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

October 1, 2013 · 4:56 pm

No New FDA Approvals Today!

FDA Website today (click for larger image)

FDA website today (click for larger image)

Obviously, with the Federal government in shut down mode, a situation precipitated by the House of Representatives’ demand to delay the implementation of the already-implemented Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare), no new device approvals will be forthcoming today, or any other day, until the U.S. Government gets an infusion of start-up capital (puns intended).

Maybe a Kickstarter campaign would be in order here. Continue reading →

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Filed under FDA, Health Insurance

September 25, 2013 · 10:25 pm

AIM-RADIAL International Master Class in New York

Dr. Olivier Bertrand

Dr. Olivier Bertrand

For the next three days, scores of interventional cardiologists will be gathering in New York City for the Second Annual AIM-RADIAL Master Class where they will hear talks, engage in roundtable discussions, watch live case demonstrations, and be thoroughly immersed in advanced state-of-the-art techniques, the latest data and the most current evidence-based medicine regarding all aspects of the transradial technique for diagnostic angiography and percutaneous interventions. Continue reading →

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Filed under Global Trends, Innovators, Meetings & Conferences, Transradial Approach

September 23, 2013 · 7:07 pm

Department Store Where Dr. DeBakey Found His Surgical Graft Fabric is Demolished

I was alerted via Twitter today by @David_Dobbs (also retweeted by @matthewherper and @cardiobrief et al) that the Macy’s department store, formerly Foley’s, in Houston, Texas was demolished yesterday.

The building, as Dobbs explains in his blog post, “Slow-Mo Demo of Building Packed With Surgical & Personal History,” has personal significance for him, but also significance for the world of medicine. Foley’s is where Michael DeBakey purchased a bit of Dacron fabric, which he fashioned into an arterial graft to repair an aortic aneurysm, an achievement which gave birth to the wide spectrum of medical devices we have today.

A few years back, I made a documentary, tracing the history of these devices and below is a clip in which Dr. Michael DeBakey tells how his mother was really a critical element in this momentous medical advance.

You should also check out the video of the demolition itself in David Dobbs’ post.

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Filed under History, Innovators, Interviews, Video

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 20, 2013 · 5:14 pm

Recycling Health News for Google Dollars, Robot Style

By Mirko Tobias Schaefer [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

“Writing Robot” by Mirko Tobias Schaefer [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

I don’t know a health reporter named Geoff Michaels. I guess I should because in less than 3 months, Geoff has authored almost 1,000 health articles, mostly about heart disease, angioplasty and stents. Geoff writes for a site named Toronto NewsFix, which seems to have been started back in April 2013. I also don’t know Martin March, who’s authored almost 300. Or Robert Cervin, who’s chalked up 700. Or April Clarkson, also at 1,000 posts (she seems to cover any story containing the word “women”). And there are more reporters at NewsFix, as well.

The stories are short, usually less than 200 words, but there are thousands. So how come I have never heard about this website that has such an enormous output? And  how come I didn’t realize that there were so many healthcare stories out there? Continue reading →

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Filed under Media Coverage, Web Site