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Written by Kaitlyn Dmyterko
ATLANTA—For patients with implanted cardiac devices, MRI has never been a viable way to obtain diagnostic tests due to device contraindications and risks. However, new research has found that MRI testing in this patient population can be performed at little or no risk, Robert H. Helm, MD, from Boston Medical Center, said during a presentation at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific sessions on Monday.
Written by Gina Narcisi
ATLANTA--In choosing the appropriate test, keeping clinical context in mind and understanding what the test indicates and what it does not indicate are key elements a physician must remember in selecting the correct imaging modality for the testing of myocardial viability, said Christopher Hanson, MD, professor of medicine and radiology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, during an imaging symposium at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) annual conference on Monday.
ATLANTA -- The presence of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) was found to be a significant predictor of adverse cardiac events, and multi-detector CT may be able to predict cardiac events in known or suspected CAD, according to researchers from the Division of Cardiology at Daegu Catholic University in Daegu, South Korea.
Written by Justine Cadet
ATLANTA--In order for providers to eliminate top revenue drains, they must adopt better coding techniques and integrate the coding team into the hospital setting, said Karna Morrow, from Coding Strategies in Atlanta, during her presentation at the American College of Cardiovascular Administrators (ACCA) conference on March 12.
Symantec unveiled Symantec Health, a new hosted medical image archiving and sharing application for healthcare providers, at the 2010 HIMSS conference in Atlanta last week.
Written by Kaitlyn Dmyterko
Concern about the cancer risk from low medical level radiation, particularly low-dose radiation delivered from CT scans, has been growing in the healthcare community.
While coronary CT angiography (CCTA) can assist in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD), the radiation dose exposure during an exam has been a problem. Using volume scans rather than helical scans has the potential to reduce dose by 91 percent, a study published in the March issue of Radiology found.
A Massachusetts Superior Court for Suffolk County jury has ruled against Volcano and its wholly owned subsidiary, Axsun Technologies, in a breach of contract lawsuit filed by Lightlab Imaging on Jan. 7, 2009.
For ruling out coronary artery disease (CAD), multidetector CT (16-slice or more) is more accurate than MRI, according to a retrospective study in today’s Annals of Internal Medicine.
A fully automatic 3D reconstruction software has compared favorably to 2D x-ray images in the cath lab, while also contributing new clinical information about patients' coronary anatomy, according to a feasibility study reported Jan. 26 online in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions.
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Written by Gina Narcisi
ATLANTA--Currently, cardiovascular imaging accounts for 30 percent of all the medical radiation that people receive in the U.S., noted Andrew Einstein, MD, cardiologist and assistant professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, during a symposium at the 59th annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) annual conference on Monday. Einstein also spoke to whether the current levels of radiation are appropriate, as well as strategies for reducing radiation exposure.
ATLANTA--“Within the past decade, our focus on women at risk has led to a clarification of understanding of the sex-specific factors that can influence our decisions and testing when it comes to women at risk or with symptoms of heart disease,” said Jennifer Mieres, MD, associate professor of medicine and director of nuclear cardiology at New York University School of Medicine, during a presentation at the 59th annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) conference.
ATLANTA -- Diabetic patients would be the most likely candidates for early coronary artery disease (CAD) screening via imaging testing because this patient population is considered at high risk for myocardial infarction or cardiac death, said Gary Heller MD, director of cardiology at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Conn., during a session yesterday at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) annual conference.
A high percentage of CT and MRI examinations are not meeting appropriateness criteria and subsequently yielding negative results, which suggests a need for tools to help primary care physicians hone their imaging decision requests, according to a recent article in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
A coronary CT angiography-only approach -- when factoring in a $20,000 threshold level for cost per correct diagnosis and $50,000 per quality-adjusted life-year -- is the most cost-effective diagnostic strategy for the evaluation of patients presenting with stable chest pain without known coronary artery disease (CAD) with intermediate CAD prevalence, according to a decision analysis study published in the March issue of Radiology.
Written by Justine Cadet
With the plethora of clinical data emerging at this month’s American College of Cardiology annual meeting, the sessions are seeking to provide clinicians and administrators with methods to improve the quality of evidence-based care.
The FDA has granted clearance for the marketing of the Eagle Eye Platinum digital intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) catheter in the U.S. by intravascular systems developer, Volcano.
Written by Michael Bassett
While the technology behind cardiac advanced visualization (AV) can create some amazing images, it provides much more than just a “wow” factor. Radiologists and cardiologists rely on it to help them increase productivity and workflow and reduce costs, diagnose more quickly and accurately, and better communicate results with referring physicians and their patients.
The Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta has installed the Toshiba American Medical Systems' Infinix VF-i-vascular x-ray system to its 481-bed facility.
The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) reported the total registration of its annual conference was 56,824—4 percent lower than 2008, due mainly to reductions in exhibitor personnel and radiology support personnel attendance.
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The use of health IT to reduce rehospitalizations will be welcome but also disruptive, said Stephen Jencks, an independent consultant in healthcare safety during a Feb. 24 webinar on the potential use of health IT to mitigate rehospitalizations, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
During the Health IT Standards Committee meeting on Feb. 24 in Washington, D.C., the Clinical Operations Workgroup sought to gather comments on proposed recommendations on implementation specifications for content exchange, vocabulary and code set standards for the Interim Final Rule of meaningful use.
In 2006, the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), a branch of the FDA, began examining the number of medical device reports they received. Over the past two years, the number of submitted reports has increased, sparking a demand for the CDRH to make a move to electronic reporting.
A new hospital breaking ground usually isn’t breaking news. But the vision of patient care at one new facility, tentatively named Palomar Medical Center West (PMC West), is currently illegal under California state law.