MORTSEL, Belgium, March 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Agfa HealthCare announces that it is releasing a new version of its Enterprise Imaging for Cardiology platform at the American College of Cardiologists' ACC.17 expo. Customer-driven enhancements include new structured reporting modules for congenital echocardiology and nuclear cardiology. Single point of access and task-based workflow Enterprise Imaging for Cardiology is an important part of the Enterprise Imaging converged platform, which offers a care-centric workflow that is standards-based, improves interoperability and enables a comprehensive patient health record across departments within a single facility or between multiple facilities. With Enterprise Imaging for Cardiology, cardiologists have a robust environment providing a single point of access to patient information from different sources. They can quickly retrieve a patient's complete cardiology file, generate a report and distribute it, all during one session, even from a remote location. Images, reports and relevant, sophisticated toolkits are supported by the task-based workflow that aligns with and supports their clinical workflow. The new features provide support for congenital echocardiology and nuclear cardiology, deeply integrated into the Enterprise Imaging platform. "Cardiology continues to be an image-intense domain, and the Enterprise Imaging for cardiology platform offers a value-based care solution providing access to clinically … Continue reading →

Physician researchers at Thomas Jefferson University suspect that some cases of coronary artery spasm go unrecognized and are incorrectly treated with stents. The good news -- there could be a simple fix to eliminate these unnecessary stenting procedures. The team published a case series in Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions describing six patients who were scheduled for angioplasty and stenting for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (five of whom had a cardiac catheterization days prior). However, when the cardiologists gave nitroglycerin prior to placing the stent, the blockages resolved, indicating the true diagnosis of coronary artery spasm. Angioplasty was deferred and all patients were successfully treated with medication. "Our suspicion is that some patients receive stents unnecessarily since they are misdiagnosed as having fixed atherosclerotic blockage while the true culprit, coronary spasm, goes unrecognized," said senior author Michael Savage, M.D., Director of the Jefferson Angioplasty Center and the Ralph J. Roberts Professor of Cardiology in the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. "Cardiologists need to know that they could be overlooking coronary spasm and thus, over treating their patients with stents." Cardiovascular guidelines on cardiac catheterization and coronary intervention with stents go to great lengths emphasizing the importance … Continue reading →

The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) recently won a bid to host the World Congress of Cardiology & Cardiovascular Health in 2018. The 2018 congress will focus on prevention with the global objective of reducing premature mortality by reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases by 25 percent by 2020, David Wood, president of the World Heart Federation, said. The congress will take place at the Dubai World Trade Center from Dec. 5 to 8, 2018. The global interactive event will bring together cardiovascular disease specialists, where they will share knowledge with specialists from other disciplines to promote cardiovascular health. Dubai proved to be a successful host of the World Congress of Cardiology in 2012, and it is a testament to the emirates reputation as a strong business events destination that the congress is returning so soon, Issam Kazim, CEO of the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said. The event will bring thousands of additional visitors to Dubai and further enhance its status as a knowledge hub. Dubai Business Events, the citys official convention bureau, will assist the World Heart Federation, Dubai Health Authority and other key stakeholders in planning for the event in 2018 and ensuring it leaves a … Continue reading →

"As a focused leader in health technology, Philips aims to provide integrated solutions across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and after care at home, in order to combat the rising incidence of chronic diseases such as those caused by cardiovascular conditions," said Bert van Meurs, Business Leader, Image Guided Therapy. "We offer a broad portfolio of innovative solutions to optimize the image-guided minimally invasive treatment of cardiovascular conditions, while managing costs." Philips will exhibit the company's advanced, connected health offerings in the cardiology space at ACC.17, including: Also at this year's conference, new groundbreaking iFR (instant wave-Free Ratio) outcome results from over 4,500 patients will be announced on Saturday, March 18 at 10:45 a.m. The data, which represent the largest randomized coronary physiology outcome studies to date, has the potential to help shape revascularization guidelines. The announcement and presentation of the outcome data follows Philips' announcement last year of three clinical studies designed to assess the safety of deferring cardiovascular interventions using the company's proprietary iFR pressure measurement technology. In addition to presenting data around the benefits of iFR technology, Philips will host "Cardiology Talks," a program of short talks and conversation on key … Continue reading →