|
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 David Smith, MD
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.
Ziosoft, a developer of advanced visualization and analysis software for medical imaging, has received 510(k) clearance from the FDA to market its MR cardiac function analysis application for use with the Ziostation thin-client system.
Orlando, Fla.—A new analysis of the HORIZONS-AMI trial found no increased stent thrombosis with drug-eluting stents (DES) compared with bare-metal stents (BMS)—both shortly after PCI and at one year. It also found that adjunct pharmacologic therapy influenced the risk of stent thrombosis, according to research presented Sunday during the i2 Summit at the American College of Cardiology’s 58th annual scientific session.
Written by John O. Goodman
Today, most hospitals and healthcare systems consider a cardiovascular program to be their heart program. A recent industry survey asked healthcare leaders, “In your opinion, which service line today has the greatest potential to produce strong revenue growth within the next three years?” Not surprisingly, cardiology (i.e., heart disease) topped the list at 15 percent, while vascular received only 2 percent of votes.1
The segment proximal to a myocardial bridge, which is frequently involved in atherosclerotic plaque formation, could serve as an independent and significant factor with a higher odds ratio than other major risk factors for arteriosclerosis, according to a study presented last week at the 94th annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
|
Written by Kaitlyn Dmyterko & Justine Cadet
- CAD risk, cholesterol & statins - Women with a-fib shortchanged - Breast calcium not predictive of CAD
Written by Justine Cadet
In a retrospective analysis of nearly 700,000 non-elderly Americans who underwent at least one medical imaging procedure over a three-year period, approximately 20 percent received a moderate to very high dose of radiation, according to data in the Aug. 27 New England Journal of Medicine. Michael S. Lauer, MD, who wrote the accompanying perspective, stated that most imaging tests haven’t yet proven their benefit compared with the potential risks and costs.
African-American patients experienced significantly worse outcomes after balloon angioplasty and stenting than patients of other races, though researchers are not sure why. According to data reported May 8 at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 32nd annual scientific sessions, no single factor explains why African Americans were at higher risk after PCI, but the hazard is clear.
ORLANDO, Fla.—An economic analysis of the SYNTAX data at one year showed that PCI with drug-eluting stents (DES) in patients with three-vessel or left main disease is cost-effective in low- and intermediate-risk patients, but not in high-risk patients, according to research presented during the i2 Summit at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) 58th annual scientific sessions.
Study participants who slept on average an hour longer per night than other participants had an associated lower incidence of coronary artery calcification, according to research published in the Dec. 24/31 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Routine measurement of fractional flow reserve (FFR) during DES-stenting in patients with multi-vessel disease is superior to current angiography guided treatment, according to the FAME late-breaking clinical trial presented Tuesday at the 20th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium.
|
RSS 
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).