New Cardiac Imaging Technique Produces Higher Quality Images in Less Time

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

CMR

An innovation in cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging eliminates the need to correct images for respiratory motion, producing higher quality, more accurate images without waiting for patients to breathe.

Preliminary research presented at EuroCMR 2016 by Professor Juerg Schwitter, director of the Cardiac MR Centre at the University Hospital Lausanne, Switzerland, demonstrated how using a modified ventilator and small volumes of air, called "percussions," eliminated the need for patients to breathe during CMR.

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VIDEO: Ultrasound identifies dangerous plaque

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

New research in ultrasound out of Lund University in Sweden might be key to better, broader screening for cardiovascular risk.

A relatively simple mathematical calculation developed at Lund University can be used to interpret ultrasound signals and identify whether or not plaques consist of harmless connective tissue and smooth muscle cells or dangerous lipids and macrophages.

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Cardiovascular Risk Report: New Metabolic Syndrome Score Tracks Risk Over Time

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

Cost-reducing guidelines like the ACC's guidelines concerning cardiac imaging from 2012 require better profiling of what makes patients high risk for cardiovascular disease - especially when they make caveats based on "high-risk markers."

Are all high-risk markers known? What's on the horizon in markers for cardiovascular disease?

We've already discussed two new high-risk markers - a factor known as "stem cell factor" that's as predictive as cholesterol levels and a gene that interacts negatively with estrogen in women.

Here's another recent case of researchers building a better preventative mousetrap - a new test can measure the severity of metabolic syndrome and thus track and predict cardiovascular disease risk over time - from youth.

new test for teens tracks risk

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A Clinical Ladder in the Procedural Setting

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

Are you climbing the clinical ladder?

Often in clinical settings, there are limited opportunities for upward mobility. In fact, the clinical "ladder" in your organization might be a single position---Team Leader---or you might not be climbing at all.

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