September 10, 2012 — Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common complication of cardiac surgery, occurring in 10 to 40 percent of patients. Recent studies show it to be associated with poorer health following surgery and poorer long-term survival. Furthermore, development of AF after cardiac surgery leads to average additional healthcare costs of $15,000 to $20,000.

September 7, 2012 — The American Medical Association (AMA) recently sent letters to Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland and Rep. Pete Olson of Texas supporting passage of the Diagnostic Imaging Services Access Protection Act (H.R. 3269/S. 2347).


There has been much debate whether computer-aided detection software for computed tomography (CT) scanners to detect coronary blockages is really a worthwhile expense. There has long been apprehension by experienced cardiologists and radiologists who can easily read coronary CT angiography (CCTA) scans for plaque burden. However, the technology may have a niche application for immediate STAT reads of chest pain patients during off-hours, especially at rural medical centers.

 

September 7, 2012 — St. Jude Medical Inc. announced results of the FAME II trial demonstrating that patients with fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided stenting plus the best available medical therapy (MT) had superior outcomes to those treated with MT alone.

September 6, 2012 — Drug-eluting stents (DES) are used less often in women treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for coronary artery disease (CAD) than men treated with PCI for the same condition, according to research presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2012. The findings from a countrywide Germany registry were presented by Dr. Martin Russ.

September 6, 2012 — Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. and Eli Lilly and Co. announced data from the TRILOGY ACS study, a phase III trial comparing prasugrel plus aspirin to clopidogrel plus aspirin in patients with unstable angina (UA) or non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), who were managed medically without an artery-opening procedure.


Medtronic has reached two clinical program milestones for its CoreValve system in the United States. It completed enrollment in its study of high-risk patients in its CoreValve U.S. Pivotal Trial, which concludes the total trial enrollment of more than 1,500 patients with severe aortic stenosis who are at high- or extreme-risk for aortic valve surgery. Medtronic continues to enroll extreme-risk patients in the trial as part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continued access policy and is seeking approval to continue enrolling high-risk patients under this policy.

September 4, 2012 — Philips Heathcare announced that mVisum Inc.’s STEMI Alert smartphone app is now available to work in conjunction with Philips TraceMasterVue and IntelliSpace electrocardiogram (ECG) management systems.

The great Japanese earthquake and consequent tsunami of March 11, 2011, which hit the northeast coast of Japan with a magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter scale, was one of the largest ocean-trench earthquakes ever recorded in Japan. In addition to claiming the lives of almost 16,000 and destroying nearly 400,000 homes, the disaster resulted in a sharp increase in the number of CV events.

Like an eyewitness to a freight train bearing down on a rocket fuel truck at a railroad crossing, I couldn’t avoid watching the ensuing carnage after two individuals who underwent positron emission tomography (PET) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) with CardioGen-82 (Rubidium Rb 82 Generator) triggered airport radiation sensors in May 2011. Hung up on the tracks… Bracco Diagnostics, healthcare providers and their patients. Inbound at 60 miles-per-hour and weighing in at 15,000 tons… the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  

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