Tag Archives: defibrillators

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BSH Parliament day Professor Andrew Clark (President of the British Society for Heart Failure) is pictured here (centre) carrying out an echocardiogram in the House of Commons. He was at a BSH event to help raise awareness that a person diagnosed with heart failure is likely to have a worse prognosis than if they were diagnosed with most cancers. This is despite the availability of specialist heart failure services that can have a remarkable impact on a patient’s chance of survival, but for which there is inconsistent access over the UK leading to wide variations in care and outcomes. Over 60 MPs, Peers, and professional and patient groups

EVINCI study completed The prevalence of “significant” coronary artery disease in patients with chest pain symptoms is lower than expected in Europe, according to preliminary findings from the The EValuation of INtegrated Cardiac Imaging (EVINCI) study. Once the final analysis is completed, the EVINCI study is expected to demonstrate that performing adequate non-invasive imaging screening of patients with suspected coronary artery disease could safely avoid invasive procedures in 75 out of 100 patients.  The study will have sufficient power to answer the question of which is the most cost-effective non-invasive imaging strategy for the j

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Editors: Natale A, Wazni O Publisher: Informa Healthcare, London, 2007 ISBN: 184184620 Price: £110 There are sections on implantation techniques for pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronisation devices (CRT). The latter is an excellent introduction to the practical aspects of asessing the patient, implanting and extracting devices. A good section of the book details the approach to interventional electrophysiology including basic principles behind diagnostic electrophysiology testing and catheter ablation of the most commonly encountered arrhythmias. The handbook also has comprehensive coverage of

Introduction The basis of modern cardiac pacing can be traced to the early nineteenth century, which saw the first hesitant development of cardiac electrostimulation.1,2 The nineteenth century concluded with a flurry of publications3 confirming that the heart could be reliably stimulated both directly, in open-chest dogs and, indirectly, in humans, via large electrodes placed over the praecordial area and on the back. In 1869 external electrical energy applied to the praecordium of a patient with tachycardia resulted in a slowing and regularising of the rhythm, probably the first reported case of external cardioversion.4,5 1871 saw the first