The American College of Cardiologys (ACC) 61st annual scientific sessions, March 24-27 in Chicago, is shaping up to be a blockbuster event, according to ACC President David R. Holmes, Jr., MD. This meeting will be tremendous, he said in a press briefing. We stand on the cusp of the science and education that will be highlighted in Chicago.

Like adults, children may need to undergo catheterization procedures at hospitals. What are the considerations when these young patients require cath lab imaging exams? Two pediatric cath labs share their strategies.

Early ambulance administration of abciximab (ReoPro, Eli Lilly) in STEMI patients did not improve either ST-segment elevation resolution (STR) or TIMI flow rate after PCI; however, it tended to improve TIMI flow pre-PCI and decreased distal embolization during procedure, according to the findings of the MISTRAL study published in the February issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions.

Elective PCI patients remain largely uninformed and uninvolved in treatment decisions, according to a study published Feb. 28 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Only 10 percent of surveyed Medicare patients said their cardiologist presented them with options to seriously consider, and only 16 percent were asked about treatment preferences.

Physicians and institutions that intend to provide transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) programs should meet criteria that include procedural experience and board certification for surgeons and cardiologists and volume requirements for facilities, according to multi-societal recommendations published March 1 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Gregory P. Fontana, MD, was appointed by Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City as chairman of the department of cardiothoracic surgery. He previously served as the vice chairman of surgery for strategic program development and attending cardiac surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Heart Institute in Los Angeles and as clinical professor of surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles.

A large body of research has reported that women may present differently than men in terms of MI. A study published Feb. 22 in the Journal of the American Medical Association reaffirmed this observation when researchers reported that women were more likely to present without chest pain, but also had higher rates of mortality.

The Center for Transforming Healthcare, the care-improvement arm of the Joint Commission, has announced the availability of a new means for reducing the risk of surgeons operating on the wrong body parts or patients. Called the Targeted Solutions Tool (TST), the system is available to all Joint Commission-accredited hospitals.