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ATLANTA—In situ simulation as a means to improving door-to-balloon (D2B) times during STEMI significantly reduces times, and is a well-suited method to “address organizational challenges that compromise patient and quality of care,” according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology Administrators (ACCA) annual cardiovascular administrators leadership conference this week.
Patients admitted to the hospital during the weekend hours are more likely to experience delays in major procedures, be emergency and critical cases and have a higher mortality rate compared to patients admitted during weekday hours, according to a statistical brief conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
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.
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.
The gender difference between men and women is a lot smaller than previously believed when it comes to heart attack symptoms, according to a study presented this week at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2009, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society in Edmonton, Alberta.
In a real-world clinical setting, the negative predictive value of 64-slice coronary CT angiography (CCTA) is very high and helpful in predicting freedom from events for up to three years, according to a study in the Aug. 15 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology. The researchers also found cost-savings benefits associated with CCTA.
Since the Appropriateness Criteria for cardiac CT (CCT) was published in 2006, the modality has experienced rapid growth in technology and clinical use. When the American College of Cardiology (ACC) formally reviews the criteria next year, there might be room to add more indications to the "appropriate" category, including the "triple rule-out" exam, according to a study presented at the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) meeting in Orlando, Fla., last week.
The use of cardiac CT for low-risk chest pain patients in the emergency department--instead of the traditional standard-of-care workup--may reduce a patient's length of stay and hospital charges, according to a single-center study in the July issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.
Patients with heart attacks and other forms of chest pain are three to five times more likely to experience serious complications after hospital admission when they are treated in a crowded emergency department (ED), according to a study in the Academic Emergency Medicine.
Examining emergency department (ED) chest pain patients with coronary CT angiography (CCTA) is a quick and economical way to rule out serious cardiovascular disease, according to a study presented today at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine's annual conference in New Orleans.
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A coronary CT angiography-only approach -- when factoring in a $20,000 threshold level for cost per correct diagnosis and $50,000 per quality-adjusted life-year -- is the most cost-effective diagnostic strategy for the evaluation of patients presenting with stable chest pain without known coronary artery disease (CAD) with intermediate CAD prevalence, according to a decision analysis study published in the March issue of Radiology.
Sunday, March 14, 9:30 AM - 12:30 AM
These posters tackle the issue of radiation exposure related coronary CT angiography (CCTA) from many different angles. If you have a coronary CT program, you will certainly benefit from the topics presented here, including reducing radiation dose with a 320-row scanner by performing a coronary artery calcium scan prior to CCTA or dropping the kV to 80 during for low-body weight patients.
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.
Written by Justine Cadet
CHICAGO—Negative results from an automated coronary CT angiography (CCTA) reader may be useful for triaging emergency department (ED) patients, based on a study presented Monday at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) conference. Conversely, the researchers determined that positive automated results require further interpretation by an experienced reader.
In a real-world, clinical setting, the negative predictive value of coronary CT angiography (CCTA) in low-risk patients is very high and "exceptionally helpful" in predicting freedom from events for up to three years, according to a study in the Aug. 15 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology .
Emergency physicians should trust their judgment when evaluating patients who report with chest pain symptoms, based on research published in this month's issue of Academic Emergency Medicine.
A home telehealth monitoring program developed by the University of Ottawa Heart Institute has cut hospital readmission by 54 percent for heart failure patients. The program also has been shown to save up to $20,000 for each patient safely diverted from an emergency department visit, readmission and hospital stay.
Administration of the oral anticlotting drug rivaroxaban (Xarelto) to patients after an acute coronary syndrome, such as MI or unstable angina, reduces the incidence of stroke, further heart attack and death, according to the ATLAS ACS-TIMI 46 study reported in June 16 online in the Lancet.
For long-z-axis whole-chest 64-multidetector CT of emergency department patients with nonspecific chest pain, the use of prospective ECG triggering may result in substantially lower patient radiation doses and better coronary artery image quality than is achieved with retrospective ECG gating, according to a study in the June issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.
Using cardiac CT in the emergency department to diagnose low-risk patients with chest pain is 44 percent less expensive than the standard of care and can decrease the length of stay up to 20 hours, according to a study presented today in Boston at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Roentgen Ray Society.
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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.