Structural Heart Disease

Structural heart diseases include any issues preventing normal cardiovascular function due to damage or alteration to the anatomical components of the heart. This is caused by aging, advanced atherosclerosis, calcification, tissue degeneration, congenital heart defects and heart failure. The most commonly treated areas are the heart valves, in particular the mitral and aortic valves. These can be replaced through open heart surgery or using cath lab-based transcatheter valves or repairs to eliminate regurgitation due to faulty valve leaflets. This includes transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Other common procedures include left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion and closing congenital holes in the heart, such as PFO and ASD. A growing area includes transcatheter mitral repair or replacement and transcatheter tricuspid valve repair and replacement.

Treating younger patients with TAVR increases risk of death
Treating patients younger than 65 with TAVR is associated with certain risks for heart teams to consider. Fortunately, researchers found, care teams appear to be choosing patients wisely.
Cardiologist demand is on the rise—can hospitals keep up?
Demand for inpatient and outpatient cardiology services is expected to increase significantly in the next decade, putting hospitals and health systems in a position where they need to plan ahead or risk falling behind.
Self-expanding vs. balloon-expandable TAVR valves: How they compare after 5 years
SOLVE-TAVI focused on the long-term impact of selecting different second-generation transcatheter heart valves and anesthesia strategies for transfemoral TAVR procedures.
New data put a spotlight on troubling TAVR trends
Philippe Genereux, MD, principal investigator of the EARLY TAVR trial, noted that many patients with severe AS still go untreated.
How robotic-assisted mitral valve repair compares to conventional surgery
Costs remain a concern, especially for low-volume centers, but robotic-assisted MV repair is associated with short-term outcomes comparable to more conventional techniques.

FDA: Today's change to heparin standard will lead to 10% potency reduction

The FDA notified healthcare professionals and patients of a change to heparin, effective today, which will include a new reference standard and test method used to determine the potency of the drug and detect impurities that may be present. The change will result in 10 percent reduction in the potency of the heparin marketed in the U.S., according to the agency.

October 2, 2009

TCT: HORIZONS AMI continues to trend strong for DES, Angiomax at two years

HORIZONS AMI, which studied 3,602 STEMI patients who underwent primary PCI after two years, continued to find a statistically significant superiority for initial treatment with bivalirudin alone compared with heparin plus GPIIb/IIIa inhibitors, and for drug-eluting stents over bare-metal stents. The study was presented during the late-breaking clinical trials at the 2009 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference in San Francisco on Sept. 25.

October 1, 2009

Philips recalls AED for defective chip

Philips Healthcare is voluntarily recalling some of its HeartStart FR2+ automated external defibrillators (AED), with the knowledge of the appropriate regulatory agencies.

October 1, 2009

TCT: Abbot CMO Simonton touts DES results, talks valve replacement

The long-awaited SPRIT IV one-year results, presented at the recent Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference in San Francicso, for Abbotts Xience V drug-eluting stent (DES) over Boston Scientifics Taxus DES found a stent thrombosis rate of 0.29 percent, which surprised even Chuck Simonton, Abbotts chief medical officer.

October 1, 2009

AJMC: Bundling two low-cost heart drugs cuts MI, stroke risk by 60%

A simplified method for bundling fixed doses of a generic statin and angiotensen-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker was successfully implemented in a large, diverse population in an integrated health care delivery system, reducing the risk of hospitalization and stroke, according to a observation study published Oct. 1 online in the American Journal of Managed Care.

October 1, 2009

Abbot to buy Solvay Pharma for $6.6B

Abbott reached a definitive agreement to acquire Solvay Pharmaceuticals, previously a subsidiary of the Belgium-based Solvay Group, for $6.6 billion in cash on Monday.

October 1, 2009

Mercks diabetes drugs get prescription update for acute pancreatitis

The FDA has notified healthcare professionals and patients of revisions to the prescribing information for Merck's Januvia (sitagliptin) and Janumet (sitagliptin/metformin) to include information on reported cases of acute pancreatitis in patients using these products.

September 28, 2009

Lilly goes in-house for new U.S. prez

Eli Lilly has promoted David Ricks, currently general manager of Lilly China, to president, Lilly USA. Ricks is succeeding Enrique Conterno, who was named leader of Lilly's new diabetes business unit as part of the companys reorganization.

September 27, 2009

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Health Imaging

Use of AI opportunistic screening in CT for cardiovascular disease

Ron Blankstein, MD, professor of radiology, Harvard Medical School, explains the use of artificial intelligence to detect heart disease in non-cardiac CT exams.

Health Imaging

New imaging protocols proposed to curb rise of cardiovascular infections

Eleven medical societies have signed on to a consensus statement aimed at standardizing imaging for suspected cardiovascular infections.

Structural Heart Disease

Treating younger patients with TAVR increases risk of death

Cardiologist demand is on the rise—can hospitals keep up?

Self-expanding vs. balloon-expandable TAVR valves: How they compare after 5 years

New data put a spotlight on troubling TAVR trends

How robotic-assisted mitral valve repair compares to conventional surgery

Around the web