March 31, 2008 — When a clot develops inside a coronary stent, it can block blood flow to the heart, potentially causing a heart attack or even death. A single incident of stent thrombosis is bad enough, but a new study suggests that one in six patients can expect to experience at least one repeat episode. According to the Dutch Stent Thrombosis Study, among the strongest predictors of recurrent stent thrombosis is implantation of an additional stent during emergency treatment of the first episode.

March 31, 2008 - Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) can be performed safely and successfully in medical centers without on-site cardiac surgical back-up, provided programs are well-organized, highly skilled and committed to quality.

March 31, 2008 – Toshiba featured its AquilionONE at ACC 2008, an advanced diagnostic imaging system that can image an entire organ in a single rotation or over multiple rotations, showing real-time dynamic movement. With this system, it is possible to image an entire organ in a single rotation, for the first time, ensuring greater accuracy and diagnostic confidence and covering up to 16 centimeters of anatomy using 320 ultra high resolution 0.5-millimeter detector elements.

March 31, 2008 – Toshiba brought to ACC its Advanced Image Processing (AIP) technology for its Infinix X-ray product line, created to help users better visualize even the smallest interventional devices, featuring a programmable image display that reportedly gives clinicians the ability to optimize image viewing based on clinical preferences.

March 31, 2008 - Although drug-eluting stents have become widely used for the treatment of stable coronary artery disease, many cardiologists choose bare-metal stents for patients with heart attack, or myocardial infarction (MI), citing conflicting data about the safety and effectiveness of drug-eluting stents in this patient group. Such concerns are being challenged by an analysis of a large Massachusetts database.

March 31, 2008 - New evidence from a large randomized study is answering important questions about the best approach to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with a type of heart attack known as ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). In the study, drug-eluting stents outperformed bare-metal stents, and high-dose tirofiban, an anti-clotting medication, proved to be equally effective and have fewer side effects than the catheter lab standard, abciximab.

Largest-ever study re-evaluates this important question with today’s technology

March 31, 2008 - Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)—which uses a combination of catheter-mounted balloons and stents to open a completely blocked coronary artery and restore blood flow to the heart—is the best treatment for heart attack when performed rapidly. However, few hospitals can meet the 90-minute treatment goal unless they have a cardiac catheterization laboratory on site.

March 31, 2008 - Over the years, interventional cardiologists have made many improvements in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for patients with heart attack, among the most important, refinements in the selection and administration of drugs that prevent unwanted blood clotting.

March 31, 2008 - Use of a special catheter that sucks out, or aspirates, bits of plaque and blood clot that break loose during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) significantly enhances blood flow deep in the heart muscle in patients who are experiencing a heart attack, according to a recently published study.

March 31, 2008 - A device that catches bits of plaque and blood clot that break loose during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has failed to show that it can reduce rates of major cardiovascular complications in patients with acute coronary syndromes, a condition that encompasses unstable angina and a type of heart attack known as non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI).

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