slp3D Facilitates Online Continuing Medical Education Program for Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

slp3D Facilitates Online Continuing Medical Education Program for Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Witness the innovative procedure on March 5th at 4:30pm(ET)

Hartford, Ct - February 18, 2002 - On Tuesday, March 5, at 4:30 p.m.(ET), slp3D will team with Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia to produce the latest in a series of live internet broadcasts from one of the nation's leading teaching Hospitals. Cardiologists at the Hospital will perform a specialized balloon angioplasty procedure live, on the web. The procedure uses radioactive seeds to help a patient who has blockage in a coronary artery.

slp3D introduced the internet broadcasting campaign at Jefferson University Hospital late last fall and the hospital initiated its series of four broadcasts with a live laparoscopic nephrectomy. The March 5th broadcast will feature coronary brachytherapy.

Brachytherapy is a procedure that treats restenosis, a condition where scar tissue grows in coronary arteries that were previously opened by coronary stenting. It was approved last year by the FDA in part because of testing done at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

During balloon angioplasty, a cardiologist usually implants stents into the artery to keep it propped open. But, in 20 to 30 percent of patients, restenosis occurs within six months due to scar-like plaque that develops. With brachytherapy, Jefferson physicians temporarily place tiny radioactive "seeds" inside the coronary artery immediately after the angioplasty procedure and provide low-dose radiation therapy. All of the radiation remains in a catheter during the procedure, and does not touch the patient or the physician.

Jefferson researchers were one of 30 centers in the START (Stents and Radiation Therapy) trial to assess the effectiveness of the procedure. The trial compared balloon angioplasty with radiation to angioplasty alone on patients with recurrent blockages after stent placement. Studies indicated that low doses of radiation delivered by the procedure significantly reduced the incidence of restenosis up to 34 percent, as compared with those who did not receive the radiation treatment.

"This provides a unique learning opportunity for interventional cardiologists as well as others who treat patients with heart disease," said Michael Savage, M.D., associate professor of Medicine, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and director, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. "Because it provides a close-up look, it is likely to be of interest to the many people who suffer from heart disease and who may be a candidate for this procedure," adds David Fischman, M.D., director of Jefferson's

Core Angiography Laboratory in the Division of Cardiology and associate professor of Medicine, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. One of these two physicians will perform the procedure during the webcast while the other narrates. Richard Valicenti, M.D., associate professor of Radiation Oncology at Jefferson Medical College, will also participate.

Physicians who register online to view the hour-long webcast will be eligible to receive continuing medical education credits. This specialized cardiac angioplasty procedure can be viewed live on the web at www.jeffersonhospital.org/webcast, www.discoveryhealth.com and www.slp3d.com.

The webcast is approved for AMA PRA credit. Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, as a member of the Consortium for Academic Continuing Medical Education, is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital has major programs for heart disease, cancer treatment, high-risk childbirth, genetics, radiology, orthopaedics, digestive diseases and many other areas of medicine and surgery. It is one of only a few hospitals in the United States that is both a Level I Trauma Center and a federally designated regional spinal cord injury center.

Jefferson University Hospital over the years has been ranked as one of the best hospitals in the nation. In recent years, U.S.News and World Report has named 11 medical specialties at Jefferson as among the best in the nation.

In addition, Jefferson University Hospital has been listed by Solucient (formerly HCIA-Sachs Institute) as the best cardiovascular hospital in the Philadelphia area and one of the top 100 cardiovascular hospitals in the United States.

slp3D is the leading developer of live and on-demand medical broadcasts on the internet with clients that include Beth Israel Deaconess, George Washington Univ. Hospital, Mercy Hospital in Miami and Hartford Hospital, as well as Smith & Nephew and Merck & Co., among others. Online broadcast programs are designed for healthcare professionals and consumers and include live and pre-recorded surgeries, clinical forums, product launches, virtual tours, video news releases and Continuing Medical Education. Solutions include live and on-demand video applications, integrated graphic presentations and real-time audience surveying. slp3D develops unique client solutions focusing on strategic design consulting, content development and production, as well as the orchestration of distribution partnerships for broadening the reach of the content. Additionally, slp3D has distribution partnerships with organizations as varied as Discovery Health, Intelihealth and the Heart Surgery Forum, as well as many other high-profile online sites, insuring broad audiences for client content.

For information about treatment for cardiac disease including balloon angioplasty and brachytherapy or to make an appointment with a Jefferson cardiologist, call 1-800-JEFF-NOW.