SAN FRANCISCO--Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has the potential to be cost effective at thresholds accepted by U.K. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence perspective, which modeled the PARTNER A trial data. These findings were presented Nov. 8 at the 23rd annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference.

SAN FRANCISCOThe Impella device has been shown to reduce major adverse events in patients undergoing extensive revascularization with PCI. Now, results of an economic study have shown that using the Impella device during PCI can reduce adverse events at a decent price tag, according to results presented Nov. 8 at the 23rd annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference.

SAN FRANCISCO(CABG is the preferred treatment strategy for patients with left main disease, according to Michael J. Mack, MD, president of the Society for Thoracic Surgeons (STS), who presented on the topic Nov. 7 at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference. While I personally refer some left main patients for PCI, it just shouldnt become inappropriately utilized due to the increasingly popular message that PCI is equivalent to surgery in these patients, Mack told Cardiovascular Business.

SAN FRANCISCOTo reinvigorate medical innovation, the U.S. is in desperate need of governmental and regulatory reform and positive case examples to show that it still can be achieved, according to Martin B. Leon, MD, who gave a Nov. 7 lecture at the 23rd annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference.

The 2011 guidelines for managing patients undergoing PCI provide physicians with a user-friendly and up-to-date document that reinforces the importance of collaboration, James C. Blankenship, MD, vice chair of the PCI guideline writing committee, said in an interview with Cardiovascular Business. The guidelines were made available online Nov. 7 and will be co-published Dec. 6 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and Circulation.

The FDA granted approval Nov. 2 for the transfemoral delivery of the Sapien transcatheter aortic heart valve (Edwards Lifesciences) for the treatment of inoperable patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis. American College of Cardiology (ACC) President David R. Holmes, MD, expressed excitement about the approval of this transformational technology, but recognized that there are some hurdles ahead for implementing the device into real-life clinical practice.

Recent studies have outlined gender disparities for PCI outcomes. Another study, published Nov. 1 in Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions have confirmed these findings, after researchers reported that women undergoing PCI have a greater incidence of comorbidities and adverse events when compared with men.

Platelet reactivity found around the time of a PCI procedure was linked to long-term cardiovascular events including death, MI and stent thrombosis, according to a meta-analysis published in the Nov. 1 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. In an accompanying editorial, researchers questioned whether platelet function testing will someday be a part of routine clinical practice.