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April 26, 2011 -- 4:50pm EDT

Wrist Angioplasty in Indiana
Dr. Jack Hall, Program Director at St. Vincent's Heart Center in Indianapolis, Indiana will be heading a faculty of transradial experts on Saturday. The "Indianapolis Transradial Summit" has been organized to train and inform cardiologists, cath lab techs and hospital administrators on the benefits for both patient outcomes and comfort, as well as potential cost-savings that are afforded by the use of the wrist as the catheter-access site of choice, when peforming angioplasty, angiography and stent placement.

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In my exclusive interview with Dr. Hall, he details how the transradial approach, currently utilized in only 5% of cases in the U.S., might be an answer to containing costs, or at least making procedures more cost-efficient -- mainly by reducing access-site bleeding complications. One such complication can end up costing the healthcare system a significant amount of money, not to mention, of course, the insult to the patient. How many patients go for a simple diagnostic catheterization, find out they have no coronary artery disease, but wind up with a femoral access site complication that ranges from merely inconvenient to very serious over the long term?

Just read over the comments from Angioplasty.Org's Patient Forum Topics of "Complications After Femoral Angiogram or Angioplasty" -- all 700-plus of them.

The Transradial Summit is a one day course, and it's happening this Saturday. You can register online.

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