A patient’s e-cigarette interfered with their implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and prevented the device from properly functioning, according to a new analysis published in HeartRhythm Case Reports.
"We showed it is possible using this approach to get incredibly encouraging results if you have access to a large archive," said experts from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
A cut in Medicare payment may have contributed to the trend, driving doctors away from heart imaging methods that rely on ionizing radiation, experts wrote in Radiology.
The Trump administration expanded telehealth benefits coverage under Medicare in order to treat patients without traveling to a healthcare facility and risk catching or spreading the new coronavirus, COVID-19.
Consensus seems to be building against using computed tomography to diagnose the novel coronavirus, with another major society urging physicians away from the modality as a first-line tool.
Patients with cardiovascular disease should continue taking angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) as prescribed if they are diagnosed with the new coronavirus (COVID-19), according to a joint statement from three medical societies.
Commissioners are pushing a 0% fee-for-service reimbursement hike in the federal payment program, noting that patients appear to have ample access to care.
The president of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology said there are no shortfalls reported at this time, but the organization is keeping an eye on the situation as more countries implement travel bans.
