The advancement of minimally invasive procedures and new treatments continues at a rapid pace in cardiology.
Here are six "firsts" for cardiology performed since Dec. 9, starting with the most recent:
1. Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.-based Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center became the first hospital in the state to offer the new LARIAT/Convergent Hybrid AF procedure for atrial fibrillation, the center said Jan. 13.
2. The Vascular Care Group in Leominster, Mass., became the first in the state to complete a percutaneous femoral-popliteal artery bypass procedure, the group said Jan. 11.
3. Baltimore, Md.-based University of Maryland School of Medicine clinicians performed the first successful transplant of a genetically modified pig heart in a patient with end-stage heart disease, the university said Jan. 10.
4. Aurora-based Children's Hospital Colorado became the first pediatric hospital in the world to use a 3D intracardiac echocardiography catheter in the treatment of congenital heart disease, the hospital said Dec. 20.
5. Shreveport, La.-based Christus Highland Medical Center completed the facility's first minimally invasive robotic-assisted heart surgery on Dec. 16.
6. Austin, Texas-based St. David’s Medical Center physicians were among the first in the U.S. to implant the Barostim System, a new neurostimulator technology used to help treat advanced heart failure, the hospital said Dec. 9.