Vascular & Endovascular

High-risk transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) patients see the same rates of functional recovery and survival as surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) patients half a decade after their procedures, according to data published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Patients treated for carotid stenosis with a new mesh-covered stent demonstrated stroke rates of 1.1 percent at 30 days, suggesting the device could help overcome one of the previously reported weaknesses of carotid artery stenting.

An automated risk calculator derived solely from variables in an electronic health record (EHR) accurately predicted five-year survival in a community-based cohort of patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD), researchers reported Dec. 1 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

The risk of major stroke was higher in the 30 days following surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) compared to transfemoral TAVR, according to a propensity-matched analysis from the PARTNER trials published Nov. 12 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Heart patients with symptoms of peripheral artery disease (PAD) continue to see low rates of prescriptions for antiplatelets, statins and ACE inhibitors, despite those drugs’ potential to prevent against major events like stroke, according to research published Nov. 15 in Stroke.

A decades-long study of patients who have migraines with visual aura has linked the painful headaches to an increased risk of experiencing atrial fibrillation and, to a lesser degree, stroke, researchers report in the online edition of Neurology.

Results of the CIRT trial presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions dimmed hopes that low-dose methotrexate can reduce cardiovascular events but furthered researchers’ understanding of which inflammation-targeting therapies might succeed in that regard.

A machine learning algorithm that predicts five-year mortality among patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) makes the case that patient responses to questionnaires can be just as informative in risk stratification as clinical characteristics and lab measurements.

Social media app Snapchat has been credited with saving 39-year-old Darnisha Ladd’s life after a recorded video helped physicians diagnose the young stroke survivor, allowing them to administer life-saving medication with 12 minutes to spare, the Omaha World-Herald has reported.

For patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AFib), taking a direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) instead of warfarin may cut the risk of dementia by 15 to 20 percent, according to a large database study published Nov. 2 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

The FDA has announced a Class I recall for 1.1 million packages of CoaguChek XS PT test strips used with point-of-care or in-home devices to adjust warfarin dosing.

Ischemic stroke patients—regardless of their individual characteristics or the severity of their stroke—are 20 percent more likely to be readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge if they acquire any kind of infection during their initial stay, researchers reported Nov. 1 in Stroke.