NEWS on cardiovascular, respiratory system implants

A Double-Lung Transplant and a Pair of Breast Implants to Save a Life

The patient, had a history of vaping and multiple infections, first viral infections and then Pseudomonas pneumonia. He had a really severe infection in both lungs. He was ventilated but the ventilator was not sufficient to keep him alive. He was then placed on the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and he...

Heart umbrellas with a big impact

"After the procedure, Jonah was a different child, the improvement was immediate. He turned 180 degrees in the right direction," says his mother Ania. On June 22 of this year, the boy underwent an effective procedure in the cardiac catheterization laboratory at the Heart and Diabetes Center NRW (HDZ NRW)...

Second Historic Transplant of Pig Heart into Patient

A 58-year-old patient with terminal heart disease became the second patient in the world to receive a successful transplant of a genetically-modified pig heart on September 20. He is recovering well and communicating with his loved ones. This new patient had end-stage heart disease. He was deemed ineligible for a...

Development of rupture-resistant bioprostheses for aortic aneurysms

A research group at the Department of Cardiothoracic, Transplantation and Vascular Surgery at the Hannover Medical School (MHH, Germany) is working on developing vascular prostheses based on the body's own fibrin. Unlike conventional plastic models, the biologically active aortic prostheses are recognized by the immune system as the body's own...

Dual-Chamber Leadless Pacemaker

Single-chamber ventricular leadless pacemakers do not support atrial pacing or consistent atrioventricular synchrony. A dual-chamber leadless pacemaker system consisting of two devices implanted percutaneously, one in the right atrium and one in the right ventricle, would make leadless pacemaker therapy a treatment option for a wider range of indications. The...

High-power chargers for electric vehicles are safe for patients with pacemakers and defibrillators 

Battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales and use are rapidly expanding. Battery electric vehicles, along with their charging stations, are a potential source of electromagnetic interference (EMI) for patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs). The new ‘high-power’ charging stations have the potential to create strong electromagnetic fields and induce EMI...

Implantable Defibrillator System Shock Function, Mortality, and Cause of Death After Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Studies have shown that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) does not have clinically important effects on the device parameters of non–MRI-conditional implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs). However, data on non–MRI-conditional ICD detection and treatment of arrhythmias after MRI are limited. During a median follow-up of 2.2 years from MRI to latest available ICD...

Deutsche AOK informiert über Qualitätsergebnisse bei kathetergestütztem Aortenklappenersatz

Die Online-Plattform „Gesundheitsnavigator“ der deutschen Krankenversicherung AOK informiert jetzt darüber, welche Krankenhäuser bei kathetergestützten Aortenklappenimplantationen (transvaskulären Aortenklappenimplantationen, TAVI) besonders gute Behandlungsergebnisse vorweisen. Dafür können Ärzte und Patienten die Ergebnisse von 79 Kliniken abrufen, die in den Jahren 2018 bis 2020 eine solche TAVI bei knapp 23.000 Versicherten durchgeführt haben. Einer...

Percutaneous Revascularization for Ischemic Left Ventricular Dysfunction

Whether revascularization by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) can improve event-free survival and left ventricular function in patients with severe ischemic left ventricular systolic dysfunction, as compared with optimal medical therapy (i.e., individually adjusted pharmacologic and device therapy for heart failure) alone, is unknown. CONCLUSIONS Among patients with severe ischemic left...