Monthly Archives: January 2014

January 31, 2014 · 9:32 pm

Ask George W. Bush a Question About His Stent…or Anything Else

Ask Bush a QuestionWant to ask George W. Bush a question about his stent…or anything else? Click here!

Six months ago, former President Bush received an angioplasty and stent. The stent was recommended by Bush’s doctors to open a blockage in one of his coronary arteries, found during his annual physical exam. EKG changes were seen on his stress test, a CT angiogram was performed and a blockage seen. He was rushed off to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas where Dr. Tony Das performed a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI, a.k.a. angioplasty). A single stent was inserted in the newly opened vessel. Continue reading →

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Filed under Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC), Celebrity Patients, Media Coverage, Meetings & Conferences, Stent

January 16, 2014 · 12:00 am

50 Years Ago Today Charles Dotter Invented Angioplasty

Charles Dotter. MD

Charles Dotter. MD

It was 50 years ago today 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 suffering from great pain in her left foot because of blocked circulation in her leg. Her toes had become gangrenous and there was an non-healing ulcer. Amputation was recommended by the physicians at Oregon Health Sciences University, but the woman refused.

Luckily, the surgeon in charge of the case knew of Dr. Dotter’s interest in the possibility of using a catheter to open a blocked artery. Continue reading →

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Filed under Angiograms, History, Imaging, Innovators, Video

January 13, 2014 · 6:40 pm

Another Viewpoint on Renal Denervation and SYMPLICITY HTN-3 from Dr. Darrel Francis

Symplicity Renal Denervation System

Symplicity Renal Denervation System

Is the failure of the SYMPLICITY HTN-3 trial to meet its efficacy endpoint the “end of the road” for renal denervation? Will renal denervation now land on the heap of failed technologies? I don’t think so, and Dr. Darrel Francis, the cardiologist who famously predicted that SYMPLICITY HTN-3 would not meet its endpoint, agrees.

In fact Dr. Francis told Angioplasty.Org that it would be a “grave error” if the FDA withheld renal denervation from the American people, based on this news!

OK. Do I have your attention? Continue reading →

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Filed under ACC, Global Trends, High Blood Pressure, Media Coverage