Real time patient dosimetry in the cath lab: Can you see what they get?

Real time radiation dose monitoring in the cath lab may provide immediate feedback for potential dose reduction during PCI. Radiation dose monitoring to predict potential tissue injury utilizes equipment measured air Kerma at the interventional reference point (IRP) with then calculated specific tissue peak skin dose. The role of the cath lab Quality Committee is not only to assess individual high dose radiation cases but also to create processes and assess new technologies to assure radiation dose is best utilized in all cases.

Nonselective carotid artery ultrasound screening in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting: Is it necessary?

Objectives: To determine whether nonselective preoperative carotid artery ultrasound screening alters management of patients scheduled for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and whether such screening affects neurologic outcomes.

Methods: From March 2011 to September 2013, preoperative carotid artery ultrasound screening was performed on 1236 of 1382 patients (89%) scheduled to undergo CABG. Carotid artery stenosis (CAS) was classified as none or mild (any type 0%-59% stenosis), moderate (unilateral 60%-79% stenosis), or severe (bilateral 60%-79% stenosis or unilateral 80%-100% stenosis).

Contribution of fibrosis and the autonomic nervous system to atrial fibrillation electrograms in heart failure.

Background: Fibrotic and autonomic remodeling in heart failure (HF) increase vulnerability to atrial fibrillation (AF). Because AF electrograms (EGMs) are thought to reflect the underlying structural substrate, we sought to (1) determine the differences in AF EGMs in normal versus HF atria and (2) assess how fibrosis and nerve-rich fat contribute to AF EGM characteristics in HF.

Methods And Results: AF was induced in 20 normal dogs by vagal stimulation and in 21 HF dogs (subjected to 3 weeks of rapid ventricular pacing at 240 beats per minute).