Is this stent necessary? Is this angioplasty inappropriate? Is this cardiologist uncertain if the procedure will help? Ever since the Appropriate Use Criteria for Coronary Revascularization were published, the three category labels of “appropriate,” “uncertain,” and “inappropriate” have confused the profession, press and population at large. The issue of definitions had still not been addressed in the most recent update of the AUC.
So (drumroll, please) yesterday, new categories were approved by the ACC Appropriateness Use Criteria Working Group. The new terminology will be “Appropriate,” “May Be Appropriate”(which replaces “Uncertain”), and “Rarely Appropriate” (which replaces “Inappropriate”). Continue reading
The European cardiologists don’t understand all the fuss in the U.S. about wrist vs. groin, radial vs. femoral. They use the wrist artery for angioplasty, stents and catheter access at least half the time (many 80-90% of the time) and they can’t understand why, in the United States, it’s only used in 5% of cases.
I had a chance to talk with Alan C. Yeung, MD, FACC of Stanford about the RESOLUTE US study just presented at the 60th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology (ACC). He was one of the principal investigators of this study, which was just sent to the FDA as the final component of Medtronic’s approval submission package. The company is hoping for U.S. approval in the first half of 2012. 
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