The Aquadex still "isn't ready for prime time, " argues Keith Aaronson, a heart specialist at the University of Michigan.

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Ellen Mason, a cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, warned that providing specialist heart screening could be problematical.

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After its opening in 1994 as a specialist heart surgery centre, the anticipated patient numbers at the hospital failed to materialise.

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"Essentially, this was a death sentence, " said Dr. John Harold, a Los Angeles heart specialist who is president of the College of Cardiology.

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Lead signatory Mark Darowski, a children's intensive care specialist at the LGI, said if paediatric heart surgery in Leeds did end it would mean a three-fold rise in journey times for children needing urgent treatment.

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The specialist who works at one of London's heart attack centers said there would now be concern about whether the young footballer had suffered brain damage.

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Michael Davidson, a heart specialist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and a tester of the combo pill, predicts "a brutal three-way war" for market share among Vytorin, Lipitor and AstraZeneca's Crestor.

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Professor Sidney Smith, Chairman of the World Heart Federation Scientific Advisory Board, said his organisation supported twin centers grants where specialist training is available and sponsors public education programs on heart disease and women.

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Olivia was then transferred to Hope Hospital to see a kidney specialist and to have an operation, but had two heart attacks on the way, and later died.

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