Performing stenting prior to CABG surgery in diabetics does not increase the risk for perioperative risk for mortality or morbidity after CABG, according to a study published in this month's Journal of Thoracic Cardiovascular Surgery.

More than 25 percent of surgical groups who perform heart bypass surgery are above the national average, according to the latest ratings released by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) in collaboration with Consumer Reports. The ratings, based on overall performance, complications and other quality measures, rank 324 surgical groups across the U.S. that perform CABG. 

BOSTON--Justine Cadet from Cardiovascular Business sat down with C. Michael Gibson, MD, interventional cardiologist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, to discuss the FDAs Circulatory System Devices Panel, which convened July 20 in Bethesda, Md., and recommended approval of the Sapien transcatheter heart valve (Edwards Lifesciences), based on the results of the Cohort B of the PARTNER trial.

Aortic valve replacement (AVR) alone may be sufficient to prevent further aortic expansion in patients with moderate post-stenotic dilation of the ascending aorta, according to a study published Aug. 2 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Aneurysm recurrence is a major concern during endovascular coiling procedures, however, inserting a stent in patients undergoing aneurysm repair with endovascular coiling reduced the recurrence rate of aneurysms by almost 25 percent, researchers found in a study published in the July issue of the Journal of Neurointerventional Surgery.

BOSTONData from the groundbreaking PARTNER trial presented at the ACC.11 this year may create a new era of medicine. While some may be concerned with the almost $25,000 price tag linked to transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) procedures, Eric M. Horlick, MD, said that TAVI may cost nearly the same as prescribing dabigatran for atrial fibrillation patients, and is more cost-effective than performing catheter ablation procedures, during the Pediatric and Adult Interventional Cardiac Symposium (PICS-AICS) July 27.

BOSTONDavid Balzer, MD, advocated for the pediatric cardiology community to close silent patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in the early 1990s, but now has changed his mind due to the complication rates with the procedure, as well as the costs. Balzer, director of the cardiac cath lab at St. Louis Children's Hospital, conveyed this transformation of ideas July 26 at this years Pediatric and Adult Interventional Cardiac Symposium (PICS-AICS).

  While the FDA's Circulatory System Devices Panel voted July 20 in overwhelming favor for the FDA to clear the Sapien transcatheter heart valve (Edwards Lifesciences), the discussion throughout the day hinted at certain practice management challenges, such as patient selection, that the technology may face if approved.