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Here are 10 articles about robotic heart surgery that you should read!

How Do You Find Reliable Information on The Web About Robotic Heart Surgery?

Teaching Model for Robotic Heart Surgery

Follow-Up Study of Endoscopic Robotic Heart Surgery (Endo ACAB)

Biventricular Pacing Using Endoscopic Robotic Technology

Robotic Mitral Valve Repair

Robotic Repair of Atrial Septal Defects

Knot Tying In Robotic Surgery – Is There A Learning Curve?

Hybrid robotic coronary artery surgery and angioplasty in multivessel coronary artery disease

Telesurgery and Teleoperation

RETSIT Procedure for Hyperhidrosis – Robotic Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathetic Interruption with Titanium clips

Here are the Top 10 most read articles about atrial fibrillation on diagnosisheart.com

Epidemiology of Atrial Fibrillation

Risk Score for Stroke in Newly Diagnosed Atrial Fibrillation

New Technologies for Surgical Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation

Ablative Surgery for Atrial Firillation – New Energy Sources

Beta Blockers Reduce Atrial Fibrillation After Heart Surgery, Not Hospital Length of Stay

Endoscopic Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation-Fiction or Reality?

Left Atrial Maze Procedure: Is it good enough?

Atrial Fibrillation and the Elderly Population

Minimally Invasive Obliteration of the Left Atrial Appendage for Atrial Fibrillation

Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIA)

What is a Heart Attack?

A heart attack occurs when there is decreased transport of oxygen to the heart muscle. This can occur by several mechanisms, but most commonly occurs due to a blockage of the blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to heart muscle. The decreased blood flow through the coronary vessels (vessels that supply blood to the heart) causes the muscle to start to die (ischemia) or actually die (infarct).

What are the symptoms?

A patient will usually experience some degree of chest pain while at rest or with exercise. The pain may also be felt in a patient’s jaw or arm, most commonly the patient’s left arm. An individual may complain of nausea, or become diaphoretic (sweaty) or short of breath. Not all patients experience all of these symptoms; for unknown reasons, women usually present in a way that is unique from men having a heart attack. Diabetics often to do have pain during a heart attack, or have pain that is different from non-diabetics. Any patient experiencing any of these symptoms or any other concerning symptoms should go to the nearest emergency department immediately.

How is a heart attack diagnosed?

Doctors use many different methods to diagnose a patient with a heart attack. Most important is the patient’s description of their symptoms, certain stories describe a classic heart attack. Doctors also use several blood tests and EKG’s to help in the diagnosis. Even with using all of these tactics, many heart attack are still not properly diagnosed!

How is a heart attack treated?

As described earlier, a heart attack usually occurs when the coronary vessels become blocked. Clearing these vessels allows blood to once again flow to the heart muscle, preventing further death of more heart muscle, or allowing ischemic muscle to recover. There are several methods used to clear these vessels, historically a drug was given that would chemically dissolve the obstruction. Drugs such as streptokinase and alteplase are called fibrinolytics because they dissolve blood clots that may be obstructing a coronary vessel. The problem is that these medicines also dissolve clots in other parts of the body, even when the doctor does not want these unknown clots to be dissolved. This can cause bleeding in other parts of the body, such as the brain producing a stroke. A better treatment for a heart attack is angioplasty. Angioplasty requires that a special heart doctor (called an interventional cardiologist) feed a wire through different blood vessels and trace up to the heart. Once in the heart, the doctor must trace through the vessels of the heart, until he or she discovers the occluded blood vessel. The doctor then inflates a balloon, which opens up the obstructed vessel. This technique decreases the rate of death, stroke, and a second heart attack when compared to fibrinolytics. The problem is that angioplasty requires that an interventional cardiologist and appropriate staff be available at the time of the heart attack. Although most major university hospitals have this treatment option available 24 hours a day, many smaller hospitals do not have this as an option, so they must either treat the patient with fibrinolytics or transfer the patient to a different hospital.

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