August 2005

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Volume 13 Issue 8

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
Ask the Clinical Instructor
Upon review of a patient’s chart, I read that the patient had metabolic syndrome. What is this? Metabolic syndrome is a grouping of metabolic factors that predispose people to coronary artery disease and stroke. These factors include central abdomin…
Acute Myocardial Infarction: Early Strategies to Optimize Results
Greg Braden: Let’s discuss the issue of MI patients who live in communities where there is quick access to catheterization laboratories, versus those in remote communities who don’t have easy access to cath labs. We live in a modestly rural area wher…
Discussion Group: What Do You Think?
Ok to hire surgical/scrub techs? I am opening a new cath lab in Wisconsin and am wondering if there are any legal guidelines we need to follow in hiring Surgical/Scrub techs (STs) in the cath lab. Where I came from, we had a couple STs that were not…
Article Commentary: One Institution's Experience with Bivalrudin
When bivalirudin first came on the market, one institution (which wishes to remain unnamed here) did a retrospective analysis of all 475 patients who had a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedure between the months of November 2002 and Jun…
The ARRIVE Registry: Paclitaxel-Eluting Stents in the Real World
Background ARRIVE I (Taxus Peri-Approval Registry, A U.S. Multi-Center Safety Surveillance Program) has enrolled nearly 2,600 consecutive patients at 50 sites in the United States and features Boston Scientific Corporation’s Taxus® Express2 paclitax…
New Minimally Invasive Surgical Technique Moves Lumbar Spinal Fusion to the Cath Lab.
The Conventional Approach Among the multiple therapeutic modalities and surgical techniques available to treat spinal conditions such as degenerative disc disease, scoliosis, spondylolisthesis, or spinal fracture, one of the more conventional treatm…
"Learn About Your Heart...Made Simple" A new, comprehensive sourcebook for heart disease patients
What was your thinking behind the creation of this book? Learn About Your Heart…Made Simple was actually developed through the efforts of multiple people involved with the Midwest Cardiovascular Research Foundation (MCRF), as well as outside colleag…
New Dimensions in Clinical Risk Management Strategies
Have you ever watched a street clown spin five plates at once on skinny sticks? Or marveled at the juggler keeping three or four balls in the air while doing tricks? Think of these specialized artists the next time your Risk Manager walks by. Risk ma…
The Ten-Minute Interview with...Steve Gressmire, RT(R)(CV), ARRT, AAMA, ACP
I am happily married to my wife Judy and have three children. One is in the Navy, one is a heavy equipment operator, and one is a patient care attendant for the mentally challenged. I am a 30-year veteran of healthcare with twenty-seven years in inva…
Our Cath Lab Designed and Built a Patient Tracking and Data Collection Program
Our cath lab is always in search of ways to improve on an old theme. Being new to the cath lab at Passaic Beth Israel Medical Center, I was very impressed by the dedication and outstanding patient care provided by our RTs, CVTs, RNs and support staff…