| Expert Insights &
Feature Articles |
| Valve Wars, Part III: Edwards vs. Medtronic |
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Another volley across the bow in the ongoing heart valve wars has been served up: a U.S. District Court granted Edwards Lifesciences, the manufacturer of the Sapien transcatheter aortic valve, a preliminary injunction that will limit Medtronic's sales of its competing CoreValve system in the United States. |
| FDA Approves Volcano's iFR® Pressure Measurement Modality for Use in Coronary Stent Guidance |
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The FDA has granted approval to Volcano's proprietary coronary pressure measurement modality, iFR (Instant wave-Free Ratio). iFR represents a significant advance in the field of functional measurement (FM), in which the actual flow pressures inside the coronary artery can be measured and the deficit caused by a coronary blockage or lesion can be accurately assessed. |
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| Can Near-Infrared Imaging Predict Heart Attack Risk? |
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What causes a heart attack? Is it a physical narrowing in the coronary artery, a blockage that can be seen on angiography? Or is it more likely the eruption of a lipid-rich plaque, a so-called vulnerable plaque, that may not look significant in percent stenosis during a standard catheterization? To find an answer, MedStar Heart Institute and Infraredx announced enrollment of the first patient in the Lipid-Rich Plaque (LRP) Study, which will involve 100 centers worldwide and have a target enrollment of 9,000 patients. |
| Spring Training: Transradial Style |
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No less than four U.S. training courses in Transradial Angioplasty have just been announced for this Spring (and, yes, Spring is actually going to come after this very long winter). And all of these training opportunities are being offered at no cost. The courses span the length and breadth of the United States. From East to West. |
| The Incredible Shrinking Cardiac Devices |
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The "world's smallest, minimally invasive cardiac pacemaker," Medtronic's Micra™ Transcatheter Pacing System, was implanted last week for the first time in the United States. This implantation comes just two-plus months after its first in-human implantation and just two weeks after its competitor St. Jude Medical announced the "first in U.S." implantation of its own miniaturized device, the Nanostim™ leadless pacemaker. |
| DUTCH PEERS: Resolute Integrity vs. Promus Element 3rd Generation Stents |
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Are 3rd generation drug-eluting stents interchangeable? And what exactly is a "third generation" drug-eluting stent anyway? These were questions addressed by the DUTCH PEERS randomized clinical trial. The results showed that the Resolute Integrity was non-inferior to the Promus Element. There was, however, one parameter in which the two stents were not the same: longitudinal stent deformation. |
| 50 Years Ago, Dr. Charles Dotter Invented Angioplasty |
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It was 50 years ago that Dr. Charles T. Dotter, a radiologist in Portland, Oregon, performed the first angioplasty. But it wasn't in the heart; it was in the leg. An 82-year-old woman was scheduled for amputation of a gangrenous foot, but Dotter had a theory that he could open her blocked leg artery without surgery, with a catheter, and save her foot. He was right.... |
| The Great Angioplasty Non-Debate |
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A prominent physician, Dr. Nortin Hadler, has now posted two op-ed pieces claiming that angioplasty and stents are no better than clot-busters for the treatment of heart attacks. We disagree strongly and state our case, citing the significant clinical data that shows angioplasty to be the "gold standard." |
| Wrist Angioplasty Sees Unprecedented Growth in U.S. |
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In the current issue of Circulation, a landmark analysis of almost 3 million coronary interventions performed in the U.S. from 2007 to 2012 concludes that utilization of the transradial approach, in which balloons and stents are delivered to the heart via the radial artery in the wrist instead of the femoral artery in the groin, has increased 13-fold in the past five years. |
| Drug-Eluting Stents Are Safe |
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Three year results from the largest randomized clinical trial of drug-eluting stents ever conducted, and the only trial sufficiently powered to measure stent thrombosis, show low rates of blood clots occurring inside drug-eluting stents implanted in "real-world" patients. What makes this study important is the very large number of patients: over 8,700 at 196 centers in 36 countries across five continents. |
| New Guidelines for Stable Heart Disease: Emphasis on Patient Involvement, "Holistic" Approach |
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Seven major medical societies have issued the first new guidelines in a decade, detailing the evidence and key issues involved in the diagnosis, risk assessment, treatment and follow up of ischemic heart disease plus a wide variety of additional topics. In this consensus statement, guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) is the cornerstone of treatment for most patients, and patient involvement in that therapy is critical. |
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| Patients Are Talking About... |
- I had radial angiography 2 days ago...it was a fascinating experience and was able to watch part of the procedure. I feel fantastic, have no "heart ache" or any problems with my arm.
- I can't afford my post-stenting meds, where can I find help paying for Plavix or Effient?
- I'm 64. After 4 stents and 2 heart attacks since Dec. 2008, I'm as physically active or more so than ever. I plan to hit 4,000 miles on my bike this year. I've hiked/climbed at 13,000 feet.
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| Patients
Are Reading About... |
Radial Hospital Locator
A list of physicians and hospitals offering the transradial (wrist) approach to angiograms, angioplasty and stent procedures. |
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| Read patient stories and Learn about medications after stenting, symptoms and complications, care giving, taking charge of your health, communicating with your cardiologist and much more in our Patient Center. |
 see
video clip:
" The 1st Angioplasty" |
ANGIOPLASTY
AT 35: 2012
marked the 35th anniversary of coronary angioplasty. In
1977 in Zurich, Switzerland, a young physician named Andreas
Gruentzig inserted a catheter into a patient's
coronary artery and inflated a tiny balloon, successfully
opening a blockage and restoring blood flow to a human
heart. |
| Today over
two million coronary angioplasties are
performed worldwide each year and angioplasty has become the gold standard for emergency heart attack treament. |
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| "Burt Cohen (Senior Editor of Angioplasty.Org) has been documentarian of this field of medicine for 30 years" -- Dr. Stephen Oesterle, SVP Medicine and Technology, Medtronic Corp. |
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