Category Archives: Stent

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

October 17, 2013 · 7:44 pm

Angioplasty, Stents or Fibrinolytic Therapy for Heart Attacks?

Dotter Logo

Dr. Charles Dotter’s “logo”: angioplasty is plumbing

How does a physician treat a heart attack where the blood flow to the heart muscle is suddenly cut off by a blocked artery? In the most severe cases, the ST segments on the ECG are elevated, signalling that a major part of the heart muscle is at risk. It’s called a STEMI (ST-Elevated Myocardial Infarction). And, if you subscribe to the concept that the heart and circulation are like the plumbing in your house, like Dr. Charles Dotter did (he invented the concept of angioplasty and, in his offbeat humorous way, he used the graphic to the left as his logo), then you would assume there are two major ways to treat the problem: use Drano to dissolve the blockage or use a mechanical roto-rooter to clear it out. Continue reading →

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Filed under Clinical Trials / Studies, Heart Attack, Stent

October 14, 2013 · 7:35 pm

R.I.P. Angioplasty 1977-2013 – Really?

Nortin M. Hadler, MD, MACP, MACR, FACOEM

Nortin M. Hadler, MD, MACP, MACR, FACOEM

I’m in shock. Dr. Nortin Hadler of the University of North Carolina has proclaimed that the era of coronary angioplasty is over.

Poor, poor angioplasty…you were barely 36 years old, but you’re no longer needed. Guess we’re going to have to find a new name for our web site!

Of course, my first thought upon seeing this Op-Ed piece posted today on The Health Care Blog was that it was yet another article railing against the overuse of stents in patients with stable angina. Continue reading →

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Filed under ACC, Clinical Trials / Studies, Heart Attack, Media Coverage, Meetings & Conferences, Stent

August 6, 2013 · 2:13 pm

George W. Bush Gets Angioplasty and Stent – Was It Necessary?

George W BushFormer President George W. Bush received an angioplasty and stent this morning at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. The stent was recommended by Bush’s doctors to open a blockage in one of his coronary arteries, found yesterday during what was described by Bush spokesman Freddy Ford as his annual physical exam at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas. Continue reading →

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Filed under Angiograms, Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC), Cardiac CT, Celebrity Patients, COURAGE, Drug-Eluting Stents, FFR, Imaging, Media Coverage, Non-Invasive Testing, Optimal Medical Therapy, Stent

July 3, 2013 · 3:45 pm

Stent Wars, the Prequel: PROMUS Element “Beats” Xience

Jar Jar Binks and StentSorry Jar-Jar. We all know that Episodes 1-3 of “Star Wars” just didn’t cut it when compared with the original trilogy. Although these prequels were technically more sophisticated, and the digital rendering was way more advanced, the stories were just…boring.

I started the wordplay about “Stent Wars” over a decade ago, a time when the competitive juices of the two device-makers, Boston Scientific and J&J/Cordis, were at an all time peak — each company was heavily marketing their first generation drug-eluting stent and every interventional cardiology meeting was saturated with “Cypher vs. Taxus” messaging. Continue reading →

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Filed under Drug-Eluting Stents, Stent, Stent Wars

June 30, 2013 · 1:43 pm

Past, Present & Future of Transradial Angioplasty with Dr. Ferdinand Kiemeneij

Dr. Ferdinand KiemeneijOn 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 →

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Filed under Cost Effectiveness, Global Trends, History, Innovators, Interviews, Japan, Patient Experience, Stent, Transradial Approach

June 23, 2013 · 2:28 pm

Meta-Analysis Shows Benefit of Drug-Eluting Stents vs BMS Below the Knee

Frank J. Criado, MD

Frank J. Criado, MD

Guest Post by Frank J. Criado, MD, FACS, FSVM, editor in chief of Vascular Disease Management.

(Editor’s note: this article is the first in a series of guest posts, a new collaboration between Angioplasty.Org and Vascular Disease Management.)

In the introductory remarks of “Meta-Analysis of Outcomes of Endovascular Treatment of Infrapopliteal Occlusive Disease With Drug-Eluting Stents,” lead author George A. Antoniou and his colleagues, from the Manchester Royal Infirmary in the UK, state that:

“Emerging evidence suggests that the combination of stenting and targeted delivery of drugs with antiproliferative properties, aiming to inhibit smooth muscle cell proliferation and intimal hyperplasia, improves the outcomes of endoluminal treatments of distal vessel disease. A small number of series have demonstrated satisfactory performance of drug-eluting stents, as expressed by increased patency and freedom from revascularisation to maintain good clinical results. Controversy exists, however, with regard to the superiority of drug-eluting stents over bare metal stents in terms of the clinical benefit in critical limb ischaemia patients.” Continue reading →

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Filed under Bare Metal Stents, Drug-Eluting Stents, Guest Post, Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), Stent