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Expanded Seconds-Count.Org Helps Physicians Navigate Spectrum of Cardiovascular Disease Treatment Options

Posted on: Tuesday, 1 July 2008, 12:00 CDT

WASHINGTON, July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), the leading professional organization for interventional cardiology, has expanded its educational Web site at http://www.seconds-count.org/ with a new section dedicated to health professionals who work with interventional cardiologists and care for patients with cardiovascular disease. The expanded site features a frequently updated "Latest News" section with analysis of the latest clinical studies and updates from medical conferences, a "Physicians' Blog" with commentary and analysis on news of the day, clinical study summaries, as well as treatment guidelines and information about the full spectrum of cardiovascular disease treatment options. To help both patients and health professionals, Seconds-Count.org addresses cardiovascular disease in its many forms, including coronary, peripheral, congenital and structural heart disease.

A greater number of cardiovascular disease treatment options is available today than ever before, but medical research on the best treatments for specific patients is often confusing and conflicting, making it difficult for health care professionals to determine the best care choices for each patient's individual condition and symptoms. Seconds-Count.org aims to provide current information and analysis of the latest treatments -- from lifestyle changes and medications to devices and surgery -- and discussion of medical studies and industry news to create a one-stop resource for physicians and other health care professionals.

"The number of clinical studies released each month, and the number of new treatments and technologies available, can be overwhelming for primary care physicians and other health professionals who must keep up-to-date on all types of diseases as the first point of contact for patients," said Ziyad M. Hijazi, M.D., MPH, FSCAI, president of SCAI and Professor of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, Rush Center for Congenital and Structural Heart Disease, Chicago. "Our goal is to provide an easy-to-use resource to help physicians quickly find accurate, credible cardiovascular disease information to make recommendations for their patients."

In addition to the physician-focused section, the site includes a patient section with disease and treatment information, news and patient stories -- developed so physicians can be confident in sharing this Web site with their patients as a clear and credible resource. For patients and their families, the site will provide disease and treatment information for both new and current patients, provide an overview of the care team depending on the course of treatment, and suggest questions to ask their physician. To help patients better understand the treatments their physician recommends, the site will include a library of patient stories and videos, treatment animations and images, photos, and a range of other resources.

"There's more health information available today than ever before, and patients are more knowledgeable about their condition. At the same time, the information available can be confusing and even frightening to patients, and as physicians, we must help our patients interpret the information they read in the newspaper or online," said J. Jeffrey Marshall, M.D., FSCAI, editor-in-chief of Seconds-Count.org, president of Northeast Georgia Heart Center and director of the cardiac catheterization lab at Northeast Georgia Medical Center. "Seconds-Count.org provides evidence-based information for health professionals, and it's also a resource we can share with our patients and their families who are looking for a credible source for the latest cardiovascular disease information."

Seconds-Count.org will be frequently updated with the latest news and announcements from major interventional cardiology conferences, physicians' blog postings, clinical study summaries and the latest treatment options.

An estimated 15.8 million Americans have heart disease. While the chances of survival are far better today than ever before, heart disease remains the number one killer in the United States. Each year, interventional cardiologists perform procedures (percutaneous coronary intervention, or PCI) on about 800,000 Americans to re-open arteries in the heart that have become narrowed or blocked due to a build-up of fatty deposits, cholesterol or plaque.

The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions is a 4,000-member professional medical society whose mission is to provide excellence in invasive and interventional cardiovascular medicine. SCAI has undertaken this public education initiative with its own resources as well as support from Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific Corporation, Cordis Corporation, and Medtronic CardioVascular. The Society gratefully acknowledges this support while taking sole responsibility for all content developed and disseminated through this effort.

The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions

CONTACT: (not for publication) Kathy Boyd David of The Society forCardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, +1-717-422-1181,kbdavid@scai.org

Web site: http://www.seconds-count.org/

Source: PRNewswire

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