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Written by Justine Cadet
Slightly more than one-third of patients without known disease, who underwent elective cardiac catheterization, had obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) out of nearly 400,000 patients at 663 sites, based on study findings published March 11 in the New England Journal of Medicine. However, in an interview, Timothy D. Henry, MD, from Minneapolis Heart Institute, said that when reviewing the study’s data in its entirety, it appears that most practices are performing these procedures properly.
Written by Kaitlyn Dmyterko & Justine Cadet
- CAD risk, cholesterol & statins - Women with a-fib shortchanged - Breast calcium not predictive of CAD
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTA) has granted a notice of allowance to cardiac diagnostic technology provider NewCardio for its urgent care solution Cardio3KG.
A majority of patients (61 percent) evaluated for chest pain of uncertain cardiac cause have a coronary artery calcium (CAC) score of zero, which predicts both a normal SPECT result and an excellent short-term outcome, according to a single-center study published online Feb. 8 in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
As cardiologists have done in the past with new technologies, they will have to find ways to use CT and MRI complementarily, rather than in a competitive manner.
Antiplatelet agent ticagrelor (Brilinta, AstraZeneca) reduces death rates without increasing bleeding compared with the current standard treatment of clopidogrel for heart attack patients, based on the PLATO-Invasive trial published online Jan. 13 in the Lancet. An accompanying commentary describes the introduction of ticagrelor as “a landmark event that should redefine the care of patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS).”
The Medicines Company has gained exclusive global licensing to Pfizer’s ApoA-I Milano, which is a naturally occurring variant of a protein found in high-density lipoprotein that has the potential to reverse atherosclerotic plaque development and reduce the risk of coronary events in patients with acute coronary syndrome.
AstraZeneca has submitted its antiplatelet drug, ticagrelor (Brilinta) to the FDA for approval via a new drug application.
SAN FRANCISCO—In PROSPECT, the first prospective, natural history trial of atherosclerosis using multimodality imaging to characterize the coronary tree, researchers found that about 20 percent of patients with acute coronary syndromes successfully treated with stents and medical therapy develop at least one major coronary event within three years, with adverse events equally attributable to recurrence at originally treated culprit lesions and to previously untreated non-culprit coronary segments.
The 21 st annual scientific symposium of the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting will open on Monday in San Francisco. Gregg W. Stone, MD, immediate past-chairman of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, which sponsors TCT, highlighted some of the trials and important sessions at next week’s show.
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Stentys has received CE marking for its self-expanding and disconnectable stent to treat acute coronary syndrome.
Written by Justine Cadet
Washington, D.C.—Due to the variety of bleeding definitions used in clinical trials and the potential various outcomes on patients and clinical practice from different bleeding thresholds, Sunil V. Rao, MD, from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., argued that the time has come to arrive at a consensus definition of bleeding, at the Cardiovascular Research Technologies conference on Feb. 21.
Researchers have found that the bedside test, Hemonox CT [clotting time], can be used as a reliable method to monitor enoxaparin (Lovenox, Sanofi-Aventis) anticoagulation therapy before catherization and PCI and can provide better anticoagulation therapy compared to unfractionated heparin (UFH) if well managed, according to a study published Feb. 16 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
The FDA approved the third thienopyridine agent, prasugrel (Effient, Eli Lilly/Daiichi Sankyo), in July 2009, challenging the U.S. market dominance of clopidogrel (Plavix, Bristol Myers Squibb/Sanofi Aventis). Yet, some cardiologists are being cautious about rapid, widespread adoption, and uptake has been slower than expected. Meanwhile, other options—such as reversible agents—loom on the horizon.
Cardiologists and cardiovascular staff at Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, S.D., pride themselves for providing the best care in the area. But it took the process associated with gaining Chest Pain Center accreditation for them to realize just how good they are.
Written by Justine Cadet
Cardiovascular Research Technologies is an interventional cardiology boutique conference that is focusing this year’s content on how clinical, economic and regulatory considerations will “Impact Clinical Practice,” said course chairman Ron Waksman, MD, in an interview. The conference takes place Feb. 21-23 in Washington, D.C.
For the treatment of acute venous thromboembolism (VTE), a fixed dose of the new anticoagulant dabigatran (Pradaxa; Boehringer Ingelheim) is as effective as warfarin, has a safety profile that is similar to that of warfarin and does not require laboratory monitoring, based on the findings of the RE-COVER trial published online Dec. 6 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Orlando, Fla.—The new, reversible antiplatelet drug cangrelor was not superior over clopidogrel in reducing the composite of death, MI or ischemic revascularization 48 hours after PCI, nor did the investigative drug prove superior over placebo for combined endpoint of MI, all-cause mortality and revascularization. Yet, the drug may have some benefits for stent thrombosis. Two randomized, controlled trials demonstrated these results, which were presented Sunday at the American Heart Association late breaking clinical trials session.
SAN FRANCISCO--For patients with acute coronary syndromes undergoing PCI, treatment with prasugrel compared with clopidogrel was associated with significant cost offsets—mainly derived from reductions in repeat PCI—in both the first 30 days as well as longer term treatment (median 14.7 months), based on an economic substudy of the TRITON-TIMI 38 trial presented Thursday during the late breaking clinical trials at the 2009 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) annual meeting.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued approval for the marketing of prasugrel (Efient in EU/Effient in U.S.) from Eli Lilly and Daiichi Sankyo, with a few limitations.
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Middle age introduces itself in many ways; one is atrial fibrillation (AF). My onset of AF seems to have coincided with a mountain bike accident in the woods of North Carolina that resulted in some cracked ribs.
The use of health IT to reduce rehospitalizations will be welcome but also disruptive, said Stephen Jencks, an independent consultant in healthcare safety during a Feb. 24 webinar on the potential use of health IT to mitigate rehospitalizations, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
A new hospital breaking ground usually isn’t breaking news. But the vision of patient care at one new facility, tentatively named Palomar Medical Center West (PMC West), is currently illegal under California state law.
There are cases presented to all physicians when we have to balance benefits of a particular treatment with concerns around safety for certain patients. In interventional cardiology, we see this dilemma with drug-eluting stents (DES). While this technology provides effective therapy for many patients with ischemia-inducing coronary lesions, there are certain patient groups that encounter problems for different reasons.
U.S. News & World Report and HealthGrades surveys that rank “Best Hospitals” according to their high-quality cardiovascular care do not create the most comprehensive list and may create confusion by excluding hospitals that provide the same quality of care, according to a study published in the January issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.