Interventional Cardiology

This cardiac subspecialty uses minimally invasive, catheter-based technologies in a cath lab to diagnose and treat coronary artery disease (CAD). The main focus in on percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) to revascularize patients with CAD that is causing blockages resulting in ischemia or myocardial infarction. PCI mainly consists of angioplasty and implanting stents. Interventional cardiology has greatly expanded in scope over recent years to include a number of transcatheter structural heart interventions.

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JACC: For CTO recanalization, DES trumps BMS

For patients undergoing chronic total occlusion recanalization, drug-eluting stents (DES) proved more effective than bare-metal stents (BMS) during the procedure and resulted in better rates of major adverse cardiac events, mortality and MI, according to a meta-analysis published in the April 27 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

CTO Treatment Advances: Physician Education Needed to Spread the Word

Advanced technologies and improved patient selection have increased the rates of successful percutaneous revascularization of chronic total occlusions (CTOs). The biggest hurdle to offering more patients the option of PCI for CTOs is now more a matter of physician education, rather than of technique or technology.

AJC: For left main disease, PCI with DES is safe alternative to CABG

For patients with unprotected left main coronary artery disease, PCI with drug-eluting stents (DES) could be a plausible alternative to CABG, based on results of a study published in the April 15 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.

NEJM: Jury remains out on antiplatelet therapy after one year post-DES

The use of dual-antiplatelet therapy for a period longer than 12 months in patients who had received drug-eluting stents (DES) was not significantly more effective than aspirin monotherapy in reducing the rate of MI or death from cardiac causes, based on data from two trials published in the April 15 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

ev3 to supply drug-eluting catheter for Medrad trial

Medrad Interventional/Possis and device company ev3 have entered a supply agreement for use of the Cotavance peripheral drug-eluting balloon angioplasty catheter with Paccocath technology in a European clinical trial looking to treat patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

Cordis begins enrollment in stent graft system trial

The clinical trial INNOVATION, designed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the Incraft stent graft system from Cordis in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA), has begun enrolling patients.

ACC: Female STEMI patients have longer D2B times, comparable mortality rates

Early and late mortality in emergency PCI for STEMI was similar in women and men, despite longer door-to-balloon (D2B) times in women, according to a study presented at the annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) conference in Atlanta last month.

ACC: Medrad focuses on thrombosis with new products, JETSTENT study

Thrombosis matters was the theme being promoted this year at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) annual conference in Atlanta for Medrad Interventional / Possis, the Indianola, Pa.-based medical device and cardiovascular applications provider.

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