Okay. Now that I have your attention…. Sure, we all know that smoking significantly increases the risk of having a heart attack…but sex? Well a study, published in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) looks at this topic, in an article titled, “Association of Episodic Physical and Sexual Activity With Triggering of Acute Cardiac Events“. And it’s a topic that a not insignificant number of readers writing into Angioplasty.Org’s Patient Forum are concerned about. Continue reading
Smoking After Sex: A Double Heart Attack Risk?
Filed under Clinical Trials / Studies, Heart Attack, Patients
Heart Stent Success Stories
I just wanted to share a patient’s posting from earlier today on Angioplasty.Org’s Patient Forum Topic titled, “Exercise, Sport, Physical Activity After Stent“:
It’s great to hear of everyone’s victories recovery-wise, both major and minor. I had 3 coronary stents in Nov 2010 during 3 separate procedures and the cardio told me exercise as I wish… So, 2 10km running races and a half-marathon completed since the stents went in, and I’m now training for triathlons! Continue reading
Filed under Patient Experience, Patients, Social Networking
Wrist Angioplasty Up-Close: New York Style
For physicians (and others) who are interested in seeing an advanced PCI case using the transradial or wrist approach, tune in tomorrow morning at 8:00am to this month’s Interventional Cardiology Live Case Study Series from Mount Sinai Medical Center (these live cases are hosted on theheart.org— subscription required). Continue reading
Filed under Interviews, Meetings & Conferences, Transradial Approach
Wanted: Marathoners with Stents, Pacemakers, Heart Valves
Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) has made its yearly announcement that it is looking for runners from around the world who have benefited from medical technology to participate in the company’s 6th Annual Medtronic Global Heroes program.
I “liked” this event on their Facebook page because the idea of people living their lives to the fullest after having a catastrophic medical crisis, and being rescued by modern medical technology, goes right to the (okay…pun coming…) heart of the matter. Continue reading
Filed under Patients
Laser Wars: Volcano Vindicated on OCT Trade Secret Suit
Last week the Superior Court of Massachusetts entered a Final Judgment in the latest round of “Laser Wars” being waged between Volcano Corporation (NASDAQ: VOLC) and St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ). Both companies “lasered up” a few years ago…and that has led to their “lawyering up” — remember “Stent Wars“?
In fact, Dr. Julio Palmaz, co-inventor of the first angioplasty balloon exandable Palmaz-Schatz stent, told me last year that the biggest thing an inventor needed to understand was just how much time he’ll be spending in court, defending his patent. That certainly is the case with the laser technology used in a new generation of intravascular imaging catheters, called OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) which can be used to image the inside of a coronary artery, look at a stent’s positioning, whether it has healed correctly, etc. Continue reading
Filed under Intravascular Guidance, OCT, Stent
Fractional Flow Reserve: A “How-To” Guide for Cardiologists
I’ve written a lot about Fractional Flow Reserve, or FFR, in the past — and the fact that it’s a simple tool that can be used during an angiogram to assess the actual obstruction to the volume of blood flow being caused by an arterial blockage. Sure you can SEE a blockage on the fluoroscopic image, but should you stent it?
The results of the by now well-known FAME study indicate that a third of the blockages between 50% and 90% (as seen on the angiogram) actually had an FFR measurement of greater than 80% (meaning that the obstruction of flow was less than 20%, even though the blockage looked more significant on the angiogram). Most importantly, treating those blockages with angioplasty and stenting resulted in worse outcomes at one year — results which have remained constant now three years later. For more information, read our exclusive interview with Dr. Nico Pijls, co-principal investigator for FAME. Continue reading
Filed under Angiograms, FAME I / FAME II, FFR
OCT Wars: St. Jude Versus the Volcano
Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is an exciting new imaging technique that is being used to assess the interior anatomy of coronary arteries during and after angioplasty and stent placement. (Read our exclusive interview with Dr. Giulio Guagliumi for more information about how OCT can aid in measuring the healing of stents.)
This technology is just now beginning to bridge the divide between research tool and clinical aide — for example, OCT can show high resolution pictures of stent struts and show whether they are covered or not. So the future for OCT imaging is definitely of major interest. Continue reading
Filed under Intravascular Guidance, Media Coverage, OCT
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