HIMMS is working to bring empirical knowledge and evidence of value and impact of digital maturity measured by the HIMSS maturity models and the Digital Health Indicator (DHI), which is a blueprint for digital health advancement. The maturity models provide prescriptive frameworks to healthcare organizations to help build their digital health ecosystems. DAIC spoke with Anne Snowdon, RN, PhD, FAAN, professor of strategy entrepreneurship, Odette Business School, University of Windsor, CEO of SCAN Health and Chief Scientific Research Officer, HIMSS Analytics, to find out more about these models, and what the latest scientific research is telling us.

Dr. Anne Snowdon is a Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the Odette School of Business, University of Windsor.  Currently, Dr. Snowdon is the Chief Scientific Research Officer for HIMSS, Vice Chair of the Board of the Directors for Alberta Innovates, and member of the Health Futures Council of Arizona State University (ASU).  She is an Adjunct Faculty at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Windsor, the School of Nursing at Dalhousie University and the Centre for Innovative Medical Technology (CIMT), at the University of Southern Denmark.  Dr. Snowdon is leading a national Community of Practice to advance supply chain resilience across Canada, she has published more than 150 research articles, papers and cases, has received over $24 million in research funding, holds patents and has commercialized a highly successful booster seat product for children traveling in vehicles and is a Fulbright Scholar. She holds a PhD in Nursing from the University of Michigan, an MSc from McGill University, and BScN from Western University.  

Find more HIMSS23 coverage here

VIDEO: Moving Digital Transformation Forward in Healthcare

VIDEO: Key Components to Creating and Implementing AI and Digital Transformation Solutions

VIDEO: The Benefits and Pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

VIDEO: A Look at Cybersecurity and How Healthcare is at Risk

Related Digital Transformation Content:

Robocath Launches New Robotic Platform R-One+

VIDEO: Using Maturity Models to Measure Digital Health

VIDEO: Moving Digital Transformation Forward in Healthcare

VIDEO: Key Components to Creating and Implementing AI and Digital Transformation Solutions

VIDEO: The Benefits and Pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

VIDEO: A Look at Cybersecurity and How Healthcare is at Risk

New ACC President Defines Priorities for Year Ahead

Health That Connects + Tech That Cares at HIMSS 2023

ACC22: Transforming Cardiovascular Care

Successfully creating and implementing artificial intelligence (AI) and analytic solutions in general requires a number of key factors, including data quality and a certain level of expertise. DAIC had a conversation with Julius Bogdan, a leading expert in Digital transformation, Data and analytics, and Artificial intelligence and machine learning, to learn more about the key components needed to create and implement AI and digital transformation solutions.

Julius is Vice President and General Manager, Digital Health Advisory Team for the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). In that role, he leads sales, business development, product management, product marketing and advisory services teams across the continent on digital health transformation. He is responsible for the growth of the HIMSS Analytics portfolio adoption, channel strategy, and cultivating relationships across the provider, payer and public sector health landscape. He also serves on the advisory council of various start-ups and early stage firms in finance and healthcare on technology trends, architecture and market analysis.

Find more HIMSS23 content here 

VIDEO: The Benefits and Pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

VIDEO: A Look at Cybersecurity and How Healthcare is at Risk

Related Digital Transformation Content:

Robocath Launches New Robotic Platform R-One+

VIDEO: Using Maturity Models to Measure Digital Health

VIDEO: Moving Digital Transformation Forward in Healthcare

VIDEO: Key Components to Creating and Implementing AI and Digital Transformation Solutions

VIDEO: The Benefits and Pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

VIDEO: A Look at Cybersecurity and How Healthcare is at Risk

New ACC President Defines Priorities for Year Ahead

Health That Connects + Tech That Cares at HIMSS 2023

ACC22: Transforming Cardiovascular Care

This year at HIMSS, the theme is Health That Connects + Tech That Cares, and cybersecurity is indeed a part of this picture. ITN spoke with Lee Kim, who is the Senior Principal, Cybersecurity and Privacy at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), on cybersecurity and how healthcare is at risk. In the video, Lee also discusses the 2022 HIMSS Healthcare Cybersecurity Survey, which reflects the opinions of healthcare cybersecurity professionals. You can more information about the survey results here.

Find more HIMSS23 content here 

2022 HIMSS Healthcare Cybersecurity Survey Report Results Published

VIDEO: Key Components to Creating and Implementing AI and Digital Transformation Solutions

VIDEO: The Benefits and Pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

Related Digital Transformation Content:

Robocath Launches New Robotic Platform R-One+

VIDEO: Using Maturity Models to Measure Digital Health

VIDEO: Moving Digital Transformation Forward in Healthcare

VIDEO: Key Components to Creating and Implementing AI and Digital Transformation Solutions

VIDEO: The Benefits and Pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

VIDEO: A Look at Cybersecurity and How Healthcare is at Risk

New ACC President Defines Priorities for Year Ahead

Health That Connects + Tech That Cares at HIMSS 2023

ACC22: Transforming Cardiovascular Care

At TCT 2022, Jane Leopold, MD, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Director, Women's Interventional Cardiology Health Initiative; and Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School, moderated a late-breaker session on Clinical Science in Structural Heart Disease. Here, she highlights the key results of the clinical trials for DAIC/dicardiology.com.

Related TCT 2022 Coverage:

VIDEO: Precision Cardiovascular Medicine: The Next Frontier in Patient Care and Innovation

VIDEO: 3-Year Follow-up of the SYMPLICITY HTN-3 Trial

VIDEO: Unique Features of Coronary Artery Disease in Women

Cardiovascular Research Foundation’s (CRF) TCT 2022 in Review

Photo Gallery Highlighting TCT 2022

Cardiovascular Research Foundation’s (CRF) TCT 2022 in Review

TCT 2022 Honors Recipient of Thomas J. Linnemeier Young Investigator Award

TCT 2022 Announces Winner of Shark Tank Innovation Award

Educational Leaders Join Forces on Educational Opportunities

Top TCT 2022 Award Recipients announced by Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF)

At TCT 2022, Deepak Bhatt, MD, MPh, Executive Director of Interventional Cardiovascular Programs, Brigham and Women's Hospital, presented a late-breaker session on Long-Term Outcomes Following Catheter-Based Renal Denervation in Patients With Uncontrolled Hypertensions: 3-Year Follow-up of the SYMPLICITY HTN-3 Trial. He spoke with DAIC editors about the outcomes.

Related TCT 2022 Coverage:

VIDEO: Unique Features of Coronary Artery Disease in Women

Cardiovascular Research Foundation’s (CRF) TCT 2022 in Review

Photo Gallery Highlighting TCT 2022

Cardiovascular Research Foundation’s (CRF) TCT 2022 in Review

TCT 2022 Honors Recipient of Thomas J. Linnemeier Young Investigator Award

TCT 2022 Announces Winner of Shark Tank Innovation Award

Educational Leaders Join Forces on Educational Opportunities

Top TCT 2022 Award Recipients announced by Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF)

American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) President Dennis Calnon, M.D., MASNC, FASE, FSCCT, director of cardiac imaging for McConnell Heart Hospital at Riverside Methodist Hospital, and director of nuclear imaging for Ohio Health Heart and Vascular Physicians in Columbus, explains why the society did not endorse the first-ever U.S. or international guideline for the evaluation and diagnosis of patients with acute or stable chest pain.

Nuclear myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) has been a gold-standard for evaluation of coronary disease in patients for years, and it is included in the new guidelines. However, computed tomography angiography (CTA) has seen immense growth over the past decade and gained a prominent position in the guidelines as a front line imaging modality. This is due to nearly all hospital emergency rooms now having access to CT systems capable of performing immediate cardiac exams. CT has been seen mainly as an anatomical imaging test, but it also can be used for myocardial perfusion imaging using iodine contrast. While CT has had limits with its ability to image through heavily calcified vessels or stents, that is changing with new CT technologies now coming into service.

One new CT technology that is prominently included I the new chest pain guidelines is CT fractional flow reserve (FFR-CT) imaging.  This uses a computational fluid dynamics algorithm to analyze a patient's CTA. It sends back a report and an interactive 3D reconstruction of all the coronary vessels that shows a color coded drop in FFR ratios, which is a measure of blood flow. Past a certain threshold, the reduced flow needs to be treated with revascularization. Lower level blockages can be treated with drug therapies. FFR-CT is widely expected in the coming years to become a gate keeper for invasive diagnostic angiograms. The hope is it will eliminate the need for the majority of cath lab angiogram exams and only send patients to the lab that need a stent or angioplasty. 

However, the ASNC had major issues with FFR-CT being included in the chest pain guidelines. Its board members argued there is need for more evidence and there should have been more information contraindications for its use, which was included on other imaging modalities in the guidelines. They also argued access to the technology has been very limited. Calnon explains more detail in the video on why this was a sticking point and caused the ASNC to not endorse the guidelines.

Read more in the article — First International Chest Pain Diagnosis Guidelines Released

Here are two examples of artificial intelligence (AI) driven pulmonary embolism (PE) response team apps featured by vendors Aidoc and Viz.AI at the 2021 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 2021 meeting.

The AI scans computed tomography (CT) image datasets as they came off the imaging system and looked for evidence of PE. If detected by the algorithm, it immediately sends an alert to the stroke care team members via smartphone messaging. This is done before the images are even loaded into the PACS. The radiologist on the team can use a link on the app to open the CT dataset and has basic tools for scrolling, windowing and leveling to determine if there is a PE and the severity. The team can then use the app to send messages, access patient information, imaging and reports. This enabled them all to be on the same page and can communicate quickly via mobile devices, rather than being required to use dedicated workstations in the hospital. 

Both vendors showed similar apps for stroke at RSNA 2019. That idea for rapid alerts, diagnosis and communications for acute care teams has now expanded to PE and also for aortic dissection and abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). AI.Viz and Aidoc are looking at expanding this type of technology for other acute care team rolls, including heart failure response. 

Read more about this technology in the article AI Can Facilitate Automated Activation of Pulmonary Embolism Response Teams.

Find more AI news

Find more RSNA news and video

The vendor Radiaction introduced a new type of scatter radiation protection shielding system that mounts to the angiography system in the cath lab. It was shown for the first time at the 2021 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting.

The system uses a motorized series of tungsten-polymer radiation shield plates that extend down from the detector, and up from the X-ray source, to the patient and bottom of the table. This greatly reduces scatter radiation in the lab, by as much as 92% according to the company's research. 

The shields are deployed using a table-side controller. The shield has sensors to stop extending when it comes close to the patient or the table. The shield can be partly pulled back to enable panning the table. The company said the shield can be mounted on existing angiography C-arms.

It has CE mark and is installed clinically in two cath labs in Israel. The company hopes to submit for U.S. FDA review in 2022.

Related Cath Lab Radiation Dose Reduction Content:

Defining the Cath Lab Workplace Radiation Safety Hazard

VIDEO: Minimizing X-ray Exposure to Physicians During Interventional Procedures With the ControlRad System — Interview with Dr. Simon Dixon

Medical Imaging Radiation Levels in U.S. Dropped Over Past Decade

Philips Developing X-ray Free Cath Lab Imaging to Replace or Supplement Angiography

VIDEO: Reducing Cath Lab Radiation Dose at Henry Ford Hospital

VIDEO: Technologies and Techniques to Reduce Radiation Dose in the Cardiac Cath Lab — Interview with Akshay Khandelwal, M.D.

Dose-Lowering Practices for Cath Lab Angiography

5 Technologies to Reduce Cath Lab Radiation Exposure

VIDEO: Heart Surgeon Shares Effects of Fluoroscopic Radiation Exposure

Helping Interventional Cardiologists Reduce Exposure to Ionizing Radiation

14 Ways to Reduce Radiation Exposure in the Cath Lab

Examples of TrueView and GlassView 3D cardiac ultrasound visualization and artificial intelligence (AI) assisted automated measurements on the Philips Healthcare Epiq CV version 9.0 echo system. The latest version of the system was FDA cleared in October 2021 and shown at the 2021 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) meeting for the first time. The Epiq is an AI-based platform, starting with anatomical intelligence to identify the anatomy being images automatically. The latest version of the system adds additional AI auto measurements and quantification to save time, speed workflow and reduce intra-operator variability. 

The short video shows photo-realistic rendering of the mitral valve and a new feature where the opacity of the tissue can be dialed in our out to show glass-like ghost view of the tissue. This can make it easier to navigate or see anatomical landmarks without rotating or slicing through the image planes in the 3D rendering.

Find more RSNA news and video

Find more cardiac echo technology news
 

Susan Cheng, M.D., MPH, director of the Institute for Research on Healthy Aging in the Department of Cardiology at Cedars-Sinai, moderated the Best Science in Cardiovascular Genetics and Genomics: Building Blocks to Better Outcomes, at the American Heart Association (AHA) 2021 meeting. She is an expert in cardiac genetic testing and said tailoring LDL-lowering drug therapy based on routine genetic tests is coming, but is still a few years off.

Find more AHA 2021 late-breaking studies and video

Dr. Simon Dixon, MBChB, chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Beaumont Hospital Royal Oak, the Dorothy Susan Timmis Endowed Chair of Cardiology, and a professor of medicine at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, spoke at the 2021 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting about a study Beaumont performed to lower radiation dose in the cath lab by more than 50%.

Using a new angiographic collimation technology from ControlRad, it helped cut radiation dose to interventional cardiologists by 57%. The device collimates the area of interest where the physicians are working, and reduces the dose significantly to peripheral areas in the image. This reduces exposure to ionizing X-ray radiation scatter from the imaging system. It is one of two new radiation protection systems used at Beaumont.

The ControlRad device, approved for commercial cath lab use by the FDA in December 2020, is retrofitted to X-ray equipment in the catheterization lab. It creates a type of aperture that collimates the image area being viewed. By using a touch pad attached to the table side rail, the cardiologist controls the aperture to narrow or widen the field of view on the X-ray, which in turn reduces the amount of radiation used to produce the images. It works with gloves on.

For the study, cath lab workers wore radiation-detecting badges near their thyroid and inside their lead apron during procedures. Another badge was placed on a wall inside the lab. The study detected a 55% to 57% decrease in radiation exposure at the thyroid position of the main cardiologist, or lead operator, and a 49% decrease in radiation exposure to the cardiologist assisting, or operator 2. The badge on the wall detected a 38% decrease in radiation exposure, reflecting the dose savings to other cath lab staff further away from the imaging system.

Beaumont is also using the the Protego system, which places a barrier wall between the imaging equipment and the operator and staff in the cath lab. While it does not protect the patient from radiation during their procedure, it is designed to allow staff to work in the cath lab without wearing a heavy lead apron.

Find links to all the TCT 2021 late-breakers

Find more TCT news

Khaldoun Tarakji, M.D., MPH, associate section head, cardiac electrophysiology, Heart and Vascular Institute at Cleveland Clinic, was the lead author on a followup study to the landmark WRAP-IT trial that showed the Tyrx bioresorbable antibacterial envelope was shown it significantly lower infection risk for patients who receive cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED) and develop hematomas.[1] 

The study results showed an 82% reduction in major infection among patients with hematoma in patients who had received the Tyrx. It is a antimicrobial envelope that is used to place implantable electrophysiology (EP) devices inside prior to closing the device pocket. While the envelope itself did not prevent hemotomas, as the rate was the same in the control group with out it, the Tyrx did lower infection rates in patients with hemotomas.

Read more in the article Tyrx Absorbable Antibacterial Envelope Effectively Reduces Infections in Cardiac Device Patients with Hematomas.

Reference:

1. Khaldoun G. Tarakji, Panagiotis Korantzopoulos, Francois Philippon, Jeff D. Lande, Swathi Seshadri, Bruce L. Wilkoff, et al. Infectious consequences of hematoma from cardiac implantable electronic device procedures and the role of the antibiotic envelope: A WRAP-IT Trial Analysis. Heart Rhythm. Punlished online July 16, 2021. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrthm.2021.07.011.

The vendor MediCardia demonstrated smart software to aggregate cardiology patient data from numerous locations into one place at the 2021 Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference. This enables one dashboard view of the patient's relevant cardiac history, prior exams, imaging, ECGs, labs and procedures. It also uses artificial intelligence (AI) to pull key data elements about the patient to automatically create risk assessments based on current guidelines in a graphical format.

The interactive system also allows the cardiologist to adjust parameters in the patient risk score to immediately show the patient any impact on their score. This includes if they stopped smoking, began taking statins, etc. The dynamic graphics of the system are also designed to be more engaging with a patient during consultations, rather than plain white pages of reports.

MediCardia HeartChart is a cardiology-focused virtual care platform that serves as a unified and common interface for EHRs and remote technologies including wearables, consumer home medical devices, and implanted cardiac rhythm devices. 

Related HIMSS CVIS and PACS Content:

Read about more advances in PACS and enterprise imaging at HIMSS 21.

VIDEO: Example of Epsilon Strain Imaging Deep Integration With Siemens CVIS

Photo Gallery of New Technologies at HIMSS 2021

VIDEO: Importance of Body Part Labeling in Enterprise Imaging — Interview with Alex Towbin, M.D.

VIDEO: Coordinating Followup for Radiology Incidental Findings — Interview with David Danhauer, M.D.

Jass Brooks, vice president of global strategic marketing, Biosense Webster, explains four over-arching electrophysiology (EP) trends at the 2021 Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) meeting. The vendor is working on developing, or has introduced, new technologies in each of these four areas.  She said the key technology trends include:

   • Pulsed field ablation (also called electroporation) as a new way to ablate cardiac tissue without damaging underlying structures like the esophagus. 

   • The introduction of 3D/4D intra-cardiac echo (ICE) imaging to better guide procedures.

   • High-density electromapping systems that create more accurate maps of the electrical activity in the heart and can do so faster than previous generation mapping systems.

   • The introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) into EP systems to speed workflow.

Key among this company's new product introductions at HRS 2021 was the Octaray high-density electro-mapping catheter, which enables faster mapping with a larger number of points. This enables more detailed maps of the heart's electrical activity and may imporve ablation procedure guidance and outcomes. Recent changes to the Carto electro-mapping system now enables integration of this new technology.

Biosense Webster also introduced the Nuvision 4-D intra-cardiac echo (ICE) ultrasound catheter with imaging support from GE Healthcare Vivid Ultra Edition ultrasound systems. This moved ICE beyond 2-D imaging to real-time 3-D and 4-D imaging inside the heart to enable better procedural navigation and visualization of the catheters within in the heart.

Find additional HRS 2021 late breaking trials

Find more EP device news

Find more HRS 2021 conference news

Federico Asch, M.D., FASE, director of cardiovascular core labs, cardiovascular imaging, MedStar Health Research Institute, Washington, D.C., was involved in a study that used artificial intelligence (AI) to evaluate echocardiograms to identify COVID-19 patients who were at high risk for complications and mortality. The study also compared human vs. AI variability in reading the stories and found much less variability with the machine reviews. He presented the results from the WASE-COVID Study at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) 2021 meetings. 

Asch also offers insights about AI applications in echocardiography and how the technology will help improve imaging and reduce the variability in how measurements are made, which will decrease the current level of variability in how exams are performed by human operators. He also explains AI is now available to help guide novice ultrasound users to get optimal cardiac ultrasound images.

Find more content on artificial intelligence in cardiology

Find more cardiology related COVID-19 content

Find more news from ASE

Ehtisham Mahmud, M.D., division chief of cardiovascular medicine, director of interventional cardiology and the cardiac cath lab at the University of California at San Diego Health, explains how cath lab robotic systems may soon enable interventionalists to perform emergency stroke thrombectomy in patients hundreds of miles away. Corindus/Siemens Healthineers is developing its Corpath GRX robotic system to enable remote telemedicine procedures. Mahmud said this could help significantly improve access to acute stroke care interventions in rural areas. 

Today, the standard of care for stroke is similar to STEMI heart attacks from 40 years ago where tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is administered in attempts to break up the clot causing ischemic strokes. Outcomes in STEMI greatly improved in the late 1980s and 1990s with the proliferation of angioplasty and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) stenting procedures, which became the standard of care in cardiology. Mahmud said acute stroke interventions are following a similar path, but there just are not enough neuro-interventional operators to create large networks for stroke similar to what is now established for STEMI.

He said the Corpath robotic interventions are already conducted remotely from across the room in the cath lab. The idea is that it does not matter if a patient is 10 feet away in the same room or 200 miles away at a smaller hospital to conduct these procedures. This could go a long way to overcoming vast healthcare disparities in smaller, rural hospitals that are far removed from larger centers that are better equipped, and more importantly, have the specialities needed for these procedures.

Once this technology is cleared for use, Mahmud said cardiologists already have the technical skills to perform emergency thrombectomies, but need to learn more about the neuro-vascular bed and how to deal with any adverse events during or after a procedure. He said this lays the ground for creating neuro-cardiology partnerships or care teams to enable this type of care in the near future. 

Related Robots in the Cath Lab Content:

VIDEO: Robotic PCI Performed Well in Real-World Population in the PRECISION GRX Study — Ehtisham Mahmud, M.D.

Second Generation Robotic PCI System Performs Well Across Spectrum of Lesion Complexity

VIDEO: Standardizing PCI Through Smart Robotic Procedural Automation

Corindus Launches technIQ 1 Smart Procedural Automation Series for CorPath GRX Cath lab Robotic System

FDA Clears Corindus CorPath GRX for Peripheral Vascular Interventions

VIDEO: Corindus CorPath Robotic PCI System For The Cardiac Cath Lab

Corindus CorPath Used in World's First-in-Human Telerobotic Coronary Intervention

14 Ways to Reduce Radiation Exposure in the Cath Lab

Corindus Seeking Neurovascular Intervention Clearance for CorPath GRX Vascular Robotic System

Innovations Driving the Cath Lab Technology of Tomorrow

Siemens Completes Acquisition of Cath Lab Robotics Vendor Corindus

First Robotic Coronary Angioplasties Performed With Robocath System in Germany

Hoag Performs First Robotic Carotid Artery Stenting on West Coast
 

Find more news from the SCAI 2021 virtual meeting

Tom Jones, M.D., director, cardiac catheterization laboratories, Seattle Children’s Hospital, and principle investigator of the Medtronic Harmony transcatheter pulmonary valve (TPV) trial 1-year results that were presented as a late breaking trial at  Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2021 Scientific Sessions.

New study results validate the effectiveness of the Harmony TPV system for patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) and severe pulmonary regurgitation (PR). The Harmony TPV is designed to be a less invasive treatment option for patients with a congenital heart defect irregularity in their right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) that requires a pulmonary valve placement to restore valve function. 

Read more details in th article One-year Results of the Harmony Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Trial Presented at SCAI 2021. 
 

Related Pulmonary Valve Content:

FDA Clears First Device to Treat Right Ventricular Outflow Tract Congenital Heart Disease 

FDA Clears Sapien for Pulmonary Valve

Medtronic Harmony Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Demonstrates Positive Early Clinical Outcomes at One Year

Medtronic Shares Two-Year Harmony Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Results

FDA Expands Indication for Melody Transcatheter Valve for Failed Surgical Valves

Find more congenital heart disease (CHD) content

Payam Dehghani, M.D.,  FRCPC, FACC, FSCAI, co-director of Prairie Vascular Research and associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan, explains the findings of the North American COVID-19 Myocardial Infarction (NACMI) Registry. He presented this late-breaking study data at the at the Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2021 meeting.

The study found one third of patients will die who have COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) and suffer a ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI), which is alarming high as compared to four-in-100 patients using a pre-pandemic control group.

 The prospective, ongoing observational registry was created under the guidance of the SCAI, Canadian Association of Interventional Cardiology (CAIC) and American College of Cardiology (ACC). The initial results of the registry were published in the Journal for American College of Cardiology (JACC) on April 27, 2021.

Important key findings from the registry data include:
   • Minorities were disproportionally affected: 55 percent of the STEMI patients had minority ethnicity, which was about evenly divided between Hispanics and blacks.
   • In-hospital mortality was high: 33 percent (4 percent for controls without COVID).
   • Symptoms were unique: majority (54 percent) presented with respiratory symptoms (shortness of breath) rather than chest pain.
   • Significant proportion of COVID-positive patients presented with high-risk STEMI: cardiogenic shock (18 percent) and cardiac arrest (11 percent), which may explain the high fatality rate.
   • Primary angioplasty remained the dominant revascularization modality during the pandemic with small treatment delays (at about 15 minutes). 
   • Diabetics are known to have some of the worst outcomes if they contract COVID, and this was reflected in the study, with 45 percent of patients having diabetes. 

Read more in the artice Third of COVID Patients With STEMI Heart Attacks Die.

Find more COVID-19 news and video

SCAI 2021 Late-breaking Clinical Study Results

Find more news from the SCAI 2021 virtual meeting

Ashwin Nathan M.D., a cardiology fellow at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, presented a late-breaking study on the socioeconomic and geographic access to transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) programs at the Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2021 Scientific Sessions.

The findings reveal inequitable access to TAVR programs for non-metropolitan or lower income areas across the country. Between 2012 and 2018, 554 hospitals developed new TAVR programs including 543 (98%) in metropolitan areas, and 293 (52.9%) in metropolitan areas with pre-existing TAVR programs. Compared with hospitals that did not start TAVR programs, hospitals that did start TAVR programs treated patients with higher median household incomes (difference $1,305, 95% CI $134 to $12,477, p=0.03). Furthermore, TAVR rates per 100,000 Medicare beneficiaries were higher in areas with higher median income, despite adjusting for age and clinical comorbidities.

The authors also acknowledge that increasing access to TAVR and structural heart programs will require foresight into how clinical trials and approval for procedures and technologies at hospitals are distributed.

Read more about this study

Find more news from the SCAI 2021 virtual meeting

Cindy Grines, M.D., MSCAI, FACC, president of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), and chief scientific officer of the Northside Cardiovascular Institute in Atlanta, explains a survey showing patients fear catching COVID-19 more than heart attacks. The SCAI survey found this fear is now seen as playing a role in preventing people from going to the hospital if they do have a heart attack or stroke, or even seeing their doctors for checkups or for cardiac complaints they might be having. This is leading to an increase in patients showing up very late after the onset of heart attacks, leading to serious cardiac damage and worse outcomes.  This was a concern early on in the U.S. spread of the virus, but this recent survey shows patients attitudes and fears have not improved much since last spring.
 

SCAI Study Shows COVID Fears Continue to Cause Americans to Avoid Doctor Visits

VIDEO: Where Have all the STEMI Cases Gone Amid COVID-19? — Interview with Thomas Maddox, M.D.

Rapid Drop in Heart Attacks and Stroke at Hospitals Concerns ACC 

Find more cardiology related COVID content