Ohio childrens hospital opens first hybrid congenital cardiac operating suite

The cardiothoracic surgery and interventional cardiology teams in The Heart Center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, have come together to bring technology first developed in its hybrid catheterization suites to an operating suite—the first hybrid congenital cardiac operating suite in the United States.
   
The operating suite is designed around the cardiac surgeon and cardiac surgical patient, offering advanced access and imaging in an operating room environment. The suite accommodates the catheterization and surgery teams, and facilitates information sharing with new technology from Toshiba Medical Systems and Maquet Surgical Workplaces.

The hospital said its new hybrid congenital cardiac operating suite and the hybrid cardiac catheterization suites allow surgical and interventional catheterization procedures to be performed by a single, interdisciplinary team in one setting.

Around the web

RBMA President Peter Moffatt discusses some of the biggest obstacles facing the specialty in the new year. 

Deepak Bhatt, MD, director of the Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital and principal investigator of the TRANSFORM trial, explains an emerging technique for cardiac screening: combining coronary CT angiography with artificial intelligence for plaque analysis to create an approach similar to mammography.

A total of 16 cardiology practices from 12 states settled with the DOJ to resolve allegations they overbilled Medicare for imaging agents used to diagnose cardiovascular disease.