June 2009

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Volume 17 Issue 6

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
Personnel Announcements
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Clinical and Industry News
Episode of Rapid, Irregular Heart Rhythm Before or After Cardiac Catheterization Associated With Increased Risk of Death Within 3 Months Certain heart attack patients who experience a rapid, abnormal heart rhythm before or after a coronary artery in…
What Do You Think?
Multiple new and ongoing questions from readers. Your responses are welcome! Answer or pose a question at cathlabdigest@aol.com New Questions! Staffing Formula Do you have a matrix or formula for cath labs that can calculate the appropriate num…
The Society of Invasive Cardiovascular Professionals (SICP) Wisconsin Chapter
The SICP has several established and developing chapters across the country. Chapters offer networking opportunities and grassroots advocacy opportunities for current issues in the invasive cardiovascular profession. They also offer a great way to k…
Do We Need Platelet Function Testing in Percutaneous Coronary Intervention?
A 68-year-old man was admitted for acute ST-elevation inferior myocardial infarction after right coronary artery stenting (3.0 x 18mm drug-eluting stent) four months ago. He had been taking 81 mg of aspirin and 75 mg of clopidogrel orally on a daily…
The Ten-Minute Interview With...Christopher Jolly, M.DE, RT(R), RCIS
I began working in an interventional cardiology/radiology lab in California around 1990, shortly after receiving a degree in radiography. Starting in 1995, I next worked for six years in a high-volume interventional cardiac catheterization lab in Flo…
Financial Housekeeping in The Cath Lab: Time for Spring Cleaning?
With focus on new beginnings, spring is the perfect time to make changes to departmental processes, regularly-used documents and, perhaps most importantly, the chargemaster, a list of all billable hospital services. Performing regular chargemaster ma…
Ask the Clinical Instructor: A Q&A column for those new to the cath lab
Todd is the Cardiology Manager for Memorial Hermann Southeast in Houston, Texas. He also teaches an online RCIS Review course for Spokane Community College, in Spokane, Washington, and regularly presents with RCIS Review Courses. Question 1: “We hav…
Excerpts from: Consistency of Financial Interest Disclosures in the Biomedical Literature: The Case of Coronary Stents
Introduction The influence of commercial interests on medical science is an area of ongoing concern. Recent work has examined the extent of this influence1-5 and explored best practices for managing conflicts of interest.6-9 A particular area of co…
The Aortic Arch: Markers, Imaging, and Procedure Planning for Carotid Intervention
Abstract Among the several anatomic risk predictors for carotid stenting (e.g., extensive plaque ulceration, aneurysmal internal carotid artery, lesion length > 3 cm) (CAS), the aortic arch emerges as a key anatomic feature. Gaining access to the…