http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. US authorities on Thursday warned makers of medical devices and hospital networks to step up efforts to guard against potential cyber attacks. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-cyber-medical-devices.html Medications Thu, 13 Jun 2013 14:56:12 EST news290354163 A moderate case of obstructive sleep apnea can significantly increase a person's risk for sudden cardiac death, an often fatal condition where the heart stops beating and must be immediately treated with CPR or an automated external defibrillator, according to the largest study of its kind published online today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-apnea-sudden-cardiac-death.html Sleep apnea Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:30:01 EST news290169712 Many people with implantable defibrillators can safely participate in vigorous sports according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-sports-heart-zapping-device.html Health Mon, 20 May 2013 18:00:01 EST news288291001 (HealthDay)—With summer approaching, researchers caution that swimming pools may pose a risk to patients with irregular heartbeats who've received implantable defibrillators. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-pools-pose-hazard-people-heart.html Cardiology Thu, 09 May 2013 17:29:11 EST news287339341 TORONTO: Prompt use of an automated external defibrillator, or AED, can greatly increase the survival rates of people who suffer a cardiac arrest. And MIE Professor Tim Chan, working with Dr. Laurie Morrison at St. Michael's Hospital, has developed a formula to determine where best to place these costly but life-saving devices. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-defibrillators.html Cardiology Thu, 02 May 2013 13:30:55 EST news286720250 One of the leading causes of death in the United States is sudden cardiac arrest, which claims the lives of more than 325,000 people each year. In a study published in the April issue of the journal Resuscitation, Beaumont doctors found that cardiac arrests in K-12 schools are extremely rare, less than 0.2 percent, but out of 47 people who experienced cardiac arrest over a six-year period at K-12 schools, only 15 survived. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-beaumont-doctors-sudden-cardiac-fatalities.html Cardiology Thu, 28 Mar 2013 16:29:19 EST news283706952 Defibrillators are supposed to save lives by shocking a patient's heart back into a normal rhythm, but they have malfunctioned in about 45,000 cases since 2005, according to the Food and Drug Administration. So on Friday, the FDA proposed new rules aimed at ensuring that the potentially life-saving devices work properly when they're needed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-fda-aims-safety-defibrillators.html Cardiology Tue, 26 Mar 2013 19:40:01 EST news283541145 Even minor weight loss is associated with worse health outcomes among patients implanted with a certain type of defibrillator known as cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D), according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-weight-loss-linked-higher-implanted.html Cardiology Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:20:01 EST news281883874 (HealthDay News) - A U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel has unanimously backed a device that lowers the rate of seizures among people with epilepsy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-fda-panel-brain-epilepsy_1.html Neuroscience Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:19:27 EST news281013561 (HealthDay News) - A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel will weigh on Friday the merits of a new therapy for some people with epilepsy who have seizures that don't respond to medication. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-fda-panel-brain-epilepsy.html Neuroscience Thu, 21 Feb 2013 13:50:01 EST news280673844 (HealthDay)—Most heart patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) would prefer to switch off the device if they had an advanced illness, new research suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-implanted-defibrillator-patients-device-ill.html Cardiology Wed, 30 Jan 2013 10:50:02 EST news278763133 Every year an estimated 1.5 million magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans are performed in Canada and the number is growing at a rate of about 10 per cent per year. At the same time, a soaring number of Canadians who rely on implanted defibrillators to keep their hearts beating are denied this valuable, life-saving diagnostic test despite a 50 to 75 per cent probability that they will require one over the lifetime of their defibrillator. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-mri-friendly-defibrillator-implant-doors-thousands.html Cardiology Tue, 29 Jan 2013 09:02:34 EST news278672533 Patients who received an implantable heart defibrillator in everyday practice had survival benefits on par with those who received the same devices in carefully controlled clinical trials, according to a new study that highlights the value of defibrillators in typical medical settings. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-real-world-patient-survival-defibrillators-trial.html Cardiology Tue, 01 Jan 2013 16:08:57 EST news276278921 (HealthDayNews)—Bystander CPR saves more lives when just chest compression is performed without mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, a new study from Japan shows. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-mouth-to-mouth-boosts-cpr-results.html Cardiology Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:25:26 EST news274379115 Imagine living without a heart. It is possible—if you have a new artificial heart pumping blood through your body. You can even go to the supermarket, watch your kid's soccer game or go on a hike. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-ucla-doctors-heart-total-artificial.html Surgery Fri, 07 Dec 2012 10:40:07 EST news274097801 Implantable defibrillators currently on the market apply between 600 and 900 volts to the heart, almost 10 times the voltage from an electric outlet, says Ajit H. Janardhan, MD, PhD, a cardiac electrophysiology fellow at the Washington University's School of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-electrotherapy-greatly-energy-heart-rhythm.html Cardiology Tue, 13 Nov 2012 15:00:20 EST news272041204 Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a condition in which the heart suddenly stops pumping blood. When this occurs, blood stops flowing to the brain and other major organs. Recent estimates show that approximately 850,000 people in the United States are at risk of SCA, and most of the people who have SCA, die from it. But, rapid treatment of SCA by using an implantable defibrillator can be lifesaving. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-fda-subcutaneous-implantable-defibrillator-patients.html Cardiology Thu, 25 Oct 2012 17:00:01 EST news270399391 A new ground-breaking technology was recently used at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) where two cardiologists, Dr. David Birnie and Dr. Pablo Nery, implanted a new innovative leadless defibrillator, the subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator (S-ICD), to a 18 year-old patient. Under Health Canada's special access program, this was only the third time this new type of ICD had been implanted in Canada. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-defibrillator-alternative-heart.html Cardiology Wed, 03 Oct 2012 04:00:02 EST news268408497 "When children are given professional first aid training at primary school, the benefits can be felt long term. That's why training in the early years is so incredibly important," says Fritz Sterz from the University Department of Emergency Medicine at the MedUni Vienna as pupils start school this week. The results of a recent study by Katrin Steiner from the MedUni Vienna, who is writing her thesis, also highlight this fact. The anaesthetist and emergency medicine physician has demonstrated that primary school children who are given first aid training in the first to fourth grades of school score highly when it comes to using a defibrillator or performing chest compressions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-aid-primary-students-long-term-benefits.html Other Wed, 05 Sep 2012 08:33:23 EST news266052750 Electrical storm (ES) is a potent risk factor for mortality and morbidity, according to research presented today, August 26, at the ESC Congress 2012 by Dr Federico Guerra from Italy. Data was also presented on which patients are prone to developing ES and how effective current treatments are. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-electrical-storm-potent-factor-mortality.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Aug 2012 11:30:01 EST news265284833 People who have a cardiac arrest during or shortly after exercise are three times more likely to survive than those who have a cardiac arrest that is not exercise related, according to research presented at the ESC Congress 2012 today, August 26. The findings from the Amsterdam Resuscitation Study (ARREST) were presented by Dr Arend Mosterd from the Netherlands. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-sudden-death-cardiac.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:39:49 EST news265282783 A novel blood test that predicts sudden death risk in heart failure patients is set to help physicians decide which patients would benefit from implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). The findings were presented at the ESC Congress 2012 today, August 26, by Professor Samuel Dudley from Chicago, IL, US. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-blood-sudden-death-patients-benefit.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:38:38 EST news265282713 "Anyone can learn CPR - and everyone should!" proclaims the American Heart Association on its website. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-two-step-method-cpr.html Cardiology Tue, 12 Jun 2012 12:50:01 EST news258720173 More than 75 percent of cardiac arrest victims are stricken too far away from an automated external defibrillator for the lifesaving device to be obtained quickly enough to offer the best chance at saving their lives, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be presented today at the annual meeting of Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. The findings may offer an important clue about why, despite CPR and AED awareness campaigns across the United States, cardiac arrest rates remain poor – below 10 percent – in most areas of the country. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-lifesaving-devices-scene-three-quarters-cardiac.html Cardiology Sat, 12 May 2012 05:32:53 EST news256019564 New research from the University at Buffalo suggests that cardiologists may have a new way to identify patients who are at the highest risk of sudden cardiac arrest, and the most likely to benefit from receiving an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-imaging-patients-benefit-implantable-cardiac.html Cardiology Thu, 10 May 2012 11:13:43 EST news255867212 Cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillators (CRT-D) is appropriate for patients who have left ventricular dysfunction and require chronic ventricular pacing, based on the findings of an observational study that being presented March 26 that the 61st annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific session. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-chronic-ventricular-pacing-icd-patients.html Cardiology Mon, 26 Mar 2012 09:41:02 EST news251973656 A software monitoring program that tracks implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) function could detect problems with the devices earlier than current monitoring processes, according to new research in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-software-implantable-cardioverter-defibrillator-malfunctions-sooner.html Cardiology Tue, 06 Mar 2012 16:00:06 EST news250263668 Would you be able to find an automated external defibrillator if someone's life depended on it? Despite an estimated one million AEDs scattered around the United States, the answer, all too often when people suffer sudden cardiac arrests, is no. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-million-chances-life-penn-medicine.html Cardiology Fri, 24 Feb 2012 12:27:18 EST news249308827 Only a few decades ago, sudden cardiac arrest was a death sentence. Today, a victim of sudden cardiac arrest is saved roughly once every six hours in Sweden, reveals a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, reviewing all cases of sudden cardiac arrest over a 30-year period. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-sharp-decrease-deaths-sudden-cardiac.html Cardiology Wed, 23 Nov 2011 09:21:28 EST news241262478 A wearable defibrillator can prevent sudden death in people with dangerous heart arrhythmias, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2011. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-wearable-defibrillator-death-people-arrhythmias.html Cardiology Sun, 13 Nov 2011 12:14:44 EST news240408834