theheart.org: Interventional Surgery news and studies. Duke and Mayo partnership.

Acute Coronary Syndromes

Going regional? Think local. New study probes overlap between PCI and non-PCI hospitals

1 COMMENT - Mar 9, 2010 13:15 EST

A Medicare analysis looking at 30-day mortality between hospitals offering PCI and those that don't hints that policy-makers looking to regionalize AMI care need to take into account what works and what doesn't at a local level.

New Haven, CT - A new study trying to tease out the value of regionalized acute-MI care has found that yes, overall mortality seems to be lower at PCI hospitals as compared with non-PCI hospitals in the same hospital-referral region, but a standard regionalization model—whereby all AMI patients are directed to a central PCI hospital—may not suit all scenarios [1]. Researchers found considerable overlap in mortality rates between the two types of hospitals, and the proportion of hospitals that performed the worst in terms of mortality rates was roughly the same—one in five—for both PCI and non-PCI hospitals.

The study, by Dr Jersey Chen (Yale University, New Haven, CT) and colleagues appears in the March 8, 2010 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. Read full article »

Inside: Interventional/Surgery

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Interventional/Surgery

PCI in the ACS Patient With Multivessel Disease

Mar 10, 2010 10:31 EST

Despite data suggesting that only the culprit lesion should be treated in ACS patients, it's often hard to ignore significant blockages seen on angiography. Dr. Feres presents a case to Drs. Bhatt and King who discuss strategies to quantify risk and manage ACS patients with multivessel disease.

Interventional/Surgery

DES Comparisons: Insights From Late-term Follow-up

2 COMMENTS - Dec 21, 2009 11:25 EST

COMPARE, ENDEAVOR IV, SIRTAX-LATE, SPIRIT IV -- given the abundance of data comparing the various DES are there any patterns emerging? Dr. King leads a panel discussion with Drs. Cohen and Williams.

Interventional/Surgery

Stent Trials: Dealing With the Deluge of Data

Mar 12, 2010 11:10 EST

Join Drs. Garratt and Waksman as they discuss the recent information overload from drug-eluting stent trials and to what extent these data impact their clinical practice.

Interventional/Surgery

Cath Lab 2012

Feb 23, 2010 14:00 EST

Drs Moses, Singh and DeGregorio present a series of challenging case studies of patients with complex cardiovascular lesions and discuss how new and evolving technologies will impact the management of these patients.

Interventional/Surgery

Transcatheter Aortic Valves: Highlights From Leipzig 2009

Feb 19, 2010 13:49 EST

Recorded at the Dallas-Leipzig meeting 2009. Watch presentations by Drs. Dewey, Kappetein, Schuler, and Walther bookended by commentary from course directors, Drs. Mack and Mohr.

Interventional/Surgery

Percutaneous Pulmonary Valve Implantation

1 COMMENT - Dec 3, 2009 12:21 EST

The percutaneous pulmonary valve (PPV) was the first transcatheter valve developed. Dr. Ziyad Hijazi discusses this work with PPV inventor, Dr. Philipp Bonhoeffer, including the European and US experience so far in patients with prior right ventricular outflow tract surgery.

Imaging

Trials and Tribulations: Debating Controversial Topics in Cardiovascular Disease

2 COMMENTS - Dec 21, 2009 09:48 EST

Fellows from The Mayo Clinic, Duke University, and The Cleveland Clinic discuss challenging cases with their mentors.

Interventional/Surgery

Drug-Eluting Stents: Head-to-Head Clinical Trial Results

2 COMMENTS - Oct 16, 2009 11:06 EDT

How do drug-eluting stents compare? Our panel of experts, Drs. Stone, Kereiakes, Serruys, and Windecker discuss the late-breaking trials at TCT 2009 of DES vs DES.

Clinical cardiology

New Data on Polyvascular Disease and ACS

1 COMMENT - Jun 23, 2009 09:40 EDT

Recently published data suggest that prior polyvascular disease increases the risk for inhospital adverse events in patients with ACS. Join Drs. Deepak Bhatt, Jean-Pierre Bassand, and José R. Gonzalez-Juanatey for a discussion of the current data on identification and management of patients with polyvascular disease.

Clinical cardiology

Combination Therapy and Cardiovascular Events: A Neurologist's Perspective

1 COMMENT - Jun 17, 2009 11:48 EDT

AF can lead to stroke, congestive heart failure, and other serious complications. Successful management should include reducing these risks. Join our expert panel, Drs. Peter Rothwell, Donald Easton, and Mark Alberts, as they discuss new data and strategies for improving outcomes in patients with AF.

Clinical cardiology

2009 Antiplatelet Debate: What's New in ACS

7 COMMENTS - Jun 12, 2009 15:03 EDT

Despite modern therapy, the rates of death, MI, bleeding, and readmission remain high in patients with ACS. Join Drs. Jeffery Popma, Héctor Bueno, Freek Verheugt, and Sunil. Rao for a review of the latest data on antiplatelet therapy for patients with ACS.

Interventional/Surgery

ISAR-DESIRE 2: No advantage, no downside to switching stents for DES in-stent restenosis

Mar 11, 2010 14:00 EST

Either a sirolimus-eluting stent or a paclitaxel-eluting stent are suitable choices for treating in-stent restenosis of a sirolimus-eluting stent. Whether plain old or drug-eluting-balloon angioplasty might also work remains an open question.

Thrombosis

RESPOND: Ticagrelor improves platelet inhibition in both clopidogrel responders and nonresponders

1 COMMENT - Mar 10, 2010 13:30 EST

The authors of the study also suggest that ticagrelor may inhibit platelets more effectively than prasugrel.

Arrhythmia/EP

Fingertip stress test promising in proof-of-concept study

Mar 10, 2010 11:00 EST

A simple, noninvasive, fingertip stress test has shown promise distinguishing between patients who have significant coronary artery disease and those who do not in a small proof-of-concept study. A phase 3 trial of the test is currently under way.

Interventional/Surgery

Weekend admission delays major cardiac procedures

Mar 5, 2010 12:30 EST

New figures from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality show that patients admitted to US hospitals on weekends tend to experience significant delays in receiving major cardiac procedures.

Thrombosis

Apixaban better than European enoxaparin regimen for preventing VTE

Mar 4, 2010 18:30 EST

The investigational anticoagulant apixaban is more effective than the dose of enoxaparin commonly used in Europe for preventing venous thromboembolism in those undergoing knee replacement, according to new study results.

Interventional/Surgery

End-systolic volume may hold key to SVR success

Mar 4, 2010 16:00 EST

A single-center trial shows that left-ventricular end-systolic volume index is an independent predictor of survival in patients undergoing surgical ventricular reduction.

Medscape Medical News

Medicare will delay paying claims for two weeks

2 COMMENTS - Mar 1, 2010 12:00 EST

The move by Medicare is intended to blunt the effect of the 21.2% pay cut. If a fix is passed, CMS carriers will pay March claims that had been put on hold, at the current rate.

Medscape Medical News

Medicare pay cut of 21.2% to take effect Monday

6 COMMENTS - Feb 26, 2010 16:30 EST

Senate Democrats will not introduce legislation creating a new effective date for the reduction until next week, according to a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Medscape Medical News

CREST: Stenting and endarterectomy show similar net safety and efficacy for carotid stenosis

4 COMMENTS - Feb 26, 2010 13:15 EST

UPDATED // Results suggest some advantage for stenting in younger patients and for surgery in older patients.

Acute Coronary Syndromes

Remote ischemic conditioning increases myocardial salvage during acute MI

1 COMMENT - Feb 26, 2010 11:45 EST

Remote conditioning, which takes place in the ambulance during transfer to primary PCI, reduces perfusion injury and is an inexpensive and noninvasive adjunct to improve outcomes in patients with an evolving MI, say researchers.

Medscape Medical News

ICSS: Continued higher event rates with stenting vs surgery for symptomatic carotid stenosis

Feb 26, 2010 10:15 EST

On the eve of presentation of the long-awaited CREST, 120-day results of the International Carotid Stenting Study show that, at least for now, endarterectomy should remain the treatment of choice.

Educational partnerships

What happened at ACC 2009? View the different perspectives:

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Editorial Programs

Editorial series

Informed consent, clinical research, and patient care

Mar 11, 2010 14:20 EST

Does informed consent protect patients or shield researchers? Join the debate with Dr Bob Harrington and his guests Drs Deepak Bhatt and Harvey White.

Editorial series

Women in cardiology: Is gender an issue?

2 COMMENTS - Mar 4, 2010 10:15 EST

Do gender perceptions affect the way female physicians are treated in cardiology? Drs Melissa Walton-Shirley, Judith Hochman, Suzanne Oparil, and Lynne Warner Stevenson tackle this important question.

Editorial series

Public smoking bans and cardiovascular health

15 COMMENTS - Feb 25, 2010 15:25 EST

Studies suggest public smoking bans reduce the incidence of acute MI. So why is America not smoke-free? Dr Melissa Walton-Shirley discusses this important issue with the AHA's Nancy Brown and Dr Clyde Yancy.