DAIC has worked hard to bring useful technology news and resources to our readers. While we conduct reader surveys and speak to readers at site visits and conferences, one of the clearest views we have of reader interests is based on what they are reading on our website, e-newsletters and digital editions. We have responded to these analytics in what we publish and how we cover new cardiovascular technology. The result has been a big increase in our online readership over the past year. For the first time, DAIC’s website broke 1 million pageviews in November 2016. We wanted to thank our readers for helping us reach this milestone.
See a list of the “Most Popular Cardiology Articles of 2016 From DAIC.”
See the list of “Top Cardiology Videos on DAIC in 2016.”
Two Key Takeaways at TCT 2016
After decompressing from the interventional information overload at the annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference in November, I felt there were two big technology takeaways requiring an in-depth review. These included the EXCEL Trial and the results of three studies that compared bioresorbable polymer metallic drug-eluting stents (DES) to the current standard durable polymer metallic DES.
The EXCEL Trial was the biggest news at TCT.16. It compared the use of the Abbott Xience V DES to coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery in patients with left main disease. The result of this large randomized trial was that both have equal outcomes. You can read the article with more detail at "Stents Have Equal Outcomes to Bypass Surgery in EXCEL Trial."
Durable drug-carrier polymers on DES have been implicated as the cause of late-stent thrombosis, which has led to long-duration use of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT). The introduction of bioresorbable polymers was expected to eliminate late events and the need for long-term DAPT. However, results from three trials of bioresorbable polymer DES showed equal outcomes and no apparent benefit. Read more detail and here Boston Scientific's response to the data in the article "Bioresorbable Polymers on Metallic Stents Show No Superiority to Durable Polymer Stents."
New DAIC Editorial Board Members
DAIC recently added two new Editorial Board members who are experts in cutting-edge interventional and structural heart technologies. The first is Azeem Latib, M.D., an interventional cardiologist at Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele Milano, Milan, Italy. He is a regular speaker at TCT and other conferences. His research interests include new transcatheter heart valve repair and replacement technologies and bioresorbable stents. Read his recent article on the Cardioband annuloplasty device, "Transcatheter Annuloplasty For Repair Versus Replacement in Functional Mitral Regurgitation."
Our second new board member is Torsten Vahl, M.D., director of experimental and translational research and assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, The Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy. He also is a regular speaker at TCT and is involved in bleeding-edge research and trials for new structural heart interventions. Watch a video interview with Vahl at TCT 2016, "Transcatheter Valve Technology Advancements at TCT 2016."
November 17, 2025 
