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

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.