Monthly Archives: June 2012

June 20, 2012 · 10:39 am

Thomas Fogarty on the Process of Innovation and Angioplasty Pioneer Charles Dotter

Thomas Fogarty, MD

Thomas Fogarty, MD

Few people in the field of medical devices are as qualified to talk about innovation as is Dr. Thomas Fogarty, founder, chairman or board member of over 30 business and research companies and holder of over 130 patents.

So, as we are on the verge of a new age in medicine, incorporating SmartPhones, mobile technology and individualized medicine, courtesy of genomics, it is worthwhile remembering what “change” in this field entails — in the words of Dr. Fogarty: “The process of innovation always involves overthrowing the establishment” and that the people who drive this innovation have “always been perceived as crazy…and inappropriate.” Continue reading →

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Filed under History, Innovators, Video

June 10, 2012 · 3:03 pm

Can Using IVUS (Intravascular Ultrasound) Prevent Stent Thrombosis?

IVUS image shows stent under-expansion (click for larger image)

IVUS image shows stent under-expansion (click for larger image)

A recent paper, published online before print in SCAI’s journal, Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, yet again adds to the evidence that intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging during PCI can improve stent placement and expansion in a way that may prevent stent thrombosis (ST).

Titled, “Angiographically confirmed stent thrombosis in contemporary practice: insights from intravascular ultrasound“, the study looked at five years (2005-2010) of a multicenter registry of stent thromboses and studied the IVUS images where performed. Continue reading →

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Filed under Innovators, IVUS, Japan, Stent Thrombosis

June 7, 2012 · 3:53 pm

Lasorda Released from Hospital

Tommy Lasorda, photo by Phil Konstantin

Tommy Lasorda, photo by Phil Konstantin

So here we are in 2012!

It’s been almost 35 years since the first coronary angioplasty was performed in Zurich, Switzerland, and now we have an 84-year-old baseball icon, who had a heart attack, was treated with angioplasty and a stent, and is released from the hospital after less than 72 hours. And what does he “Tweet“? Continue reading →

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Filed under Celebrity Patients

June 6, 2012 · 4:10 pm

What We Can Learn from Tommy Lasorda’s “Mild” Heart Attack

Tommy Lasorda, photo by Phil Konstantin

Tommy Lasorda, photo by Phil Konstantin

Before he was Hall of Fame manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tommy Lasorda was a scout and coach for the team. And part of his duties was to teach the rookies. So, in that tradition, there is a lesson in Tommy’s latest health scare: if you think you may be having a heart attack, get to the hospital ASAP, preferably a hospital that performs emergency angioplasty. Continue reading →

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Filed under Celebrity Patients, Heart Attack, Video