May 10, 2011 – In a “real-world” test of treatments for an overly thickened heart muscle, the use of alcohol injections to shrink the unwanted tissue appears to be significantly safer and less expensive than open-heart surgery to cut it away, according to a study presented today at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2011 Scientific Sessions.

May 9, 2011 — John Webb, M.D., FSCAI, has traveled the globe teaching fellow physicians how to repair or replace faulty heart valves using minimally invasive techniques. In a keynote Founders’ Lecture delivered at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2011 Scientific Sessions last week, he recount the challenges that arose in developing valve therapies that avoid open-chest surgery. Instead, interventional cardiologists use slender tubes, or catheters, that are threaded into the heart through blood vessels.

May 4, 2011 -- Two new clinical studies will use the Carillon Mitral Contour System, an investigational device for percutaneous treatment of functional mitral regurgitation (FMR).

May 6, 2011 — In the case of angioplasty and stenting, readmission rates due to procedural complications are less than 1 percent, according to a study presented at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2011 Scientific Sessions.

May 6, 2011 – New data presented at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) Scientific Sessions are the first to look at the use of highly specialized signals within implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) to detect restricted blood flow to the heart in high-risk cardiovascular disease patients outside the hospital setting. Preliminary results from the ST-DETECT Trial using high-fidelity intracardiac electrogram (EGM) signals in ICDs show a low spontaneous coronary event rate (such as heart attack) among these patients.

May 6, 2011 – A substance secreted by the heart that is associated with congestive heart failure and renal failure is not predictive of reduction in systolic blood pressure in patients treated with renal artery stenting, according to results from the HERCULES trial. Data was presented as a late-breaking clinical trial at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2011 Scientific Sessions in Baltimore.

May 6, 2011 – African American patients who undergo angioplasty and stenting fare worse over the long run than patients of other races, regardless of socioeconomic status. In fact, the risk of dying within about three years is more than twice as high among African Americans, according to a study presented today at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2011 Scientific Sessions.

May 6, 2011 – Results from an analysis of the ALTITUDE Clinical Science program demonstrated that defibrillator therapy saves lives from lethal arrhythmias without an increase in mortality due to defibrillator shock. Instead, the authors found that increased mortality risk associated with these shocks is not attributed to the defibrillator shock itself, but rather to the underlying medical condition leading to atrial and ventricular arrhythmias.

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