http://www.or-live.com/Tufts-NEMC/1731 Heart Disease: Tufts-New England Medical Center and OR Live will conduct a live Webcast of a bi-ventricular defibrillator implant on Wednesday, March 7, at 6 p.m. EST. (23:00 UTC) The surgical procedure will be performed by cardiac electrophysiologist Jonathan Weinstock, MD, and moderated by N.A. Mark Estes, MD, Director of the New England Cardiac Arrhythmia Center at Tufts-NEMC and Director of the Medical Center's Cardiac Electrophysiology and Pacemaker Laboratory. The Webcast will feature live Internet transmission of the procedure, as well as interviews with Marvin Konstam, MD, Chief of Tufts-NEMC's Division of Cardiology. Drs. Konstam and Estes will also discuss the integrated services of Tufts-NEMC's Cardiology Division and the benefits of comprehensive and multidisciplinary treatment for heart failure. The implantation of a biventricular defibrillator is performed to implement Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT), or restored synchronized contraction of the left ventricle, as treatment for heart failure. The left ventricle must contract in a synchronized pattern to pump blood optimally from the heart and deliver oxygen to the rest of the body. When left ventricular activation is abnormal or "out of sync," the heart's function declines and patients experience heart failure symptoms such as shortness of breath, cough, ankle edema, weight gain, and fatigue. With resynchronization therapy, improved left ventricular function provides better blood flow from the heart to the rest of the body, which results in improved breathing, strength, physical endurance, and quality of life. Resynchronization therapy is one of many complex and innovative therapeutic approaches used within the Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Center at Tufts-NEMC, one of the leading programs in the country for evaluation and management of patients with heart failure, directed by David DeNofrio, MD. Other advanced procedures employed by the C...