For patients with diabetes, the risk of atrial fibrillation may be 40 percent greater, and even higher for patients who have been diagnosed with diabetes for long periods of time and who have uncontrolled glycemic levels, according to a study published in the April 22 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common form of arrhythmia, and there are a plethora of new devices and drugs to treat this burgeoning condition, along with its associated stroke risk. Yet, how these therapies will manifest within clinical practice has yet to be seen.

Though clinical indications and insurance coverage of ICDs are expanding, researchers have only recently begun exploring the correlation between hospital and operator characteristics with procedural success.

Reverberations still are being felt from the enormous amount of scientific and educational material presented and discussed at ACC.10 in Atlanta in March. And this month, were readying for two more meetings: the Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) and the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS).

Older patients may be more likely to die in the hospital following the implantation of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) or pacemakers, according to a study in the April 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. More than one-fifth of cardiac devices appear to be implanted in individuals aged 80 and older, despite the fact that most clinical trials have not included adults in this age group.

Hypothermia therapy is a class II indication for post-cardiac arrest patients, based on the recommendations by the American Heart Association. Yet, U.S. hospitals are slow to adopt its routine use, says Scott Pham, MD, an electrophysiologist and chief of cardiology for Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.

A study in the April issue of Radiology has found that one out of every 200 asymptomatic people who have been screened with virtual colonoscopy has a clinically unsuspected malignant cancer, and that half of those cancers were located outside of the colon.

A study of 5,047 asymptomatic adults who underwent a virtual colonoscopy found that the prevalence of urolithiasisor urinary stone diseasein the study group was 8 percent, providing insight into the true prevalence of the disease, according to an article published in the March issue of the Journal of Urology