March 2012

|
Volume 20 Issue 4

Editorial Staff

Clinical Editor
Morton Kern, MD
Executive Editor
Laurie Gustafson
Managing Editor
Rebecca Kapur
Production Manager
Elizabeth Vasil

Editorial Correspondence

Rebecca Kapur, Managing Editor, Cath Lab Digest
HMP Communications, 70 E. Swedesford Rd
Suite 100, Malvern PA 19355
Telephone: (440) 717-0418

Fax: (866) 896-8762
Email: rkapur@hmpglobal.com
Building Rural Interventional Programs with CardioSolution
CardioSolution offers a “hybrid” solution to rural or regional hospitals with diagnostic-only cath labs. What does that mean?Perrin Peacock, CEO: We guarantee comprehensive interventional cardiology service lines, specifically to rural and regional h…
Clinical and Industry News
FDA Clears New Blood Clot Aspiration System: Aspire MaxOn February 28, 2012, Control Medical Technology announced receipt of United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance to market the Aspire Max Thrombus Aspiration System.
What Do You Think?
New!Re: Post Procedure Care for Brachial Access PatientsAlong with a major increase in radial artery cardiac catheterizations, we are seeing an increase in the amount of peripheral procedures and cardiac catheterizations being done through the brachi…
9 Straight Days of Call: Fatigue in the Cath Lab
“Tonight will make 9 straight days on call. I’m exhausted. We’ve been in the hospital 5 nights, and a couple times on 2,” she said. “Why so many?”  “Not enough people to cover. One on vacation, one on sick leave, and two rotated to radiology. Even ou…
Reducing Operating Costs While Increasing Quality
In this era of health care and financial reform, hospital officials are turning to measures that promise to reduce costs yet still improve the quality of care. Consolidating a hospital’s surgical and catheterization departments not only promises thos…
Ask the Clinical Instructor
“I have heard that there are specific ways to prepare balloons and stents for use. All of the doctors seem to have a different way to do so. What is the standard?”  — From an RCIS Review online studentWell, there is a simple answer. “Always refer to…
Co-Management of the Cardiovascular Service Line: Using Hospital-Physician Alignment to Achieve Common Goals
Hospitals and health systems continue to seek ways to align their interests with those of their cardiologists in order to achieve common goals. The challenge lies in finding the correct alignment model or structure. Corazon believes that co-managemen…
Chest Pain Secondary to Recurrent Coronary-Pulmonary Artery Fistula
CaseA 40-year-old female with history of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and palpitations presented initially for evaluation in 2005. Work up for dyspnea at that time confirmed congenital heart disease with a fistula between the proximal left anterior de…
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in the Private-Hospital Setting
Prairie Cardiovascular Consultants helped to build, from scratch, a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) program at the Prairie Heart Institute at St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, IL — in just three months. This article will explore in pa…
An Expedient and Versatile Catheter for Primary STEMI Transradial Catheterization/Intervention
Expediency in culprit coronary reperfusion is of paramount importance during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Additionally, recent studies have underscored the enhanced safety of transra…