Panel issues care guidelines for heart implant patients

Thu, 15 May 2008 06:59:55 -0400

In the past, much of the discussion over implantable heart devices like pacemakers and defibrillators was over which patients were suitable candidates--and how to get health plans to pay for them. Today, however, now that two million people world-wide have such devices in their chests, the question is how to care for such patients properly over the long term.

To address such issues, an international panel of heart specialists have issued guidelines for caring for such patients. The guidelines, which were announced at a meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society, address such issues as when to shut the device off in dying patients and stress the need for closer follow-up care.

The guidelines also encourage the use of wireless technology that allows physicians to monitor patients remotely, while the patient is still at home. A related five-year study presented at the meeting found that over five years, raising the volume of patients being remotely monitored from 94 to more than 5,000 didn't pose a big burden on clinic staff.

To learn more about the guidelines, and the Clinic's remote monitoring research:
- read this Associated Press article

Related Articles:
Study: Remote monitoring improves heart failure outcomes
Partners tests remote blood pressure monitoring
Vendor trials cellphone-based diabetes monitoring

SPOTLIGHT: Heart implants vulnerable to hackers

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:59:52 -0400

Here's a new--and scary--technical development. A new study suggests that it's not difficult for technical experts to retrieve information from implantable heart devices with wireless capabilities. Worse, researchers found that they could give the devices commands to reprogram their settings or even deliver a high-voltage shock. To date, no one is aware of a case of this having happened, and the problem is apparently fixable, but it's an unnerving piece of news all the same. Article