Hospitals that put patients under the knife more frequently see higher overall costs, according to a study published online May 10 in
Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. The researchers identified intensity of tests, medication use and services as some of the culprits and said that there may be room for improvement in these hospitals to reduce the use of these modalities and cut costs.
BOSTON—Cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillator (CRT-D) is an attractive option for mild-to-moderate heart failure (HF) patients. When compared with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), these patients may get more bang for their buck in two ways—lower costs and better outcomes, according to an economic analysis of the RAFT trial presented May 11 at the annual scientific sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society.
LAS VEGAS—The late-breaking CATHETER DCM trial, presented May 10 at the 35th annual meeting of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), showed some trends toward progress for bone marrow stem cells to improve heart function in some patients with progressive heart failure due to dilated cardiomyopathy. However, principal investigator Timothy D. Henry, MD, of the Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, explained the results in the context of cell therapy for multiple cardiac conditions.
BOSTON—When planning to implement a remote monitoring initiative, organizations should develop a flow that works for their particular clinic, advised Nancy Lee, RN, CCDS, arrhythmia device specialist at the Arrhythmia Center at Missouri Baptist Hospital in St. Louis, during a presentation May 10 at the 33rd annual scientific sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society.
BOSTON—Dynamic Atrial Overdrive (DAO) does not prevent new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF), is often not well tolerated and increases the risk of premature battery depletion, based on the results of ASSERT, a late-breaking clinical trial presented May 11 at the 33rd annual scientific sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS). Therefore, the study authors recommended that implantable devices no longer get developed with this software.
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Source: J Nucl Med 2012;53(3):407-414.
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BOSTON—Patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy at highest risk of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) can be identified by evaluating inhomogeneity of scar volume and ejection fraction, stated James A. Fallavollita, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y., May 10 during a late breaking clinical trial presentation at the 33rd
annual scientific sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society.
BOSTON—Results from the long term follow-up to the Sudden Cardiac Death Heart Failure Trail have shown that ICD therapy in patients with moderate heart failure significantly reduces mortality for at least 11 years from the time of implantation, according to a study presentation May 10 at the 33rd
annual scientific sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS).
BOSTON—Using the ADVANCE III trial, which randomized primary and secondary prevention patients with single, dual and triple chamber implantable devices to number of intervals to detect (NID) 30/40 or 18/24, researchers from Italy found that the long NID 30/40 detection window was safe and effective in reducing unnecessary implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy in both types of patients of any etiology.
BOSTON—While implantable-cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) utilization is improving, some subsets of patients still see underuse, said Sana M. Al-Khatib, MD, MHS, of the Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham, N.C., during a presentation May 9 at the 33rd annual scientifc sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society. She added that more research and education could help to close this gap.
BOSTON—While previous trials have shown that women see greater benefits from cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) compared with men, better efforts are needed to explain why, said Aysha Arshad, MD, of the Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, N.J., and New York City, during a presentation May 9 at the 33rd annual scientific sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society. Additionally, she said that women are underrepresented in trial enrollments, which should be rectified.
BOSTON—Shock therapy in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) can be decreased by aggressive programming changes, according to findings of the PROVIDE trial presented May 11 at the 33rd annual scientific sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society.
The FDA has approved Boston Scientific’s Ingenio and Advantio pacemakers and Invive cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers. The company simultaneously launched the devices in the U.S.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) patients have a five-fold increase in the risk of stroke; however, older women diagnosed with AF may fare worse than men, despite warfarin use, according to a study published in the May 9 issue of the
Journal of the American Medical Association.
Neither aspirin nor warfarin is superior for preventing a combined risk of death, stroke and cerebral hemorrhage in heart failure (HF) patients with normal heart rhythm, according to the 10-year WARCEF trial published May 2 in the
New England Journal of Medicine.
Physicians and hospitals that treat adults with heart failure (HF) have a new set of performance measures to help improve the quality of care for their patients. In an interview, writing committee co-chair Robert O. Bonow, MD, discussed key changes in the measures, including efforts to minimize the reporting burden and maximize the use of EHRs.
NEWTON, Mass.—“Everyone who receives ECMO [extracorporeal membrane oxygenation] does not die,” said Joshua N. Baker, MD, a cardiovascular surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, during a presentation April 26 at the American Heart Association's 22nd Annual Cardiovascular Nursing Conference. While ECMO is still sparsely used in the U.S., there may be ground for more widespread acceptance despite the costs, he told
Cardiovascular Business.
Biotronik has received European approval for the market release of its Evia HF-T pacemaker series, a cardiac resynchronization therapy-pacemaker (CRT-P) device approved for use in an MRI environment.
Hospitals with consistently low cardiac performance measure rankings also received a thumbs down in patient satisfaction, according to a study published online April 10 in
Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. But the authors warn that without understanding factors that contribute to poor performance, pay-for-performance and value-based initiatives may exacerbate problems at these hospitals and adversely impact care.
The FDA has approved a humanitarian use device (HUD) designation for SynCardia Systems' temporary Total Artificial Heart to be used for destination therapy in addition to its current premarket approval as a bridge to transplant.
Compared with patients with normal kidney function, chronic dialysis patients may not derive the same cardiovascular benefit from angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) and angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) use, based on a study published April 9 in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
