Category Archives: Global Trends

April 12, 2015 · 4:49 pm

iFR and iFR Scout to be Featured in Live Case from Hammersmith

Dr. Justin Davies discusses value of using physiology-guided PCI

Dr. Justin Davies discusses value of using physiology-guided PCI

If you’ve been wondering what iFR (Instant wave-Free Ratio) is, how it works, how it compares to FFR (Fractional Flow Reserve) and, most importantly, how it affects clinical outcomes, then click here to register for a free, online, interactive live case being done on Monday, April 13, 2:30pm-3:30pm London Time, 9:30am-10:30am New York Time).

Interactive: that means you can ask questions!

Dr. Justin E Davies, interventional cardiologist at Imperial College NHS Trust, and developer of iFR, will be performing and guiding the worldwide audience through a live complex PCI multivessel case, using physiology to guide his procedure. Continue reading →

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Filed under FAME I / FAME II, FFR, Global Trends, iFR, Imaging, Intravascular Guidance, Medical Education, Meetings & Conferences, Stent

January 6, 2015 · 10:35 pm

New Treatment for Peripheral Artery Disease is Approved by the FDA

Dr. Charles Dotter in LIFE Magazine (1964)

Dr. Charles Dotter in LIFE Magazine (1964)

Who is that mad scientist in the 1964 issue of LIFE magazine? Oh, just the man who invented the concept of angioplasty; in fact he’s the man who actually coined the word “angioplasty!” And he’s the doctor who performed the first angioplasties in the leg, in order to save limbs from amputation without resorting to surgery.

Like many innovators, he had a crazy idea: to open blocked arteries from the inside out. No cutting, suturing, or stitching. Less trauma, lower morbidity, quicker recovery. His name was Charles Dotter and he was a radiologist in Portland, Oregon who, 51 years ago next week, performed an angioplasty on the blocked leg artery of an 82-year-old woman. Continue reading →

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Filed under Back to the Future, Endovascular, Europe, FDA, History, Innovators, Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), Video

December 19, 2014 · 4:34 pm

Philips Buys Volcano: It’s About Money, Technology, and History

Rumors and theories about an acquisition of Volcano Corporation (NASDAQ: VOLC) had been circulating for quite some time: months, years even. The company seemed an obvious choice: it has an advanced intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) technology that leads the market, with Boston Scientific coming in second; it has a fractional flow reserve (FFR) wire that splits the market with St. Jude Medical; and recently Volcano gained FDA approval for its Instant Wave-Free Ratio (iFR) physiologic measurement product, a faster, cheaper potential alternative to FFR. Continue reading →

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Filed under ACC, Angiograms, Back to the Future, Business & Industry, Cardiac CT, Cost Effectiveness, FFR, Global Trends, History, Imaging, Intravascular Guidance, IVUS, OCT, Video

November 16, 2014 · 2:33 pm

Plavix and Aspirin After Stent: 8 Years Later – Is Longer Better?

plavix_and_stentNo one thought it would take quite so long to get this information, but in just a couple hours results from the Dual Antiplatelet Therapy (DAPT) Study will be presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2014. The question to be answered: Is there a benefit to extending dual antiplatelet therapy (aspirin plus a thienopyridine, such as clopidogrel/Plavix, prasugrel/Effient, etc.) beyond one year after stenting?

This is a question asked back in 2006, during a special two-day FDA hearing, convened to discuss all known issues with drug-eluting stents and prompted by the “ESC firestorm” over the problems of increased incidence of late stent thrombosis in drug-eluting stents. (See “Problems Resurface with Drug-Eluting Stents” – September 9, 2006.) Continue reading →

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Filed under Antiplatelet Medications, Bare Metal Stents, Clinical Trials / Studies, Drug-Eluting Stents, Global Trends, Meetings & Conferences, Optimal Medical Therapy, Stent Thrombosis

October 7, 2014 · 6:34 pm

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 →

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

February 20, 2014 · 12:32 pm

Angioplasty Arrives in the Outback: First Stent Placed in Northern Territory

Northern Territory - AustraliaIt’s been over 35 years since the first angioplasty was performed in Zurich by Dr. Andreas Gruentzig, but it was just yesterday that this minimally invasive procedure arrived in Australia’s Northern Territory.

As reported today by Sky News, Dr. Marcus Ilton, chief cardiologist at Royal Darwin Hospital, performed the first angioplasty and stent implantation ever done in the NT. Continue reading →

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Filed under Global Trends, Media Coverage, Stent

January 13, 2014 · 6:40 pm

Another Viewpoint on Renal Denervation and SYMPLICITY HTN-3 from Dr. Darrel Francis

Symplicity Renal Denervation System

Symplicity Renal Denervation System

Is the failure of the SYMPLICITY HTN-3 trial to meet its efficacy endpoint the “end of the road” for renal denervation? Will renal denervation now land on the heap of failed technologies? I don’t think so, and Dr. Darrel Francis, the cardiologist who famously predicted that SYMPLICITY HTN-3 would not meet its endpoint, agrees.

In fact Dr. Francis told Angioplasty.Org that it would be a “grave error” if the FDA withheld renal denervation from the American people, based on this news!

OK. Do I have your attention? Continue reading →

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Filed under ACC, Global Trends, High Blood Pressure, Media Coverage