Alcohol septal ablation, also commonly called percutaneous transluminal septal myocardial ablation, is a surgical alternative for treating hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM), according to the Web site of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the joint university hospital for Cornell and...
The maze procedure is an open heart surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation (AF), a condition commonly referred to as arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat. Alternate treatments to AF that are less invasive than the maze procedure include the use of radio frequency (RF) waves, cryoablation, or...
Mechanical ventilation is a life-support system used on patients suffering from respiratory failure. It is typically administered to patients on a short-term basis in monitored settings such as ICUs, operating rooms, emergency departments, and in anesthesia and postanesthesia settings.
Needle electromyography, or needle EMG, is a type of electrodiagnostic test used to determine whether a patient’s muscles and nerves are working properly. Physicians order the test when a patient is experiencing numbness, tingling, pain, weakness, or muscle cramping. Typically, neurologists,...
An electrocardiogram, commonly abbreviated as EKG or ECG, is a noninvasive procedure that records electrical changes in the heart. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), an ECG sends an electrical impulse (or wave) that travels through
the heart. The wave causes the heart...
Cardiac scoring is a screening method used to detect calcium build-up in the coronary arteries. As a diagnostic tool, the examination can give physicians information that allows assessment of coronary artery disease (arteriosclerosis), which is the narrowing of the arteries that is usually...
Percutaneous lumbar discectomy (PLD) is a minimally invasive procedure for treating patients who suffer from low back and leg pain due to a herniated vertebral disc. Vertebral discs are the cushioning and connecting materials that lie between the vertebrae of the spine. They protect the...
Intradiscal electrothermal therapy (IDET™) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure for treating patients with chronic lower back pain caused by tears and small herniations of the lumbar discs. With IDET, physicians deliver heat directly within the symptomatic discs to alleviate the pain.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently gave clearance to Intuitive Surgical, Inc., a Mountain View, CA–based company to begin selling its da Vinci™ Surgical System in the United States. The clearance allows the System to be used for such laparoscopic abdominal surgical procedures...
