St. Jude Medical.
CLINICAL EVENTS CALENDAR
- Saturday, March 13, 2010 - 23:00ACC.10 and i2 Summit 2010http://www.acc.org
- Tuesday, May 4, 2010 - 23:00SCAI 33rd Annual Scientific Sessionshttp://www.scai.org
- Tuesday, May 11, 2010 - 23:00Heart Rhythm: 31st Annual Scientific Sessionshttp://www.hrsonline.org
- Monday, May 31, 2010 - 23:00CEPIA Introduction to Cardiac Electrophysiologyhttp://www.cepia.com.au
EP Lab Blogs
Child Neurologists and Pediatric Electrophysiologists
In medical school, I had a professor who talked about the “TWUD” factor, i.e., “Time Wasted in Useless Discussion.” As he defined it, TWUD is the mathematical quotient of the time spent discussing a particular diagnosis on rounds, divided by the number of times it is actually encountered. As an example of a high-TWUD factor condition, the entity “arrhythmogenic epilepsy” was cited, whereas “bronchopneumonia” has a low value.
Do Atrial Fibrillation Education Centers Improve Patient Outcomes?
Management of atrial fibrillation involves a complex set of diagnostic tests, medication regimes, and in many cases, treatment with devices or cardiac ablation. At the Venice Arrhythmia conference in October 2009, I had the opportunity to facilitate a session that asked the question above. Nurses from AFib programs around the world agreed unanimously that patients had improved outcomes if their care was managed by dedicated nurses.
There is nothing “typical” about the average ablation patient – they range from young to older, with symptoms as mild as a sense of lightheadedness to severe, such as losing consciousness or having a stroke. In any phase of their treatment – from early diagnosis through procedures such as ablation – the registered nurse plays a major role in helping the patient understand the condition and its symptoms, and in monitoring the patient’s condition.
How will the Obama administration’s health care initiative affect EP?
2010 has seen the potential stalemate for President Obama's health care initiative with Republican Scott Brown elected to replace Ted Kennedy's seat in the Senate in the state of Massachusetts. The Republicans have cornered enough votes to filibuster the Democratic healthcare vote. This has placed the current Obama health care initiative in limbo.
What does that mean to us in the field of electrophysiology?
Many questions remain unanswered. Health care reform is still a priority for the Obama Administration. Changes are likely to evolve over the next year and perhaps some compromised bill may occur as a bipartisan effort. Electrophysiology programs will need to be mean and lean. That means they will need to practice good medicine but be careful of the costs of their disposable products as well as their capital budgets.
Pediatric Electrophysiology: Venturing Into a World of Off-Label Products
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The other day I was changing a light bulb in my stairwell and found that I was unable to reach the light fixture without venturing onto the forbidden top step of the ladder. After a quick glance at the bright yellow disclaimer, I cautiously climbed up, changed the bulb, and went on my way. Was that a smart choice on my part? My wife would say no, but
then again, she is happy with the results. Such is the life of a pediatric electrophysiologist. The list of FDA-approved medications, ablation catheters and equipment, and rhythm management devices is prohibitively limited, and yet care continues to be provided.
More Than Just a Job? Becoming Certified in Electrophysiology
Our job…
Allied professionals play an enormously vital role in the delivery of quality patient care in heart rhythm management. There is no doubt that that our work in electrophysiology (EP) such as the EP lab or device clinic is constantly evolving. There are increasingly complex and specialized technological innovations that are applied to patient management and everyday practice. We prepare our patients for catheter ablation or device implant procedures, set up the EP lab and equipment, operate the 3D mapping system, troubleshoot device programming problems, optimize the device parameters to meet the patient’s needs, and educate our patients and our colleagues. Our workdays are busy, long and often challenging. That’s our job.
Is it more than just a job?
The Upcoming Western Atrial Fibrillation Symposium
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In only a few years, the Western Atrial Fibrillation Symposium has become a must-attend event for hundreds of cardiologists, physicians and others interested in the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of patients with atrial fibrillation. The third annual conference, which will take place February 26-27 in Park City, Utah, has attracted a world-class faculty that includes physicians from leading medical centers in the U.S., Belgium, Canada, France, Germany and Japan.
The speakers will provide updates on new research and its implications, including these topics on three notable clinical trials:
• The Athena Trial: A Turning Point in Atrial Fibrillation Management for Patients with Normal Hearts?
• The Castle-AF Trial and its Impact on Atrial Fibrillation Management for Patients with Heart Failure
• Impact of the RE-LY Trials on Anticoagulation Strategies: Are We Closing the Coumadin Clinics?
Making Progress on an AF Disease Progression Model
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Good news for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF): thanks to a novel application of MRI technology, we are now able to stage the progression of their disease. Even more exciting is the fact that our staging models show great promise as a tool for predicting the outcomes for catheter ablation procedures based on patients’ pre-ablation images.
Our research at the University of Utah uses 3D delayed-enhancement magnetic resonance imaging (DE-MRI) to determine the degree of fibrosis in the left atrial myocardial tissue of AF patients before radiofrequency ablation. We developed protocols and pulse sequences to optimize the images.
Overview of the 5th Charleston Symposium on Pediatric Electrophysiology: Focus on Clinical Management
As part of our first Pediatric EP blog, it is timely to be able to report on the recent 5th Charleston Symposium on Pediatric Electrophysiology, which took place December 13-15, 2009, in Charleston, South Carolina. Based on feedback from prior years and an interest in keeping the course updated over time, this year’s program was somewhat different by focusing primarily on how to make decisions on care rather than the technical aspects of delivering care. To that end, most of the talks were preceded by a case report that demonstrated the complexity of decision making in the relevant topic and posed a set of questions for the speaker. Apparently, our brochure “sold” this concept well, because of the 100 or so attendees, over half were a mix of non-electrophysiologists, including pediatric cardiologists, adult cardiologists and nurse practitioners. Attendees came from all over the U.S., as well as Japan and five countries in Europe.
Defining the Value of Belonging to a Professional Society
How many times have you been told, "Join a professional society, the benefits are great." However, how many of you have declined the offer? Or did you join, but fail to participate?
Our professional societies are a wellspring for professional development. They are a forum for us to acquire timely knowledge, improve our clinical skills, build strong professional relationships and give us access to experts in our field. They are our professional leaders for education, research promotion, practice guidelines, and healthcare policies. All of these benefits translate into the delivery of high quality patient care.
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Newly Revised and Updated for 2009!
EP Lab Digest Blogs
- Perspectives in EPTodd J. Cohen, MD
- Pediatric EP BlogIan Law, MD
Surgical Site Infection Education
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Sun City, Arizona
Chesterfield, Virginia
Vancouver, Washington
CME Showcase
 The Use of Remote Robotic Navigation in Complex Arrhythmias Complimentary Accredited Web Archive This activity is designed for electrophysiologists and EP allied professionals. Diagnosing Coronary Artery Disease: Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging Solutions |
 LUMEN 2010 - THE SYMPOSIUM ON OPTIMAL TREATMENTS FOR ACUTE MI Live Symposium Date: February 25-27 Location: Loews Miami Beach Hotel Miami Beach, Florida 33139 |
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