Operators more often chose transfemoral over transradial PCI in a patients with higher predicted bleeding risks, despite evidence of fewer bleeding complications with the latter approach. Transfemoral PCI patients also tended to be sicker, according to this observational study.

Sometimes a finding doesn’t reach the bar for statistical significance, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t intriguing. Interventional cardiologists might take note of a study on informed decision making that showed them more likely to touch on key elements than general cardiologists.

Patients who were more fully informed about angiography and the possibility of PCI were more likely to decide against it, a study published online May 18 in JAMA Internal Medicine found. Overall, the cardiologist-patient discussions were short and incomplete.

Awards presented today at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2015 Scientific Sessions in San Diego recognize outstanding SCAI members for their ongoing contributions to the field of interventional cardiology, the Society and patient care. Honorees span a broad spectrum of practitioners, all of whom have demonstrated a commitment to excellence throughout their careers, helping to shape the Society as well as the lives of patients and mentees.

More than a quarter of patients undergoing PCI are smokers at the time of treatment. If they quit smoking following the procedure, they are more likely to have improvements in quality of life and have less chest pain and angina than if they continue to smoke, according to a prospective analysis of a PCI registry.

Only about 60 percent of PCI patients get referred to a cardiac rehabilitation program, according to a recent study, and the barrier is more likely due to hospital characteristics than insurance. 

Cardiologists in real-world practice may not be optimizing the benefit of prasugrel in patients undergoing PCI but they also don’t appear to be putting them in harm’s way, according to results released May 8 at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2015 scientific session in San Diego.

As the healthcare environment changes, interventional cardiologists and cath lab professionals have many reasons to be optimistic about the future of the specialty and their ability to help patients live longer and feel better, according to James C. Blankenship, MD, MHCM, FSCAI, MACC. Dr. Blankenship was inducted today as the 39th president of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) during its 2015 Scientific Sessions.