Editorial
Invasive Cardiology: Effectiveness, Cost and Prospects?
During the last twenty-five years there has been extraordinary progress in the field of invasive cardiology, as well as indisputable improvement in the clinical results regarding the treatment of heart diseases, and especially of ischaemic heart disease. Coronary angioplasty, first alone and subsequently with the use of a variety of stents, has been evaluated in a significant number of clinical studies a...
News & Views
Update from the European Institutions
The European Commission has announced a new action plan to tackle the debilitating impact of the financial crisis, which it says in a new document, has “wiped out years of economic and social progress and exposed structural weaknesses in Europe's economy”. To achieve a sustainable future, the recently launched Digital Agenda action plan outlines key areas of deficiency in Europe’s ability to delive...
Industry News
An Overview of the Latest Updates from Technology & Industry
Medtronic Data Proves Corevaive Performance New clinical data demonstrate positive long-term performance and durability for the Corevalve transcatheter aortic valve replacement system from Medtronic, Inc. Two-year results from the pivotal 18- French Corevalve multicentre prospective study provide important additional evidence supporting wider use of this transcatheter aortic valve. The Corevalve s...
Cover Story: Cardiovascular Intervention
Carotid Endovascular Interventions: Patient Selection, Devices, Techniques and Tips
The search for a conclusive answer to the optimal treatment of patients with asymptomatic or symptomatic carotid artery disease (CAD) is an ongoing and long-lasting debate. The choice between carotid endarterectomy (CEA), carotid artery stenting (CAS) and/or optimal medical therapy to treat patients with CAD, depends on their risk profile.Recent data from both the EVA-3S (Endarterectomy versus Stenting in...
Measuring the Effectiveness of Post-Intervention Follow-Up Programmes :
The Case for Coronary Heart Disease Tailored post-intervention follow-up programmes for patients are key in ensuring the quality of patient care and completing the treatment cycle. In this article, we look at the case for coronary artery disease (CAD) patients, and discuss the results of a study carried oout at the Latvian Centre of Cardiology into the effectiveness of targeted follow-up with patients, and...
Results of the Syntax Trial: What it Means for Interventional Cardiologists
The introduction of sirolimus drug eluting stents (DES) in 2002 to Erasmus University Hospital was designed to improve outcomes in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary revascularisation (PCI). These stents markedly reduced the incidence of restenosis – a breakthrough indeed, since a long series of earlier trials, conducted in part at the Thoraxcenter, failed to reduce restenosis after balloon angiop...
Intravascular Ultrasound Imaging: Clinical & Research Applications
In the early stages of formation of atheroma, the remodeling of the vessel wall usually prevents plaque from encroaching on the lumen, thereby masking the presence of atheroma on angiography. In contrast, grayscale intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) can fully assess the extension of the disease axially and longitudinally. Thus, intravascular imaging has played a vital role in advancing our understanding of th...
Features: Emergency Cardiolgy
Cardiological Risk Factors in Childhood Obesity: Impact on Emergency Care Services
Childhood obesity is increasing in prevalence worldwide. In the United States, studies estimate that among children ages six to nineteen, 16.5 percent are overweight (body mass index [BMI] 85th to 94th percentile for age and gender) and 17.1 percent are obese (BMI ≥ 95th percentile for age and gender) (Ogden et al. 2006). This trend will likely lead to an increase in obese paediatric patients requiring i...
Healthcare Technology
The European Patient Monitoring Market :Life-Saving Technology Evolving at a Rapid Pace
Patient monitoring is vital to many aspects of healthcare, in operating rooms, intensive care and critical care units as well as step-down units. Products vary from specialised single-parameter instruments to monitors with the ability to measure multiple parameters and interface with other devices. This article reviews the current status and likely development of the market for patient monitoring devices,...
Cardiovascular Pharmaceuticals & Medicine
Diastolic Dysfunction and Diastolic Heart Failure: Part Two – Clinical Applications
Authors Prof. Ernst R. Schwarz (on the left) Dr. Raja Dashti Cedars-sinai. Heart Institute Cedars-sinai Medical Center and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Los Angeles, California, U.s. [email protected] In part one of this article, we presented the pathophysiology associated with diastolic dysfunction and diastolic heart failure and touched on the paucity of related r...
Interview: Cardiology Leaders
Interview with Dr. Ralph Brindis: President-Elect of the American College of Cardiology
Dr. Ralph Brindis joined Kaiser Permanente in 1653 and is a luminary in the field of invasive cardiology. Among his many roles, he is Regional Senior Advisor for Cardiovascular Diseases for Northern California Kaiser. He serves on many California State and national task forces, boards and committees that focus on improving the quality of care of patients with cardiovascular disease. He is Clinical Professo...
Practice Management
Facing the Press: Effective Media Training for Health Managers
Imagine you are a hospital manager about to appear on TV to answer allegations over lapses in patient safety. You have never been on TV before, but you pride yourself on your communication skills. (You really know your subject and have been invited to lecture all over the world.) In the studio, you find yourself competing for airtime against an earthquake in Chile, a world summit at the UN, the death of a...
Country Focus: The Netherlands
Overview of the Healthcare System
According to the annual Euro Health Consumer Index, the Netherlands has the best healthcare system in Europe. It topped the European survey for the second year running scoring highly in waiting times for patients, e-health and access to medication. Many also believe that system in the Netherlands is a good model for healthcare in the U.S. This article provides a brief overview of the system supposedly the...
A Snapshot of the Netherlands Society for Cardiology: History & Current Activities
In this interview, Dr. M.C.G. Daniëls, President of the Netherlands Society for Cardiology, and Prof. dr. E.E. van der Wall tell Cardiology Management about the origins and current activities of this society. Firstly, Prof. van der Wall tells us about the society’s history and background. DG: Please tell us about the origins of the NVVC. EW: The NVVC was founded on 28 April 1934 on the occasion of the...
Practicing Cardiology in the Netherlands: Viewpoint of the Department Chief
In this interview, Cardiology Management speaks to Prof. Dr. Maarten L. Simoons, an eminent specialist in the field of cardiology and past president of the European Society of Cardiology, about what it is like to lead the country’s largest and busiest department of cardiology. How did you come to be interested in cardiology, and what are your special areas of interest within the field? As a medical stu...
E-Prescribing in the Netherlands: A Foundational Step in the Road to National E-Health
As Europe moves from national healthcare IT programmes towards full-fledged e-health services, many experts see e-prescribing as a key foundational step. There is a strong business case, accompanied by equally strong perceptions, that improving the prescribing and medication management process with IT will directly reduce errors, increase service quality and the delivery of effective care across the spectr...