An atherectomy device that “sands” calcified lesions in coronary arteries before stenting proved to be effective and durable at two years, and possibly even cost-effective, in a late-breaking clinical trial unveiled on May 7.

One year after patients underwent PCIs, approximately 1 percent had gastrointestinal bleeding, which was associated with an increased risk for all-cause mortality and the composite of death, MI or stroke.

The Accreditation for Cardiovascular Excellence (ACE) has just released the first-ever congenital heart disease (CHD) standards for Pediatric and Congenital Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory (PCCL) accreditation. Driven by the latest available clinical evidence, the CHD standards are a comprehensive review of interventional procedures in pediatric patients and adults with congenital heart disease.

Children who remained unconscious after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest had similar survival rates and cognitive functioning if they received therapeutic hypothermia or therapeutic normothermia, according to a randomized trial.

The cardiology community has heeded the call to protect patients from radiation exposure in the cath lab. Now it is time to focus on the operators and staff.

An everolimus-eluting stent with a bioresorbable coating held its own clinically against a durable polymer drug-eluting stent in the pivotal EVOLVE II trial, findings that may be used to determine regulatory approval of the bioresorbable device.

Patients with type 1 diabetes had double the risk of death after undergoing CABG compared with a group that did not have diabetes, according to an observational, nationwide population-based cohort study.

Interventional cardiologists and nurses worry about cardiovascular disease developing in their patients. A study that looked at long-term radiation exposure to cath lab operators and staff may prompt them to add themselves to that list.