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Written by Kaitlyn Dmyterko
ATLANTA--Referring PCI patients for cardiac rehabilitation can help improve care; however, the rates of referral remain low and large disparities exist between hospital sites, said Krishna G. Aragam, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, during a poster presentation at the 59th annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific sessions.
Written by Kaitlyn Dmyterko
ATLANTA--Improvements in quality of care measurements do not decrease 30-day mortality rates, said Jersey Chen, MD, of the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific sessions Monday.
ATLANTA—Contrary to current guidelines, taking a lenient approach to controlling heart rate in patients with atrial fibrillation appears to be just as good as taking a strict approach and poses no greater risk of death or other serious complications, according to the RACE II trial presented today during the late breaking clinical trials session at the American College of Cardiology’s (ACC) 59th annual conference. Slides»
Written by Gina Narcisi
ATLANTA--In choosing the appropriate test, keeping clinical context in mind and understanding what the test indicates and what it does not indicate are key elements a physician must remember in selecting the correct imaging modality for the testing of myocardial viability, said Christopher Hanson, MD, professor of medicine and radiology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, during an imaging symposium at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) annual conference on Monday.
Monday, March 15, 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM
This ACC Symposium promises to review a lot of material on heart failure imaging—and with good reason. The rate of heart failure continues to rise, costing the U.S. healthcare system millions of dollars annually. Cardiologists want simple and effective techniques to diagnose and manage their growing heart failure patient population. The truth is that one MRI exam can deliver a plethora of information, while not exposing patients to unnecessary radiation.
The use of at-home medical devices to connect doctors and patients via the internet can help patients and their physicians work more efficiently together to manage chronic conditions, according to research at Cleveland Clinic.
Written by Justine Cadet
Now that continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) are available as a destination therapy, rather than just a bridge-to-transplant therapy, options for late-stage heart failure patients have expanded. The new indication is welcome news, but the debate has begun regarding which patients are the best candidates, and when in their care cycle to implant LVADs.
A study of Medicare beneficiaries admitted to U.S. hospitals with congestive heart failure (CHF) showed no definitive connection between the cost and quality of care, or between cost and death rates. The research was published Feb. 22 in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance sent a blistering letter on Feb. 18 to the FDA questioning the agency’s actions regarding the diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline).
Biotechnology company Bioheart will conduct its FDA approved clinical trial, REGEN, to assess the safety and efficacy of gene-modified stem cells, MyoCell, on patients who suffer from congestive heart failure (HF).
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ATLANTA—A novel cardiac PET tracer that images the sympathetic nervous system for heart failure prognosis has been shown in preclinical studies to provide improved image quality compared with a SPECT heart failure tracer, according to a poster presentation on display Monday at the American College of Cardiology conference.
Written by Justine Cadet
ATLANTA--Ablative intervention was more effective than drug therapy for preventing recurrent symptomatic atrial fibrillation, according to the CABANA trial results presented Monday during a late-breaking clinical trial session at the American College of Cardiology’s (ACC) 59th annual conference. Slides»
Written by Gina Narcisi
ATLANTA--In utilizing the Seattle Heart Failure Model (SHFM), overall survival scores for patients admitted with acutely decompensated heart failure (ADHF) may be improved, according to Samira Bahrainy, MD, department of cardiology at the University of Washington, Harborview Medical Center, and colleagues during the poster presentations held on March 15 at the 59th annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) conference.
While the rates of hospitalization for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with acute MI (AMI) have dropped significantly between 2002 and 2007, researchers found that these rates varied based on demographics, particularly race and gender, according to a study published online March 8 in Circulation.
Black and Hispanic heart failure (HF) Medicare beneficiaries are less likely to receive hospice care than white patients with the same diagnosis, according to a study published in the March 8 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Aggressive device therapy, more frequent follow-ups and better heart failure management programs could help decrease mortality and readmission rates of heart failure patients, according to a study published online March 1 in the European Journal of Heart Failure.
Written by Manjula Puthenedam
U.S. cardiologists are experiencing a 36 percent cut in SPECT imaging reimbursement as part of the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). As a result, cardiology practices nationwide are trying to survive, while hoping that cardiology advocacy groups can persuade CMS that the dramatic cuts will potentially hurt patient care and increase healthcare costs in the long term.
When physicians indicate a medical situation is an exception to a guideline, most of the time these medical decisions are correct. These findings have implications for improved decision-support tools, according to a study published in the Feb. 16 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
While many U.S. physicians identify language or cultural barriers as obstacles to providing high-quality patient care, physicians' efforts to overcome communication barriers are modest and uneven, according to a report released by the Center for Studying Health System Change.
The European Union has granted CE mark of approval for St. Jude Medical’s Fortify ST implantable cardioverter-defibrillator and its Unify cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillator for distribution throughout Europe.
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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).