Cardiologist’s abstract accepted for peer review

An abstract written by Dr. Maged Amine, head of cardiology at Saint Luke's Hospital at The Vintage, was accepted by the Scientific Committee for Cardiostim 2012.

Amine's abstract, "Risk of Inappropriate Shocks," was accepted at the 18th World Congress held by the Scientific Committee for Cardiostim. This meeting focused on cardiac electrophysiology and techniques, and featured more than 5,500 attendees from the cardiology field.

Amine began the study detailed in his abstract two years ago. To do this, approximately 1,200 patients from three different treatment centers were examined to determine whether recent technological advances in defibrillators affect the incidences of "false" shock therapies being delivered to patients with a high risk of sudden death.

The results of Amine's study showed that one-third of all shocks administered were false or inappropriate, which supports the idea that shocks are not harmless or inappropriate to patients and could be harmful.

Amine's findings will be presented for peer review by cardiologists in session no. 96 of Cariostim in June. This review will determine whether Amine's abstract will be published through Cardiostim.