Patients implanted with cardiac resynchronization pacemakers at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago are breathing easier now that physicians are using a new method to help optimize heart failure therapy.

Patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) have an ongoing risk of sudden incapacitation that might cause harm to others while driving a car, according to a consensus statement presented at a press conference Sunday at the EUROPACE meeting in Berlin. Driving restrictions are imposed making these recommendations an important guideline for patients.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which has allocated $19.2 billion for health IT investment by the federal government, will provide the funding catalyst for hospitals to advance their EMR capabilities, according to an online presentation made earlier this week by HIMSS Analytics Executive Vice President Michael W. Davis.

Although comparative-effectiveness research is currently a hot topic on Capitol Hill, an expert at the Stanford University School of Medicine is suggesting that policymakers take a step back and make sure that the plans for comparative-effectiveness research "go deep enough to make a difference."

According to new research from the Heart and Stroke Foundation, 250,000 Canadians currently diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AF) are at least five times more at risk to have a stroke and twice as likely to die from one. More worrisome is that the vast majority may not be aware of their stroke risk.

Mayo Clinic has received $48 million in grants to study the treatment of atrial fibrillation in 3,000 patients at 140 centers from the U.S., Canada and Europe.

The electrophysiology boon is sometimes overshadowed by the problems associated with device leads. They can malfunction from faulty manufacturing or become infected, and they sometimes have to be removed in these circumstances. In an ideal world, there would be leadless pacing. And, that ideal world might be closer than ever.Researchers from Hong Kong determined that leadless pacing with ultrasound-mediated stimulation energy is feasible in patients with advanced heart failure. While the study was small, only 10 patients, investigators achieved successful leadless pacing in all of the patients. Such technology could avoid complications associated with leads, the researchers wrote, and called for more research in this area, now that theyve shown its feasibility.

Many hospitalized patients overestimate their chance of surviving an in-hospital cardiac arrest and do not know what cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) really involves, according to an Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center study, which appeared in the June 1 issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics.