May 25, 2013 · 6:53 pm

Oldest Stent Patient is Also Oldest Transradial Patient

Dr. Purshotam Lal and his 104-yr-old patient, Hari Singh

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 →

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Filed under Global Trends, Patient Experience, Patients, Stent, Transradial Approach, Video

May 15, 2013 · 6:31 pm

Transradial Approach Surging in the U.S.

Radial DiagramInterventional cardiologists…listen up!!

Stent and angioplasty procedures in the United States are now done through the wrist 15-20% of the time. This is a big change!

Angioplasty.Org started its Transradial Center six years ago. At that time maybe 2-3% of procedures in the United States were done via the wrist. Virtually all diagnostic angiograms and PCIs (angioplasty or stent procedures) were being done via the femoral (leg/groin) artery, a technique invented and refined by Dr. Melvin Judkins over a half century ago. Continue reading →

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Filed under Global Trends, Transradial Approach

April 29, 2013 · 10:18 am

Andreas Gruentzig on “Complications”

Andreas Gruentzig MD, inventor of PTCA

Andreas Gruentzig MD, Inventor of PTCA

The Patient Forum on Angioplasty.Org receives over 40,000 page views a month. And patients who post to the Forum are a very select subset: they are usually patients who have experienced some type of complication.

I’ve called it our “Complaint Dept.”, not to demean or belittle it in any way, but to characterize it for our readers. If you read through some of the topics, you would think that angioplasty is fraught with negatives and the risks outweigh the benefits. And you’d be wrong because the number of complications is the numerator; the denominator is all of the procedures done, currently almost 700,000 PCIs annually in the U.S. alone.

So, complications occur in only a small percentage of cases.

Of course, if you or a loved one is one of those complications, you really don’t care about the percentages; you want help and answers. Continue reading →

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Filed under History, Innovators, Interviews, Patients, Video

April 28, 2013 · 6:29 pm

Dr. Ajay Kirtane Named Co-Director of TCT 25

Dr. Ajay J. Kirtane

Dr. Ajay J. Kirtane

The TCT (Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics) annual meeting is, according to its organizers, the world’s largest and most important conference in interventional cardiovascular medicine. And this year marks the 25th Anniversary of the TCT (note: the entire field of interventional cardiology is only 36 years of age).

This year also marks Dr. Ajay Kirtane’s role as an official Co-Director of the TCT, in recognition of his contributions and dedication to the meeting. Continue reading →

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Filed under Meetings & Conferences, Transradial Approach

March 20, 2013 · 7:13 pm

FDA Panel Decision on Mitraclip Approval: It’s Safe and “Sort of” Effective

MitraClip, manufactured by Abbott Vascular

MitraClip, manufactured by Abbott Vascular

Today’s Circulatory System Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee heard testimony from Abbott Vascular, surgeons, cardiologists and patients.

The indications for the MitraClip Clip Delivery System that were being discussed were “the percutaneous reduction of significant symptomatic mitral regurgitation (MR=3+) in patients who have been determined by a cardiac surgeon to be too high risk for open mitral valve surgery and in whom existing co-morbidities would not preclude the expected benefit from correction of the mitral regurgitation.”

In the end, the panel voted on three questions which relate to the approvability of the device, and the envelope goes to…well here are the votes: Continue reading →

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Filed under Clinical Trials / Studies, FDA, Meetings & Conferences, Patient Empowerment, Patients

February 28, 2013 · 8:34 pm

Transradial on the Hudson

Hudson River separates New York and New JerseyFor interventional cardiologists in the Northeast, the next few months offer two important transradial training opportunities…on both sides of the Hudson River.

First off, on April 20, the Gagnon Cardiovascular Institute in Morristown, New Jersey has organized the Mid-Atlantic Radial Symposium 2013 (MARS2013), a follow-up to their successful premiere course last year. Continue reading →

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Filed under Meetings & Conferences, Transradial Approach

February 18, 2013 · 4:44 pm

No More Financial Assistance for Plavix from Bristol-Myers But Are Generics Really the Same?

plavix_and_stentBristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) is no longer offering its $37-a-month Plavix® Co-Pay Discount Card. And some patients are not happy about this. Additionally, according to the company’s web site for “Patient Assistance Programs,” the company is no longer making this life-saving drug available to patients who cannot afford it. This, of course, has something to do with the fact that brand-name Plavix has gone off patent and generic versions have been available since May 2012. (See our Patient Alert: How to Get the Best Price on New Generic Plavix.) But are the generic versions of clopidogrel really the same? Continue reading →

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Filed under Antiplatelet Medications, Drug-Eluting Stents, FDA, Patient Alert, Patients