CARTO 3  launch: 3 Nov 2009

CARTO 3 is an exciting new technology, approved by the US regulatory authorities on 15 Oct 2009 which allows speedy and accurate visualisation of all catheters inside the heart chambers. (See Images on the Link below). It was used for the first time after its commercial launch in the UK at the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital this week. Dr Gupta treated 4 cases of Atrial Fibrillation with the help of CARTO 3 and was suitably impressed: ‘All 4 cases took on average 2 hours of operating time, which is a significant improvement on the usual procedure duration of around 3 hours. Moreover, we required as little as 8-19 minutes of Fluoroscopy for these cases compared to the average of 30-50 minutes before. This short procedure time means that the day is not far when we start performing AF ablation as a day case procedure.’

To see images from Dr Gupta’s procedures with CARTO 3, please click HERE

To read the coverage of the event in the media, please click HERE and HERE

Stress and your heart: Mail on Sunday, 22 Nov 2009

How can we assess the level of stress we experience in our daily lives?!  Even more importantly, can we identify specific parts of our daily routine that cause more stress than others, so that we can make efforts to eradicate those?

This simple study took 4 people from different cross-sections of the society (a busy middle aged City lawyer, a working mother, a full-time mum and a young professional) and studied their heart rate trends over the course of a typical day in their lives. Dr Gupta then correlated the changes in their heart rate levels with the exact activity they were performing at the time.

Click HERE to see the surprising results.

How fit are today’s children? Mail on Sunday, 7 Mar 2010

It is common belief that today’s children lead far less active lives as compared to those of yesteryear. TV, Internet and Computer games have relegated traditional children’s outdoor activities to the background. But how correct is this belief?

We took 4 children aged between 8 and 10 years from different parts of the country and fitted them with pedometers, devices that measure the number of steps taken. We analysed the daily ‘step-count’ of all children and looked for correlation with their activities in the course of a typical school day. Most mothers thought that their children led extremely active and sporty lives. Were they right?

Click HERE to see the results.

Dame Jo Williams’ visit to Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, 22 Mar 2010

Dame Jo Williams is the Chairperson of the Care Quality Commission, an influential independent regulator of health and social care in England. She visited Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital on 22 March 2010 and spent time in Dr Gupta’s EP lab observing a live AF ablation case. She proved to be an enthusiastic and keen learner, as these images show!

Click HERE to see the photographs.