CMS has issued its proposed rule for the 2025 Medicare hospital inpatient prospective payment system, suggesting a payment increase of 2.6%. According to the American Hospital Association, this update would not be enough at a time when hospitals are already struggling to stay open. 

Howard C. Herrmann, MD, principal investigator of the SMART trial, discussed his team's research on self-expanding vs. balloon-expandable TAVR valves in patients with small annuli. 

While most TAVR-related reinterventions occurred in the first year after treatment, most SAVR-related reinterventions occurred in years two through five. The team's full analysis is available in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions.

"We were thrilled with the meeting and the attendance," ACC President Cathie Biga, RN, told Cardiovascular Business.

The PREVENT study, presented at ACC.24, examined more than 1,600 patients with high-risk plaques treated with either preventive PCI or medical therapy alone. Outcomes were much better for the PCI group after two years, but the findings may lead to more questions than answers. 

TAVR is noninferior to SAVR when treating low-risk patients, according to new data presented at ACC.24. In fact, it is associated with multiple benefits over surgery.

“This is the first time in a very long time that we have a positive study for managing cardiogenic shock,” one cardiologist said. 

The SMART trial included one-year data from TAVR patients randomized to receive either a self-expanding Evolut valve or a balloon-expandable Sapien 3 valve. All patients presented with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis and a small aortic annulus. A whopping 87% of participants were women.