Patient Care

This page includes news coverage of various aspects of patient healthcare, including new technology innovations, what is working, what is not, personalized medicine and remote and telemedicine delivery. Find specific news in the areas of Care DeliveryDigital TransformationPrecision MedicineRemote Monitoring and Telehealth.

Heart surgeons with the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute have made a bit of history, performing the world’s first combined robotic aortic valve replacement (AVR) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) procedure—all through one small incision. Patients requiring these procedures typically undergo open-heart surgery.

Heart surgeons perform world’s first combined robotic AVR and CABG

The entire robotic procedure was performed through one small incision. Surgeons originally recommended the 73-year-old patient undergo open-heart surgery, but she requested a less invasive alternative. 

Off-label TAVR for native aortic regurgitation linked to worse outcomes

Targeting aortic regurgitation with TAVR valves built to treat aortic stenosis may be the only option a cardiologist has—but valves designed specifically to treat AR are linked to much better outcomes, according to a new meta-analysis. Edwards Lifesciences recently acquired the two companies at the center of this study, JenaValve and JC Medical.

Newsweek ranked the 50 best heart hospitals in the world

Prosthesis-patient mismatch after TAVR: 5 key findings related to patients with small annuli

PPM is still relatively common after TAVR, especially among patients with a small aortic annulus. What can be done to minimize the risk of PPM? Does valve type play a role? Researchers explored those questions, and many others.

Cardiothoracic surgeons at Emory University Hospital have implanted the BrioVAD System, a new type of ventricular assist device (VAD) from BrioHealth Solutions, for the very first time in the United States.

Surgeons make history with first US implant of new magnetically suspended heart pump

Cardiothoracic surgeons at Emory University Hospital implanted the BrioVAD System, a new type of ventricular assist device from BrioHealth Solutions, for the very first time in the United States. The advanced technology, designed to minimize adverse events and improve quality of life, has been under development since 2008. 

Medtronic has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its new InPen smartphone app and announced the launch of its new Smart MDI system. Smart MDI was designed to provide real-time insights for users on multiple daily injection (MDI) therapy. It includes the InPen smart insulin pen, the InPen app and Medtronic’s disposable, all-in-one Simplera continuous glucose monitor (CGM), which received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval back in August.

Medtronic receives key FDA clearance, launches new diabetes system

Medtronic designed its new Smart MDI system to provide real-time insights to users on multiple daily injection therapy.

Compensation for U.S. cardiologists is up across the board, according to a recent survey published by MedAxiom, an American College of Cardiology company. The report identified similar trends for cardiovascular surgeons, highlighting the country’s high demand for all heart specialists in 2024 and beyond.

Q&A: MedAxiom CEO explores key trends in cardiologist, cardiovascular surgeon compensation

Compensation for heart specialists continues to climb. What does this say about cardiology as a whole? Could private equity's rising influence bring about change? We spoke to MedAxiom CEO Jerry Blackwell, MD, MBA, a veteran cardiologist himself, to learn more.

SCAI celebrated William W. O'Neill, MD, and Cindy L. Grines, MD, two veteran interventional cardiologists who played key roles guiding the development of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) as a treatment for ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients.

Cardiologists reflect on developing primary PCI in face of criticism and pushback

SCAI celebrated cardiologists William W. O'Neill, MD, and Cindy L. Grines, MD, for the important roles they played in the development of primary PCI. “It was challenging,” Grines explained. “We had the pharmaceutical industry that was anti-primary angioplasty and we had a lot of our own colleagues that were anti-primary angioplasty."

bicuspid aortic valve disease TAVR

How TAVR valve choice impacts outcomes when treating type 1 bicuspid AS

Self-expanding and balloon-expandable TAVR valves are associated with comparable success rates and one-year outcomes when treating type 1 bicuspid aortic stenosis. However, each valve type comes with its own advantages and disadvantages.

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.