Mount Sinai is First to Use a New Device for Clearing Calcified Arteries

Interventional cardiologists at The Mount Sinai Hospital in October became the first in the world to use a new device to remove hard calcium buildup in a coronary artery in preparation for the placement of a stent to improve blood flow through the artery. The device, the Diamondback 360® Coronary Orbital Atherectomy System, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration one day before it was brought to Mount Sinai for use.

Since then, Mount Sinai’s cardiac catheterization team has performed more than 25 procedures under the leadership of Samin K. Sharma, MD, Director of Clinical and Interventional Cardiology at The Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Sharma says there have been no complications during or after the procedures.

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What’s the Buzz?—The Latest in Allergy Treatment

Many of you may have seen articles in the press recently about a “new” treatment for allergies: sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT), which has been available in Europe for more than 50 years and used in the United States for 45 years. Like allergy shots, it gives the patient the same small amount of allergen to reprogram the body to become less allergic. (more…)

Controversies in Urogynecology: Mesh Implants Used in Vaginal Surgery

There have been a lot of media reports (as well as lawyer ads) lately about mesh implants used in gynecological surgery to treat pelvic organ prolapse. What is all the fuss about?

In 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning about “mesh implants” and “slings” used to treat stress incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse in women. In 2011, the agency issued a stronger warning against the use of mesh implants placed vaginally to treat pelvic organ prolapse. To understand what this all means, it is important to know the history. (more…)

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