Defibrillators (ICDs) are in the news today. Few medical treatments are more misunderstood, both by doctors and patients, than the ICD. It was a huge observational study presented today in Denver at the annual HRS (Heart Rhythm Society) meeting. In 88,804 ICD patients from 2500 centers, researchers studied how ICD programming related to inappropriate shocks. They concluded: (translation […]
Do doctors know whether their therapies really work? We are doctors. We know. Don’t we? Wide variations in the application of medical treatments often differ greatly, sometimes solely by adjoining county or state line. This shouldn’t be. That a place of residence, not a clinical scenario, determines one’s treatment, highlights the inherent uncertainty of medicine. […]
Unfortunately, there are therapies in medical practice which become worse than the disease they are intended to treat. Us heart specialists are not immune from these transformative therapies. Even dumber than the ineffective rhythm drug that comes highly recommended by academia, is the LifeVest: a wearable automatic shock collar for people. He was in his […]
Years ago at the time of the original cardiac defibrillator implant (ICD), he was a vibrant active man who had suffered from an arrhythmia related to scar from a remote heart attack. Things change. Life has chapters. It is amazing what can happen to a person during the 5-7 year battery life of an ICD. […]
The practice of medicine is glorious, and I love it, but cynicism must be overcome. What cynicism? A far more established and connected blogger, Dr Wes, writes of the way technology strains the doctor-patient relationship. It involves a piece in the Chicago Tribune in which a study published in a major journal outlined doctors […]
What can an interesting case of a simple infection which nearly led to sudden cardiac death teach us about health care, health care reform and our ways of knowing? Dr Wes’ blog recently described a post from a geriatrics (specialist in the care of the elderly) doctor that highlighted the challenges of caring for the […]