admin | September 7, 2009
ScienceDaily (Sep. 6, 2009) — Levels of a biomarker used in the diagnosis of heart attacks are almost universally elevated in patients who have undergone coronary-artery bypass grafting (CABG) and, when markedly elevated, are powerfully prognostic, a team of researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Heart Center has found.
Their report implies that, while measurement of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) can help determine patient prognosis, current consensus recommendations regarding the use of cTNT to diagnosis post-CABG heart attack (myocardial infarction) probably should be reconsidered. The paper appears in the September 8 issue of Circulation and has been released online,
Category: Bypass Surgery, Diagnostic Tests, Studies |
No Comments »
Tags:
admin | September 6, 2009
September 6, 2009 by
Haroon Rashid1) “Drug Eluting Stents may carry a greater risk of thrombosis than their bare metal counterparts, according to research presented at the 2006 World Congress of Cardiology (WCC)”!
2). “Recent studies increase concern among researchers about potential for dangerous blood clots in individuals with drug eluting stents, what does this mean for patients? (ptca.org)”
3). “Serious clinical implications that might be unreported”, (Theheart.org, Heartwire).
4). “New information suggests long term problems, (About: Heart Disease, January 2007)”.
Category: Angio/Stent, Studies |
No Comments »
Tags:
admin | September 4, 2009
Campbell AR, Satran D, Zenovich AG, Campbell KM, Espel JC, Arndt TL, Poulose AK, Boisjolie CR, Juusola K, Bart BA, Henry TD.
Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis, MN 55407, USA.
Category: External Counterpulsation, Studies |
No Comments »
Tags:
admin | September 1, 2009
WESTBURY, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Vasomedical, Inc. (“Vasomedical”) (OTC: VASO - News), a world leader in the noninvasive treatment of cardiovascular diseases, today announced that evidence presented by Dr. Eva-Elina Buschmann on behalf of the European Arteriogenesis Network 2 Trial, at the 2009 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress taking place in Barcelona, Spain, demonstrates that EECP® therapy along with its positive acute hemodynamic benefits also promotes the growth of coronary collateral blood vessels to ischemic regions improving circulation in patients with stable angina.
Category: External Counterpulsation, Studies |
1 Comment »
Tags:
admin | August 31, 2009
Description
Two recent trials, CARP and DECREASE-V, noted that routine coronary artery revascularization before vascular surgery is not associated with improved outcomes. Accordingly, current American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines recommend noninvasive testing for patients undergoing vascular surgery, only if two or more risk factors, as assessed by Lee’s revised cardiac risk index (RCRI), are present.
Given that vascular surgery patients continue to have a high rate of perioperative cardiovascular complications, the current trial sought to evaluate the role of routine coronary angiography and revascularization if needed in patients undergoing major vascular surgery, with an RCRI ≥2.
Category: Angio/Stent, Studies |
No Comments »
Tags:
admin | August 31, 2009
In stable coronary artery disease (CAD), analysis has shown a 27% reduction of total mortality from exercise, compared to more aggressive intervention. At least four mechanisms are at play: better endothelial (coronary artery inner lining) function, reduced rate of coronary deposits, reduced clotting risk, and improved new arterial growth.
When compared to balloon angioplasty with or without a stent, 12-months of exercise therapy in stable CAD patients was associated with higher event-free survival. From an article published in a European medical journal in 2004 (R. Hambrecht, University of Liepzig, Germay)
Category: Angio/Stent, Cardio Rehab, Studies |
No Comments »
Tags:
admin | August 27, 2009
In the Prospective Evaluation of EECP in Congestive Heart Failure (PEECH) trial, EECP improved exercise duration, symptom status, and QOL in patients with mild-to-moderate heart failure who were already receiving optimal medical therapy. The PEECH trial, reported at the 2005 ACC meeting by Arthur M. Feldman, MD, PhD, FACC, enrolled 187 patients with ischemic or nonischemic heart failure and New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II or III symptoms. All patients had LVEF ≤35% (mean, about 26%) despite optimal medical therapy. Patients were randomized to EECP plus optimal pharmacologic therapy for 7 weeks (n = 93) or optimal pharmacologic therapy alone (n = 94). Patients could not be blinded to their randomized therapy, of course, but the study controlled for researcher bias by creating two investigating teams. One team supervised or performed daily EECP treatments; the other team, which was blinded to randomization, performed patient evaluations. The study’s primary endpoint was one of two measures of change in exercise capacity. The first of these, the percentage of patients with at least a 60-second increase in exercise duration from baseline to 6 months, was significantly higher in the EECP group than in the control group (p = 0.016). The second measure, the percentage of patients with at least a 1.25 ml/min/kg increase in peak VO2 from baseline to 6 months, was statistically similar in both groups (Figure 5). The study also demonstrated significant improvements in several secondary endpoints (Figure 6), including mean change in exercise duration, NYHA classification, and QOL, although the latter improvement was not sustained over the long term. Andrew D. Michaels, MD, FACC, of the University of California, San Francisco, was the discussant for Dr. Feldman’s presentation. Although he said the PEECH results are “mixed,” he added “there is still reason for optimism that EECP may be a positive addition to patients with heart failure treated with optimal medical therapy.” However, he acknowledged it was “somewhat concerning” that the only endpoints in PEECH significantly improved by EECP were those subject to a placebo effect. Peak VO2, which is likely not subject to the placebo effect, was unchanged by the therapy. This interview with Dr. Feldman reviews the results of the PEECH trial and evidence suggesting that the benefits observed were not a placebo effect.
Category: External Counterpulsation, Studies |
No Comments »
Tags:
admin | August 12, 2009
![[ photograph ]](http://www.buffalo.edu/news/thumbnails/boden_william.jpg)
William E. Boden has written an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine that urges caution about new research on diabetics with coronary disease.Release Date: June 7, 2009
BUFFALO, N.Y. — In an editorial in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), William E. Boden, M.D., professor of medicine and preventive medicine at the University at Buffalo, recommends that the results of the BARI-2D Trial published in that edition must be interpreted with “considerable caution.”
The editorial is titled “Diabetes with Coronary Disease — A Moving Target Amid Evolving Therapies?”
Category: Angio/Stent, Bypass Surgery, Medicine, Studies |
No Comments »
Tags:
![[ photograph ]](http://www.buffalo.edu/news/hires/boden_william.jpg)
