At this week’s annual European Society of Cardiology Congress in Rome, an important randomized clinical trial on stents was presented by Professor Kaare H. Bønaa, MD, PhD of the Clinic for Heart Disease, St. Olav’s University Hospital in Trondheim, Norway. Called NORSTENT, short for the “Norwegian Coronary Stent Trial,” this was the largest stent trial ever conducted, with 9,013 patients followed for six years. That’s serious! Continue reading
Category Archives: Patient Experience
AimRADIAL Masterclass V + FFR Workshop in Budapest
On September 22-23, 2016, the 5th Advanced International Masterclass on the Transradial Approach will be held in Budapest, Hungary. And this year, AimRADIAL will be preceded on September 21 by a one-day comprehensive workshop covering all aspects of Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) from the basic principles and set-up in the cath lab, to the differences between FFR, iFR, and CFR, a comprehensive review of the clinical study data so far, and finally a look at future modalities, like FFR-CT (although the title of that talk by Dr. Nick Curzen is “FFR-CT: the future is now“). Continue reading
InterZENtion: Transradial PCI as an Art
Transradial Coronary Interzentions by Dr. Ferdinand Kiemeneij
Transradial is one of the big buzzwords in interventional cardiology these days. In the United States practitioners recently have been discovering its advantages and have been learning how to perform it successfully. Utilization of transradial in the U.S. has jumped from 2% to almost 25% in less than a decade. In Europe, Japan, India, and China, transradial has been used for years and in most of those regions adoption runs from 50-90% of all catheter-based procedures. In Japan, and now in Europe, a specialized group of physicians has been pushing the limit of what can be done via the wrist artery, using “slender” procedures and equipment, with systems using 3, 4 and 5F sized catheters.
But the heart (pun intended) of this revolution in catheter-based access goes back over two decades to the pioneering work done by Dr. Ferdinand Kiemeneij, rightly dubbed “the father of transradial intervention.” You can read my interview with Dr. Kiemeneij here, but more importantly, you can and should and must read his brand-new hot-off-the-press book, “Transradial Coronary Interzentions,” available on Amazon. Continue reading
Filed under Europe, France, Global Trends, Innovators, Japan, Medical Education, Patient Experience, Patients, Transradial Approach
AimRADIAL Masterclass Comes to Chicago
On October 23-25, 2014 the 3rd Advanced International Masterclass on the Transradial Approach will be held in Chicago and, if you already perform or want to start using the wrist approach to diagnostic or interventional procedures, you need to attend. Where else will you be able to spend two-and-a-half days with the most expert and experienced radial practitioners in the world?
I went to the very successful AimRADIAL course in New York City last fall and witnessed something I hadn’t really seen since the early days of angioplasty: a relatively small meeting (i.e. less than 300) attended by the pioneers of the procedure, cardiologists who have the largest experience in the radial approach, talking among themselves and trading their latest findings and techniques with each other, and sharing this information with the newer generation of physicians in attendance.It felt like an actual community! Continue reading
Past, Present & Future of Transradial Angioplasty with Dr. Ferdinand Kiemeneij
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of transradial intervention (TRI), I talked with Dr. Ferdinand Kiemeneij, “the father of transradial intervention” who practices interventional cardiology at Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis (OLVG), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
We covered a wide range of topics regarding TRI, where angioplasty and stents are placed via the wrist, and we’ve just posted the two-part interview on Angioplasty.Org. Continue reading
Become Part of the Transradial Angioplasty Surge
Growth of radial access in U.S. since 2007, estimated to be 20% by end of 2013 (click for larger image)
This graphic shows the adoption curve for the transradial wrist approach to percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) in the United States from 2007-2012. From 1.2% to 16.1% in just five years. And we estimate that by the end of 2013, TRI will account for 20% of all PCIs. That’s one in five. Pretty impressive. When was the last time a medical procedure that is less expensive, more comfortable for patients and has fewer complications, grew this quickly?
You can read more in our article, “Wrist Angioplasty Sees Unprecedented Growth in U.S.,” which reports on an important study which was published in this week’s Circulation.
Or you can do something about it and become part of this revolution by getting into the training loop. Continue reading
Oldest Stent Patient is Also Oldest Transradial Patient
Dr. Purshotam Lal and his 104-yr-old patient, Hari Singh
Pretty amazing! Last week a 104-year-old man from Noida, India became reportedly the oldest patient ever to receive an angioplasty and stent. As reported in the Hindustan Times, Hari Singh was admitted to Metro Hospital and Heart Institute on May 16 with chest pain. Angiography showed two 100% totally occluded arteries and a 90% blockage near the origin of his Left Anterior Descending (LAD) artery.
Dr. Purshotam Lal, MD, FACC, FSCAI, who is the Director of Interventional Cardiology and Chairman, Metro Group of Hospitals, knew that his patient would probably only survive for a very short time if he did nothing. So he performed an angioplasty and stent implantation on Mr. Singh…and he went in through the left wrist, the transradial approach, to reduce discomfort to his patient and minimize the possibility of bleeding and vascular complications. Continue reading
Filed under Global Trends, Patient Experience, Patients, Stent, Transradial Approach, Video
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