admin | September 4, 2009
Campbell AR, Satran D, Zenovich AG, Campbell KM, Espel JC, Arndt TL, Poulose AK, Boisjolie CR, Juusola K, Bart BA, Henry TD.
Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis, MN 55407, USA.
admin | September 1, 2009
WESTBURY, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Vasomedical, Inc. (“Vasomedical”) (OTC: VASO - News), a world leader in the noninvasive treatment of cardiovascular diseases, today announced that evidence presented by Dr. Eva-Elina Buschmann on behalf of the European Arteriogenesis Network 2 Trial, at the 2009 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress taking place in Barcelona, Spain, demonstrates that EECP® therapy along with its positive acute hemodynamic benefits also promotes the growth of coronary collateral blood vessels to ischemic regions improving circulation in patients with stable angina.
admin | August 27, 2009
In the Prospective Evaluation of EECP in Congestive Heart Failure (PEECH) trial, EECP improved exercise duration, symptom status, and QOL in patients with mild-to-moderate heart failure who were already receiving optimal medical therapy. The PEECH trial, reported at the 2005 ACC meeting by Arthur M. Feldman, MD, PhD, FACC, enrolled 187 patients with ischemic or nonischemic heart failure and New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II or III symptoms. All patients had LVEF ≤35% (mean, about 26%) despite optimal medical therapy. Patients were randomized to EECP plus optimal pharmacologic therapy for 7 weeks (n = 93) or optimal pharmacologic therapy alone (n = 94). Patients could not be blinded to their randomized therapy, of course, but the study controlled for researcher bias by creating two investigating teams. One team supervised or performed daily EECP treatments; the other team, which was blinded to randomization, performed patient evaluations. The study’s primary endpoint was one of two measures of change in exercise capacity. The first of these, the percentage of patients with at least a 60-second increase in exercise duration from baseline to 6 months, was significantly higher in the EECP group than in the control group (p = 0.016). The second measure, the percentage of patients with at least a 1.25 ml/min/kg increase in peak VO2 from baseline to 6 months, was statistically similar in both groups (Figure 5). The study also demonstrated significant improvements in several secondary endpoints (Figure 6), including mean change in exercise duration, NYHA classification, and QOL, although the latter improvement was not sustained over the long term. Andrew D. Michaels, MD, FACC, of the University of California, San Francisco, was the discussant for Dr. Feldman’s presentation. Although he said the PEECH results are “mixed,” he added “there is still reason for optimism that EECP may be a positive addition to patients with heart failure treated with optimal medical therapy.” However, he acknowledged it was “somewhat concerning” that the only endpoints in PEECH significantly improved by EECP were those subject to a placebo effect. Peak VO2, which is likely not subject to the placebo effect, was unchanged by the therapy. This interview with Dr. Feldman reviews the results of the PEECH trial and evidence suggesting that the benefits observed were not a placebo effect.
admin | August 10, 2009
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 05:01 — popdd.com - Health reform is in danger of failing because the focus has been too much on who is covered and not enough on what is covered. Health care reform is primarily about health insurance reform, with the main battle being over coverage and the payment system.
Of course, we need to provide coverage for the 48 million Americans who do not have health insurance. It is morally indefensible that we have not already done so.
admin | July 27, 2009
WESTBURY, N.Y. — Vasomedical, Inc. (”Vasomedical”) (OTC: VASO.OB), a world leader in the noninvasive treatment of cardiovascular diseases, today announced that Medicare has increased reimbursement payment rates for EECP([R]) therapy for 2008. The new rates, recently published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), are effective immediately for the first six months of 2008 and result in a new national average physician fee payment level of $156.16 per session for EECP([R]) therapy — an increase of 6.2% over the 2007 payment rate. This increase results in a total national average physician fee payment rate of $5,465.60 for a typical 35-hour course of therapy. Changes in the national average physician fee payment for 2008 were a result of the rollback of the planned decrease in the physician dollar conversion factor and an increase in the practice expense portion of the Relative Value Units for EECP([R]) therapy.
admin | July 14, 2009
New YM - 7 ECP System combines proven medical technology with styling in a compact model that’s easy to operate. As a result, therapists use it with confidence and physicians rely on its performance. All information during therapy is displayed on one screen, without complicated pulldown menus, mouse-pointers, or keyboard entry. Just touch the controls to set timing and pressure parameters, print waveform tracings, and start/stop therapy.
Automated Process For Easy Operation And Better Treatment.
admin | June 24, 2009
By Tracey Drury
Aaron Hirsch’s father was not a well man. Diagnosed with severe heart disease, he had undergone surgery for a bypass and had seven stents placed, but his heart was still failing.
Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic rejected him for surgery, telling the 44-year-old he was too high-risk. But they did recommend a procedure called external counterpulsation, a non-invasive treatment that stimulates the heart. But he would have to drive from his Western New York home to Rochester more than 30 times over the course of a year to receive the treatment.
admin | February 3, 2009
admin | February 3, 2009
Enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) therapy, a non-invasive assisted circulation device, can be safely performed in patients with severe symptomatic left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD). Little information is available about the efficacy of this therapy in such patients. We analyzed the data on 2454 patients (mean age 67 ± 11 years, 74% men) enrolled in the phase 2 International EECP Patient Registry (IEPR-2) in order to evaluate the efficacy of EECP therapy in severe LVSD. Patients were divided into 4 groups based on baseline LVEF: > 50% (n = 1047), 35–50% (n = 826), 20–34% (n = 424), and < 20% (n = 157). Patients underwent a standard course of 35 one-hour EECP treatment sessions. One-year follow up data was compared between the 4 groups (Table).
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For more information about each cardiac treatment please click on each treatment title or one of the tabs at the top of the page.
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