Interventional Cardiology

This cardiac subspecialty uses minimally invasive, catheter-based technologies in a cath lab to diagnose and treat coronary artery disease (CAD). The main focus in on percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) to revascularize patients with CAD that is causing blockages resulting in ischemia or myocardial infarction. PCI mainly consists of angioplasty and implanting stents. Interventional cardiology has greatly expanded in scope over recent years to include a number of transcatheter structural heart interventions.

 Drug-coated balloons were associated with a lower risk of bleeding after PCI than drug-eluting stents, the study's authors reported. 

Drug-coated balloons comparable to drug-eluting stents when PCI patients have a high bleeding risk

Drug-coated balloons were associated with a lower risk of bleeding after PCI than drug-eluting stents, the study's authors reported. 

April 13, 2022
In a late-breaking long-term analysis presented at ACC 2022, the Medtronic CoreValve TAVR valve outperformed the surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in terms of durability.

VIDEO: TAVR durability outperforms surgical valves

Michael J. Reardon, MD, professor of cardiothoracic surgery and Allison Family Distinguished chair of cardiovascular research at Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center, presented pooled data at ACC.22 from the CoreValve SURTAVI trials that found transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) was more durable than surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) devices.

April 13, 2022
Adam Greenbaum, MD, Emory, explains the CLASP TR trial of the Pascal clip device for transcatheter repair, which was a late-breaking ACC22 study.

VIDEO: Pascal effective in transcatheter repair of tricuspid valve regurgitation

Adam Greenbaum, MD, co-director of the Structural Heart and Valve Center at Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta, explains details from the late-breaking CLASP TR trial at ACC.22.

April 12, 2022
Several ACC 2022 late-breaking trials may have impacts on clinical practice for interventional cardiology and structural heart. One trial compared FFR vs. IVUS guided PCI for intermediate coronary lesions. Photos by Dave Fornell

Key interventional cardiology takeaways from ACC.22

Several late-breaking clinical trials at ACC.22 will likely impact clinical practice. Below are summaries of a few key trials and their takeaways for interventional cardiology and structural heart interventions. 

April 11, 2022
Interventional cardiologists performing PCI

Is PCI without stenting safe for low-risk STEMI patients?

The study's authors examined data from the DANAMI-3 trial, focusing on such outcomes as all-cause mortality, recurrent MI and target vessel revascularization.

April 8, 2022
A late-breaking study at ACC.22 showed differences in COVID-positive heart attack patients between 2020 and 2021. #ACC22 #ACC2022

VIDEO: Vaccines boosted survival among STEMI heart attack patients with COVID-19

Santiago Garcia, MD, lead author of the study and director of the structural heart program at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, presented new data from the North American COVID-19 STEMI (NACMI) registry at ACC.22. Severity of heart attacks were reduced in vaccinated patients, with zero deaths in vaccinated patients in 2021.

April 8, 2022
MitraClip vs mitral valve edge to edge repair (TEER).

VIDEO: MitraClip vs. surgical mitral valve replacement

Joanna Chikwe, MD, founding chair of the department of cardiac surgery at Cedars-Sinai Hospital, compares transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) to mitral valve surgery for primary mitral regurgitation.

April 7, 2022
Researchers are using an intra-atrial shunt to lower pressures between the upper chambers of the heart to relieve symptoms in HFpEF heart failure patients. The novel Noya device uses an RF ablation to cut a hole into the septum and then enlarge it using a stent that can then be removed from the body after the procedure. 

Researchers share first human data on new interventional shunt procedure for HFpEF

The first-in-man study, completed by a team of cardiologists in China, included 10 patients presenting with HFpEF. 

April 7, 2022

Around the web

Eleven medical societies have signed on to a consensus statement aimed at standardizing imaging for suspected cardiovascular infections.

Kate Hanneman, MD, explains why many vendors and hospitals want to lower radiology's impact on the environment. "Taking steps to reduce the carbon footprint in healthcare isn’t just an opportunity," she said. "It’s also a responsibility."

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