While STEMI patients benefit from reperfusion therapy with PCI, a two-center study published May 7 in the Archives of Internal Medicine found than one-third of patients referred for primary PCI from the emergency department did not have a STEMI and 36 percent were deemed to be false-positive activations. An accompanying editorial questioned the impact of these false-positive activations and concluded that they lead to high costs and increased risk.

Now that the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services has expanded the multiple procedural payment reduction (MPPR) for diagnostic imaging to include the professional component, practices face a number of challenges, including defining what constitutes separate PC sessions and how to best comply with this policy change in day-to-day operations, according to Ezequiel Silva, III, MD, of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

In the continuing battle of the stents, a meta-analysis comparing PCI with drug-eluting stents (DES) and bare-metal stents (BMS) in STEMI patients showed that DES came out on top in terms of reducing target vessel revascularization but was linked to higher rates of late reinfarction and stent thrombosis. An accompanying editorial questioned whether the higher rates of reinfarction may be a costly addition to healthcare, without proven safety benefits.

Coronary CT angiography (CTA) enabled early diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD) in adults with diabetes between the ages of 19 and 35, according to a study published online April 30 in Academic Radiology.

A single complete compression ultrasound study may safely exclude the diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in pregnant and postpartum women, according to a study published in the May issue of British Medical Journal. However, the authors suggested additional confirmatory data are needed.

The University of South Florida opened its $38 million Center for Advanced Medical Learning & Simulation in February, bringing 90,000 square feet of high-tech clinical training to downtown Tampa.

Predicting coronary heart disease with traditional risk factors may be imprecise, but adding ECGs to the mix may help, especially in the elderly patient population, according to study results published in the April 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

CHICAGOReimbursement cuts have been detrimental to healthcare providers, but private practice physicians and hospitals still can get ahead. During a presentation March 25 at the 61st annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific session, Gregory S. Thomas, MD, MPH, practicing cardiologist at Mission Internal Medical Group in Mission Viejo, Calif., offered strategies to help both private and public sectors.