Cath Lab

The cardiac catheterization laboratory is used for diagnostic angiograms and percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). Cath labs have also seen expanding use in recent years for transcatheter structural heart procedures. Some hospitals also share these labs with other subspecialties for catheter-based procedures in electrophysiology (EP), interventional radiology, peripheral artery disease (PAD), carotid and neuro interventional procedures and vascular surgery.

Brijeshwar Maini, MD, FACC, structural heart cardiologist, national and Florida medical director of cardiology, explains his decision to leave clinical practice in the near future to become a full-time cardiac device manufacture business owner. It is a path several prominent cardiologists have made.

VIDEO: How this cardiologist became a full-time inventor and entrepreneur

Brijeshwar Maini, MD, explains his decision to leave clinical practice to become a full-time cardiac device business owner. It is a path several prominent cardiologists have made.

Mitral and_tricuspid transcatheter valves Evoque and Intrepid were discussed at TVT 2022.

VIDEO: Advances in transcatheter tricuspid and mitral valve technology

Anita W. Asgar, MD, director, transcatheter valve therapy research at Montréal Heart Institute, discusses advances and new technology for mitral and tricuspid valves at the 2022 Transcatheter Valve Therapies (TVT) meeting. 

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Patients can safely undergo noncardiac surgeries after TAVR without a long delay

However, the study’s authors did find associations between suboptimal TAVR procedures and adverse outcomes.

The Corvia Atrial Shunt is designed to address elevated left atrial pressure (LAP) heart failure patients.

VIDEO: Overview of intra-atrial shunts to treat heart failure

Cardiologist Peter Fail, MD, discusses the idea of using shunts to form a passage that enables the left atrium to decompress at rest and during physical activity. The goal is to lower left atrial pressure in heart failure patients.

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Radiation exposure during structural heart procedures much higher for echocardiographers than cardiologists

The new analysis focused on transcatheter edge-to-edge repair and left atrial appendage occlusion procedures.

The projected number of acquired cardiomyopathy cases are expected to greatly outpace the number of new familial cardiomyopathy cases by 2031 in the U.S., driven mainly by poor lifestyles. This is expected to have a big impact on healthcare.

U.S. expected to see large rise in cardiomyopathy cases over next decade

“Even if we compensate for the differences in population size, the U.S. is still miles ahead when it comes to total cardiomyopathy cases," explained Walter Gabriel, MPH, an epidemiologist and analyst on the report.

View of an Amulet left atrial appendage (LAA) occluder on 4D intra-cardiac echo (ICE) from a GE NuVision ICE catheter. Since ICE is operated by the interventionalist, it can be used to reduce the number of people needed to perform an LAA occlusion procedure.  

New LAA occluder technology and the debate on echo vs. CT image guidance

At TVT 2022, there was debate whether CT imaging is needed for preplanning LAA procedures, and several new devices in development were discussed.

A transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure being performed at Intermountain Healthcare. Image from Intermountain Healthcare

AFib patients more likely to be hospitalized for heart failure or bleeding following TAVR

The study, published in the American Journal of Cardiology, included data from more than 900 TAVR patients. Overall morality was 22.7% among patients with AFib and 14.4% among patients without AFib.

Around the web

Ron Blankstein, MD, professor of radiology, Harvard Medical School, explains the use of artificial intelligence to detect heart disease in non-cardiac CT exams.

Eleven medical societies have signed on to a consensus statement aimed at standardizing imaging for suspected cardiovascular infections.