In a commentary, published April 23 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, of the anti-arrhythmic drug dronedarone (Multaq, Sanofi-Aventis), researchers concluded that the controversial drug is only modestly effective and has no clear safety benefits.

Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) may have a greater risk of developing dementia, researchers have found. And while Alzheimer's disease most commonly occurs in the older patient population, in those with AF, patients 70 years old and younger may pose the greatest risk, based on study results published in the April issue of the HeartRhythm Journal.

Infarct size measured by MRI can be used as a predictor of ventricular tachycardia and may answer whether or not high-risk patients with an ejection fraction under 35 percent should be implanted with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), said Jeffrey J. Goldberger, MD, from Northwest Memorial Hospital in Chicago, during a presentation at ACC.10 in Atlanta March 15.

ATLANTA--Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) or atrial flutter (AFL) who transition to dronedarone (Multaq, Sanofi-Aventis) following prior treatment with amiodarone (Cordarone, Wyeth) were not associated with adverse events, according to a post-hoc analysis of pooled data from the EURIDIS and ADONIS trials presented Monday at the ACC.10 conference.

Well before federal EHR efforts went into high gear, healthcare systems transitioning to electronic records were looking for ways to integrate point-of-care devices. The impending requirements for electronic medical records (EMRs) and meaningful use of electronic records data will only heighten the need for device integration.

ATLANTA While quality improvement measures in the inpatient setting may have been described and collected at healthcare practices for years, performance measures in the outpatient setting have not been systematically collected and the current performance in the outpatient setting is unknown, according to a presentation at the Comparative Effectiveness and Outcomes session at the 59th annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) conference on March 16.

The Interoperability Showcase at HIMSS10 in Atlanta earlier this month boasted a record number of vendors, more products working together and more scenarios than ever, on nearly an acre of show floor real estate. It shows the evolution of interoperability from a far-away ideal to live, viable options in support of improved patient care, says Lisa Spellman, MBA, CPHIMS, HIMSS senior director of informatics, and secretary, HIMSS-sponsored Domains, Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) International.

ATLANTA--Ablative intervention was more effective than drug therapy for preventing recurrent symptomatic atrial fibrillation, according to the CABANA trial results presented Monday during a late-breaking clinical trial session at the American College of Cardiologys (ACC) 59th annual conference.  Slides