The percentage of acute myocardial infarction (MI) patients whose door-to-balloon (D2B) time occurred within the recommended 90 minutes more than doubled between 2005 and 2010, according to a study in the Aug. 30 issue of Circulation. No one activity explains the improvement from a lackluster 44.2 percent in 2005 to 91.4 percent in 2010, the authors wrote, but rather a combination of initiatives and advancements contributed to the gain.

Patients undergoing CABG with renal dysfunction who received infusion of carperitide, a human atrial natriuretic peptide (hANP), were less likely to experience a cardiac event or require dialysis one year after surgery, according to a randomized controlled trial in the Aug. 23 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Despite these promising results, many questions still remain about these types of therapeutic agents.

Stick to the guidelines when it comes to treating patients with prasugrel, a study published Aug. 4 in the American Journal of Cardiology found. The results showed that patients with stroke and transient ischemic attack (those which are contraindicated by the FDA and European Medicines Agency) fared worse than a clinical cohort of patients with acute coronary syndromes undergoing PCI.

Using the recently standardized definition of vascular complications of transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), researchers reported that a novel tool, the sheath to femoral artery ratio (SFAR), predicted major vascular complications, which they found occurred relatively frequently and were associated with increased 30-day and in-hospital mortality. In an accompanying editorial, the authors suggested that SFAR findings, if confirmed by others, be considered in future recommendations for TAVI guidance.

The board of directors of AngioDynamics, a developer of minimally invasive medical devices for vascular access, surgery, peripheral vascular disease and oncology, appointed Joseph M. DeVivo president and CEO, effective Sept. 7.

The Peninsula Regional Medical Center (PRMC) in Salisbury, Md., will shell out $1.8 million to settle allegations that the center failed to take action even after it received several complaints that former PRMC cardiologist John R. McLean was implanting unnecessary stents in patients.

Being more selective in choosing which patients to stent can help curb lofty expenditures within the healthcare system. In fact, research published in Circulation Aug. 15 showed that selective use of drug-eluting stents (DES), which began in 2007, has already saved the U.S. healthcare system $400 million per year.

As indications for carotid artery stenting (CAS) continue to change and its use grows, the procedure is being performed by operators from many diverse specialties, Michigan researchers found in a study published online Aug. 8 in Archives of Internal Medicine. Additionally, hospital referral regions where cardiologists perform the most procedures have higher population-based utilization rates with similar outcomes.