PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New method predicts optimal number and location of AEDs

2014-08-31
(Press-News.org) Barcelona, Spain – Saturday 30 August 2014: A new method to predict the optimal number and location of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) was presented at ESC Congress today by Dr Benjamin Dahan from France. According to the predictive method, Paris needs 350 AEDs located in public places for optimal prevention of out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).

Dr Dahan said: "Out of hospital cardiac arrest is a major public health issue with an annual incidence ranging between 50 and 100 per 100 000 in the general population in Europe and North America. Because the vast majority of OHCA starts with ventricular fibrillation, early defibrillation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation are the only way to save the victim. Every minute of delay prior to defibrillation, decreases survival by 10%."

He added: "Except for a few recent encouraging reports, survival after OHCA remains poor at 7 to 8%. Survival has not improved over time despite decades of research and major financial investments in resuscitation. In the last two decades, public access defibrillation has been developed with a large deployment of AEDs for lay rescuers."

Dr Dahan continued: "However, although the benefits of AEDs are undeniable, public utilisation rates remain very low, and thus the effectiveness of such programmes could be dramatically improved. One of the key issues is the disparity between the location of AEDs and OHCAs. To optimise AED deployment, policy makers have to consider many scientific, geographic, societal and political issues. Systematic scientific approaches are needed to improve the cost-effectiveness of public access to defibrillation programmes."

The goal of the current study was to determine the optimal number of AED to be deployed in Paris. The researchers conducted a systematic analysis of all OHCA locations during 2000-2010. They then simulated different scenarios to evaluate how useful AEDs would have been to the OHCA cases such as comparing the effect of distance between AEDs, from 200 metres to 2000 metres.

The researchers also tested the scenario of having AEDs in all well known public areas including subway stations, post offices, pharmacies and bike sharing stations. Using road network information and a geographic information system (GIS), they calculated the median distance (in metres) between OHCAs and potential AED locations. The plot distribution was modelled using a non-linear regression model (see figure).

Dr Dahan said: "The inflection point of the trendline in the figure represents the optimal number of AEDs. Benefit for additional AEDs is poorer. We estimated that in Paris, the optimal number of AEDs located in public places was approximately 350."

He added: "Geographic optimisation modelling could be used for many urban areas, taking into account population density, population movements, urbanisation and other demographic data. This approach brings scientific rigour to the process of determining the optimal number of AEDs required in different urban areas."

Dr Dahan continued: "The expense of deploying AEDs is an important issue, with each device costing approximately €1000, plus maintenance. AEDs are underused because lay rescuers do not know where they are. Our approach to modelling the number and location of AEDs should dramatically improve cost-effectiveness by avoiding an excess number and ensuring they are accessible. Previous research has shown that efficient public access defibrillation programmes may improve the number of OHCA survivors by 100% (1).

He concluded: "In the current financial climate it is essential to avoid wasting resources. Our modelling ensures that the ideal number of AEDs can be deployed at the optimal location. This could be the change needed to improve the survival rates of out of hospital cardiac arrest."

INFORMATION: Figure. Median distance between OHCA registered in Paris (2000 - 2010) and AED candidate locations



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Local anesthetic for TAVI as safe and effective as general anesthetic

2014-08-31
Barcelona, Spain – Sunday 31 August 2014: Local anaesthetic is as safe and effective for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) as general anaesthetic, according to results of the FRANCE 2 registry presented at ESC Congress today by Dr Romain Chopard from France. Dr Chopard said: "Numerous studies have shown that TAVI is a viable treatment alternative for patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis who are at very high risk or ineligible for conventional surgical aortic valve replacement. The number of TAVI procedures in France and around the world has increased ...

Retrievable transcatheter aortic valve effective and safe in real world setting

2014-08-31
Barcelona, Spain – Sunday 31 August 2014: A retrievable and repositionable transcatheter aortic valve is effective and safe in a real world setting, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2014 today by Dr Stylianos Pyxaras from Germany. The direct flow medical (DFM) transcatheter aortic valve has unique features that improve operator control and has the potential to improve transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) outcomes in patients with severe aortic stenosis. Dr Pyxaras said: "TAVI is well established as a percutaneous treatment option in patients with ...

Batteryless cardiac pacemaker is based on automatic wristwatch

2014-08-31
Barcelona, Spain – Sunday 31 August 2014: A new batteryless cardiac pacemaker based on an automatic wristwatch and powered by heart motion was presented at ESC Congress 2014 today by Adrian Zurbuchen from Switzerland. The prototype device does not require battery replacement. Mr Zurbuchen, a PhD candidate in the Cardiovascular Engineering Group at ARTORG, University of Bern, Switzerland, said: "Batteries are a limiting factor in today's medical implants. Once they reach a critically low energy level, physicians see themselves forced to replace a correctly functioning ...

AF mortality and morbidity high at 1 year despite good anticoagulant use

2014-08-31
Barcelona, Spain – Sunday 31 August 2014: Mortality and morbidity of atrial fibrillation (AF) patients remains high at one year despite good use of oral anticoagulants, according to the one year follow up of the Atrial Fibrillation General Pilot Registry. The findings were presented for the first time at ESC Congress 2014 today by registry chairperson Professor Gregory Lip (Birmingham, UK). Professor Lip said: "This is the first contemporary, ESC sponsored registry focused on management practices of European cardiologists conducted since the ESC guidelines on AF were ...

Medication shows mixed results in reducing complications from cardiac surgery

2014-08-30
Administration of colchicine, a plant-based medication commonly used to treat gout, before and after cardiac surgery showed mixed results in reducing potential complications from this type of surgery, but it did increase the risk of gastrointestinal adverse effects, according to a study published by JAMA. The study is being released early online to coincide with its presentation at the European Society of Cardiology Congress. Common complications after cardiac surgery include postpericardiotomy syndrome (the occurrence of the symptoms of pericarditis, including chest ...

Transvenous lead extraction clinically successful in 98 percent of cases

2014-08-30
Barcelona, Spain – Saturday 30 August 2014: Transvenous lead extraction (TLE) is clinically successful in more than 98% of cases according to data from the European Lead Extraction ConTRolled (ELECTRa) registry presented for the first time today at ESC Congress 2014 by Dr Maria Grazia Bongiorni, chair of the registry's executive committee. Dr Bongiorni said: "The number of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED) implant procedures has grown in recent years. Despite advances in technology the number of complications has increased and leads are often the cause. TLE ...

First multidisciplinary recommendations on management of arrhythmias in ACS patients

2014-08-30
Barcelona, Spain – Saturday 30 August 2014: The first multidisciplinary recommendations on the management of arrhythmias in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) are published today in EP Europace. The position paper was written jointly by the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association (ACCA) and the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI), all of the ESC. Professor Bulent Gorenek (Turkey), chairperson of the task force, said: "Sudden cardiac death is the leading cause of death in Europe, ...

First expert consensus on ventricular arrhythmias published

2014-08-30
Barcelona, Spain – Saturday 30 August 2014: The first expert consensus on ventricular arrhythmias is published today. The novel document compiles current evidence on the diagnosis and management of ventricular arrhythmias and was agreed by international experts from three continents. The "EHRA/HRS/APHRS Expert Consensus on Ventricular Arrhythmias" is published today on-line in EP Europace (1). It was written jointly by the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) and the Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm ...

First comprehensive ESC Guidelines on aortic diseases published

2014-08-30
Barcelona, Spain – Saturday 30 August 2014: The first comprehensive ESC Guidelines on aortic diseases are published today. They are presented at ESC Congress 2014 by Task Force Chairpersons Professor Raimund Erbel (Germany) and Professor Victor Aboyans (France). The "2014 ESC Guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of aortic diseases" are published today online in European Heart Journal (1) and on the ESC Website. Professor Erbel said: "Previous ESC recommendations were published in 2001 but they were restricted to the diagnosis and management of aortic dissection. ...

First recommendations on all new oral anticoagulants in pulmonary embolism published

2014-08-30
Barcelona, Spain – Saturday 30 August 2014: The first recommendations on the use of all new oral anticoagulants in pulmonary embolism are published today in new ESC Guidelines. The guidelines are launched at ESC Congress by Professor Stavros V. Konstantinides (Germany/Greece) and Professor Adam Torbicki (Poland). The "2014 ESC Guidelines on the diagnosis and management of acute pulmonary embolism" are published today online in European Heart Journal (1) and on the ESC Website. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Signs identified that precede sudden arrhythmic death syndrome in young people

Discovery of bacteria's defence against viruses becomes a piece of the puzzle against resistance

Pre-eclampsia is associated with earlier onset and higher incidence of cardiovascular risk factors

Warwick astronomers discover doomed pair of spiralling stars on our cosmic doorstep

Soil conditions significantly increase rainfall in world’s megastorm hotspots

NK cells complexed with bispecific antibody yield high response rates in patients with lymphoma

Planetary health diet and mediterranean diet associated with similar survival and sustainability benefits

Singapore launches national standard to validate antimicrobial disinfectant products

Molecular stool test could improve detection of tuberculosis in adults with HIV

Suspected fibrocartilaginous embolus in Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus)

Enhancing heat transfer using the turbulent flow of viscoelastic fluids

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

[Press-News.org] New method predicts optimal number and location of AEDs