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The sixth annual Heart Rhythm Congress (HRC) returned to the Hilton Metropole Hotel at Birmingham between 3rd and 6th October 2011 attended by over 3000 delegates – more than ever before, reflecting the growing popularity of this annual meeting. This report summarises the highlights of the 2011 annual meeting of health professionals involved in the care of patients with heart rhythm problems.

SAGE Publications recently announced a partnership with Which Medical Device (www.whichmedicaldevice.com), an online review site providing independent, expert opinion and reviews of medical devices.

The safety of security screening with hand-held metal detectors for people with pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) has been supported by research published recently in the Annals of Internal Medicine.¹

People taking anti-psychotic and anti-depressant drugs have a much higher risk of fatal coronary events or arrhythmias than the rest of the population, according to a Finnish study published recently in the European Heart Journal.¹ The study showed that the combined use of both types of drug was associated with an even greater risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) during a coronary event.

The song Disco Science by producer/songwriter Mirwais Ahmadzaï, is more helpful than no music for delivering the required number of chest compressions (CPR) after myocardial infarction (MI), before arrival at hospital, according to research published recently in Emergency Medicine Journal online.¹


A recently-launched telemonitoring service (HomePod®, Telehealth Solutions) for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes and chronic heart failure could could save the NHS over £70 million in two years, from the cost of COPD patient care alone, according to calculations from the provider.¹

Working at a large University Teaching Hospital we are not unfamiliar to specialist cardiology clinics two or three times weekly. As many of you will have experienced on occasion we often encounter a patient history and apparent presenting complaint that we can not precisely and cleverly explain.

An ESC Congress study¹ looked at the effects of laughter on arterial blood flow. Researchers measured the diameter of the brachial artery in 20 non-smoking, healthy men and women who on one day watched clips of comedy films, and on another watched the stressful opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan.

Dronedarone increases rates of serious vascular events in patients with permanent atrial fibrillation (AF) and additional cardiovascular risk factors, according to the PALLAS (Permanent Atrial Fibrillation Outcome Study Using Dronedarone on Top of Standard Therapy) trial¹ published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The British Heart Valve Society will host a specialist valve clinic symposium, held at Governors’ Hall, St Thomas’ Hospital, London, on the February 13th 2012. It is designed for those from all disciplines involved in heart valve disease including cardiology, sonography, cardiac physiology, cardiac nursing, primary care, public health, commissioning, and NHS management.

For more information, visit www.bhvs.org.uk.