Arrhythmia/EP, Electrophysiology news, opinions and education

Arrhythmia & EP

IM 2018 Wearables Can Enhance Practice, But Questions Remain Physicians are embracing wearables, and are now reimbursed for time spent analyzing data, but the lack of research on the devices and legal issues are still issues.
Medscape Medical News, April 2018
Air Quality Linked to Cardiac Events, Heart Disease Patients Unaware Poor air quality with high levels of tiny pollution particles known as PM2.5 are tied to a spike in emergency department visits for cardiac- and lung-related illnesses and stroke, a California study suggests, but a nationwide U.S. survey finds that few heart patients are aware of air quality risks.
Reuters Health Information, April 2018
Alert FDA OKs Firmware Update for ICD, CRT-D Battery, Security Glitches The FDA-approved update for the defibrillator implants from Abbott, formerly St Jude Medical, separately addresses previously identified cybersecurity and battery-depletion issues.
News Alerts, April 2018
Apixaban Effective in AF Patients Scheduled for Cardioversion Apixaban is safe and effective for anticoagulation in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) scheduled for cardioversion, according to results from the EMANATE trial.
Reuters Health Information, April 2018

A 15-Year-Old Girl With Palpitations: USMLE Question A 15-year-old with type 1 diabetes mellitus and hypothyroidism presents after an episode of shaking and palpitations. What is causing her symptoms?
Osmosis, April 13, 2018
ECG Challenge: Is This an Effect of AFib Treatment? A man with atrial fibrillation, treated with a beta-blocker, undergoes a routine ECG. What does it show?
Medscape Cardiology, April 2, 2018
Which AFib Patients Should Receive Anticoagulation? Two clinicians discuss the newest approaches to risk scoring for bleeding and stroke in order to identify the patients who should receive anticoagulation.
American College of Cardiology & Medscape , March 29, 2018
Hot Topics in Cardiology: Tech, Twitter, and the Hypertension Guidelines Drs Harrington and Gibson discuss burning issues in medicine, including artificial intelligence, social media, wearable tech, and the new hypertension guidelines.
theheart.org on Medscape, March 28, 2018

The Case Against Thrombolytic Therapy in Stroke A New York Times article siding with neurologists in their debate with emergency medicine over the benefits of tPA in ischemic stroke prompted Dr Mandrola to take a closer look at the data.
theheart.org on Medscape, April 13, 2018