arteries.
Woman To Woman: Tips For A Healthy Heart
Heart disease is the single leading cause of death for American women. Nearly twice as many women in the United States die of heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases than from all forms of cancer, including breast cancer. Dr. Karla Kurrelmeyer, a cardiologist at the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center in Houston, focuses on research and treatment of women with heart disease. Kurrelmeyer is somewhat unique among practicing cardiologists, not only because her focus is on female heart health, but also because she is a woman. Less than 20 percent of cardiologists in the U.S. are women. American Heart Month, recognized in February by the American Heart Association, gives her an opportunity to share with women on a broader scale what she shares with her patients year round.
Hospitals Report Low Compliance With Antibiotic Prophylaxis Guidelines, Australia
Many hospitals are not complying with national guidelines for antibiotic prophylaxis in cardiac surgery, particularly those regarding the duration of antibiotic administration, according to the results of research published in the Medical Journal of Australia. Dr Timothy Haydon, an intensivist at St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, and his co-authors conducted two point-prevalence surveys of intensive care units in 24 public and 27 private hospitals performing cardiac surgery in Australia in 2004 and 2008. The surveys showed that the use of antibiotic prophylaxis protocols for cardiac surgery patients increased from 50 per cent of private hospitals in 2004 to 69 per cent in 2008, and from 58 per cent of public hospitals in 2004 to 87 per cent in 2008.
Lower Risk Using Radial Access For Cardiac Catheterizations
Cardiac catheterizations have been a groundbreaking tool in the field of cardiology. This procedure offers a minimally invasive means for obtaining important information about the heart and its blood vessels, while also providing a less invasive treatment for certain heart conditions. "A cardiac catheterization is a very important test that allows interventional cardiologists to see the heart as it pumps blood. The information gathered during this procedure cannot be collected by any other means, " said Interventional Cardiologist Kimberly Skelding, M.D., Director of Geisinger's Women's Heart and Vascular Health Program and Director of Cardiovascular Genomics and Cardiovascular Research at the Henry Hood Center for Health Research.
10th Annual Spring Meeting On Cardiovascular Nursing
Geneva, situated at the heart of Europe, provides a fitting setting for the 10th Annual Spring Meeting of the European Society of Cardiology Council (ESC) on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professionals (CCNAP), 12 - 13 March 2010, with its special theme: "Uniting to Improve Cardiovascular Practice". "Problems in cardiology are universal, but different countries have developed different ways of managing them. The idea of the Spring meeting is to unite nurses and allied health professionals across the globe, enabling them to share best practice with the ultimate hope of raising standards of practice in cardiology, " said Professor Christi Deaton, Chairperson of the ESC Council on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions.
Silver Nanoparticles May One Day Be Key To Devices That Keep Hearts Beating Strong And Steady
Diamonds and gold may make some hearts flutter on Valentine's Day, but in a University at Buffalo laboratory, silver nanoparticles are being designed to do just the opposite. The nanoparticles are part of a new family of materials being created in the laboratory of SUNY Distinguished Professor and Greatbatch Professor of Advanced Power Sources Esther Takeuchi, PhD, who developed the lithium/silver vanadium oxide battery. The battery was a major factor in bringing implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs) into production in the late 1980s. ICDs shock the heart into a normal rhythm when it goes into fibrillation. Twenty years later, with more than 300, 000 of these units being implanted every year, the majority of them are powered by the battery system developed and improved by Takeuchi and her team.
Pitt County Memorial Hospital Adopts TandemHeart R -versatile Circulatory Support Device From CardiacAssist
CardiacAssist Inc. announced that Pitt County Memorial Hospital has adopted the company's TandemHeart® System. Pitt County Memorial Hospital is in select company: TandemHeart is now being used in nearly 90% of the "Best U.S. Heart & Heart Surgery Hospitals" as ranked by U.S. News & World Report-with more than 1, 900 TandemHeart procedures performed to date at nearly 150 hospitals across the United States. "We pride ourselves in being a state-of-the-art cardiac care facility, " said interventional cardiologist Walter A. Tan, M.D. "Therefore we are very proud to be one of the first cardiac centers in North Carolina to offer this important new life-saving technology to our cardiac patients.
Women's Heart Health Takes Center Stage In February
Despite strides in raising awareness of cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death and illness among women, heart disease is still under-recognized, under-treated, and under-diagnosed in women. During American Heart Month, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists encourages women to learn how they can protect their heart health. Heart disease killed more than 432, 000 US women in 2006-roughly one woman per minute. Women over age 20 have more than a one in three chance of dying from cardiovascular disease. Long considered a man's disease, awareness efforts have helped many people understand that heart disease is very much a women's disease.