Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Blogs This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

Catheter Stimulates Lymphatic Drainage for Heart Failure Treatment: Interview with Eamon Brady, CEO of WhiteSwell
WhiteSwell, a medtech company based in Galway, Ireland, has developed a catheter system to treat acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). ADHF is often treated using diuretics to remove excess fluid, but this doesn’t work for every patient and can have side-effects. This latest technology consists of a catheter with an impeller pump that is designed to stimulate lymphatic drainage, and thereby aid with decongestion without the need for diuretics. The catheter creates an area of low pressure where the largest lymph vessel, the thoracic duct, connects with the venous system near the heart. WhiteSwell claims that...
Source: Medgadget - January 19, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Cardiac Surgery Cardiology Exclusive Radiology Thoracic Surgery Source Type: blogs

Endoscopic Surgery Using Steerable Lasers
Applying an energy source, such as a laser, to cut through or cauterize tissue is already widely used in external surgeries, such as laser eye surgery, but using this technology safely and accurately during minimally invasive internal procedures is difficult. Current endoscopic technology does not permit lasers to be steered and manipulated with sufficient precision. Now researchers at the Harvard Wyss Institute have developed a new technique to accurately steer a laser beam at the end of an endoscope for minimally invasive laser surgery. The approach relies on three small mirrors that move within a tiny cylinder to...
Source: Medgadget - January 18, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Cardiac Surgery GI Ob/Gyn Thoracic Surgery Urology harvard wyssinstitute Source Type: blogs

Cios Flow Mobile C-Arm from Siemens FDA Cleared
Siemens Healthineers just announced FDA clearance to introduce its Cios Flow mobile C-arm in the United States. Developed for use in orthopedics, vascular surgery, trauma, spinal surgery, and other fields, it’s intended to be a general purpose C-arm that can be easily used in a variety of cases. The Cios Flow is a relatively compact and lightweight (606 lb (275 kg)) C-arm that features touch screen controls with an intuitive interface. As an example, when the operator clicks on a part of the body, the so-called SpotAdapt function of the interface automatically sets parameters such as brightness and contrast to...
Source: Medgadget - January 13, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Cardiac Surgery Emergency Medicine Orthopedic Surgery Pain Management Radiology Thoracic Surgery Vascular Surgery siemens siemenshealthineers Source Type: blogs

Percutaneous debulking of large vegetations
Percutaneous debulking of large vegetations in infective endocarditis is being followed, especially in cardiac implantable device related infections. It is useful in reducing the risk of massive embolism during lead extraction [1]. In a report of six cases done along with lead extraction, there were no operative deaths or clinically significant embolic events [1]. But non fatal complications were higher in those who had vacuum assisted debulking of vegetations along with lead extraction, compared to those who underwent only lead extraction. AngioVac system (Angio-Dynamics, Latham, NY, USA) was used in this study. A syste...
Source: Cardiophile MD - January 11, 2021 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis Tags: Angiography and Interventions ECG / Electrophysiology Source Type: blogs

Dexter Surgical Robot Works with All Laparoscopy Tools
Robotic laparoscopic surgery is now widely available, with Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci systems being the most common robots out there. These systems typically require specialty tools provided by the robot manufacturer, and the selection is quite limited compared with the wide array of conventional laparoscopic tools that exist. Now, Distalmotion, a Swiss firm, has won European regulatory clearance to introduce its Dexter Surgical Robot that works with any laparoscopic tools. The Dexter is designed to be easy to bring in and out of the surgical space and used when robotic manipulation can help with increased prec...
Source: Medgadget - January 7, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Cardiac Surgery Ob/Gyn Plastic Surgery Thoracic Surgery Urology Source Type: blogs

CoolSeal for Quick and Safe Vessel Sealing Unveiled
Bolder Surgical, a Louisville, Colorado firm previously called JustRight Surgical, is starting the new year by releasing the CoolSeal vessel sealing platform. The initial product offerings are the CoolSeal Trinity device, a 5mm laparoscopic sealer, and the 3mm CoolSeal Mini, both of which work with the CoolSeal generator. The CoolSeal Trinity (pictured) is able to dissect, seal, and divide vessels using bipolar RF technology in a matter of seconds, while generating a thermal spread of less than one millimeter. This low power capability helps to prevent damage to any sensitive nearby tissues, and the outer jaws are kept...
Source: Medgadget - January 4, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Cardiac Surgery Ob/Gyn Thoracic Surgery Urology Vascular Surgery Source Type: blogs

Chest pain after motor vehicle collision with an abnormal ECG - blunt cardiac injury? OMI? normal variant?
Discussion:Significant cardiac trauma occurs in approximately 10% of patients with severe blunt chest trauma. Isolated coronary artery dissection from blunt trauma is a very rare event. Traumatic dissections are most often seen in the LAD, followed by the RCA and LCX. It is thought that this is due to the relative anterior position of the LAD. The ECG is a report from the myocytes of their condition. They do not know the etiology of acute complete ischemia. No matter if its typical ACS, traumatic dissection causing acute occlusion, or spasm, it is the same result to the myocytes, and the same findings can be present o...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - December 30, 2020 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs

ECMO – Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
ECMO – extracorporeal membrane oxygenation ECMO – Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation – has been in use for the past four decades to support persons who are unlikely to survive with mechanical ventilation. ECMO is used in both adult and pediatric practice, though in the initial years, use of ECMO was restricted to pediatric intensive care. The enthusiasm for use of ECMO in adults have been triggered by the beneficial effect noted during the last H1N1 influenza pandemic [1]. In contrast from cardiopulmonary bypass which is used for a short period during cardiac surgery, ECMO is used to support for a ...
Source: Cardiophile MD - December 26, 2020 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis Tags: Cardiac Surgery Source Type: blogs

Modified Blalock – Taussig shunt
The original Blalock – Taussig (BT) shunt was designed by Helen B Taussig (physician) and Alfred Blalock (surgeon) at the John Hopkins Hospital. This was based on the observation by Helen B Taussig that infants with severe pulmonary stenosis or pulmonary atresia had worsening of cyanosis after spontaneous closure of ductus arteriosus. The BT shunt was an anastomosis between subclavian artery and pulmonary artery, to enhance pulmonary blood flow those infants with severe cyanotic congenital heart disease with low pulmonary blood flow. Different techniques have been used to modify a BT shunt when it is not technically fea...
Source: Cardiophile MD - December 23, 2020 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis Tags: Cardiac Surgery Blalock – Taussig shunt BT shunt classic Blalock – Taussig shunt Modified Blalock – Taussig shunt modified BT shunt Source Type: blogs

ST Depression Maximal in V1-V4 and Angio shows 3 Vessel Disease. Is it posterior? Which is the culprit?
A 70-something woman had acute chest pain.The ECG was texted to me with the words: " Acute chest pain. Could this be posterior MI? What do you make of the ST depression in V4-V6? "What do you think?My response: " The ST depression is maximal in V1-V4. This is most consistent with a posterior MI. If it sounds clinically like acute MI then this is good for activating the cath lab. "Her response: " Yeah, I did activate. But the cardiology fellow told me he was sure it would not be a posterior MI because of diffuse ST depression. He suggested that we should have consulted cardiology rather than activati...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - December 23, 2020 Category: Cardiology Authors: Steve Smith Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, December 21st 2020
In this study, we have found that administration of a specific Sgk1 inhibitor significantly reduces the dysregulated form of tau protein that is a pathological hallmark of AD, restores prefrontal cortical synaptic function, and mitigates memory deficits in an AD model. These results have identified Sgk1 as a potential key target for therapeutic intervention of AD, which may have specific and precise effects." Targeting histone K4 trimethylation for treatment of cognitive and synaptic deficits in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease Epigenetic aberration is implicated in aging and neurodegeneration. Using p...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 20, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Electrical storm – Management
Electrical storm – Management Electrical storm: Recurrent unstable ventricular tachycardia (VT)/ventricular fibrillation (VF) requiring more than three direct current (DC) shocks per day. Beta blocker is the single most effective therapy for recurrent VT unless the person is in shock. A combination of intravenous amiodarone with oral propranolol has been found to be superior to intravenous amiodarone with oral metoprolol [1]. Stellate ganglion block / ablation is being increasingly used as a modality for treatment of drug refractory ventricular tachycardia. Temporary blockage of stellate ganglion can be obtained by...
Source: Cardiophile MD - December 18, 2020 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis Tags: ECG / Electrophysiology Ablation of stellate ganglion Stellate ganglion block Temporary blockage of stellate ganglion Source Type: blogs

LA myxoma surgery : Preventing recurrence should be an important goal.
Cardiac myxoma is the most common primary tumor of the heart that presents as mitral inflow obstruction/ regurgitation often with a systemic presentation. It can be either familial, syndromic, or sporadic. Excellent imaging is possible and diagnosis has become straightforward. Surgery is the specific treatment, What information do the Surgeons need? Size, attachment to surrounding structures is the key. The myxoma origins most often in IAS and defining its attachment is crucial. Mitral leaflet distortion, Injury ( and even attachment) is possible. It is helpful for the surgeons if we let them know the mechanism of mit...
Source: Dr.S.Venkatesan MD - December 13, 2020 Category: Cardiology Authors: dr s venkatesan Tags: Cardiac myxoma IAS patch closure for myxoma LA myxoma surgery mesenchymal cell tumor myxoma myxoma benign or malignant Source Type: blogs

MissionGO and MediGO Complete Successful Organ Deliveries in Unmanned Flights
MissionGO, a provider of unmanned aviation solutions, and Nevada Donor Network, an organ procurement organization (OPO) serving the state of Nevada, have recently completed two successful test flights in Las Vegas carrying a human organ and human tissue via an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). MediGO provided the technological services needed for collection and communication of critical data about OPO resources and organs across the transplant ecosystem. The first flight transported research corneas in an urban environment—from Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center to Dignity Health-St. Rose Dominican, San Martín ...
Source: Medgadget - December 4, 2020 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Alice Ferng Tags: Cardiac Surgery Emergency Medicine Exclusive Pediatrics Thoracic Surgery Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, November 9th 2020
In this study, young adult mice were submitted to endurance exercise training and the function, differentiation, and metabolic characteristics of satellite cells were investigated in vivo and in vitro. We found that injured muscles from endurance-exercised mice display improved regenerative capacity, demonstrated through higher densities of newly formed myofibres compared with controls (evidenced by an increase in embryonic myosin heavy chain expression), as well as lower inflammation (evidenced by quantifying CD68-marked macrophages), and reduced fibrosis. Enhanced myogenic function was accompanied by an increased ...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 8, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs