http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A clot-busting therapy may benefit some heart attack patients who cannot have immediate angioplasty, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-clot-busting-drug-effective-angioplasty.html Cardiology Tue, 12 Mar 2013 10:38:45 EST news282303438 Despite recommendations from leading medical groups, a surprising number of patients are not given aspirin before artery-clearing coronary angioplasty and stenting, and those patients have a significantly higher in-hospital death rate, according to research from a Michigan network being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-lack-aspirin-angioplasty-linked-higher.html Cardiology Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:40:01 EST news281884099 (HealthDay)—After ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), women have longer ischemic times and are at a higher risk than men of early all-cause and cardiac mortality, according to research published in the Feb. 1 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-gender-ischemic-outcomes-stemi.html Cardiology Mon, 18 Feb 2013 10:10:06 EST news280404031 Patients who experience chest pain in the 24 hours preceding a heart attack, also called preinfarction angina, have smaller heart attacks and improved cardiac function in the contemporary cardiac stenting era, researchers found in a study published Jan. 22 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-chest-pain-prior-heart.html Cardiology Tue, 05 Feb 2013 09:36:55 EST news279279409 Among patients scheduled for a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stent placement used to open narrowed coronary arteries), pretreatment with the antiplatelet agent clopidogrel was not associated with a lower risk of overall mortality but was associated with a significantly lower risk of major coronary events, according to a review and meta-analysis of previous studies published in the December 19 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-administration-clopidogrel-prior-pci-reduction.html Cardiology Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:00:07 EST news275068185 Patients who receive a drug-eluting stent (DES) and demonstrate low levels of platelet inhibition are more likely to have blood clots form on the stent and suffer a possible heart attack; conversely, patients with higher levels of platelet inhibition are at greater risk for bleeding complications. One-year results of the ADAPT-DES study were presented today at the 24th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium. Sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, TCT is the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-responsiveness-clopidogrel-stent-thrombosis-heart.html Cardiology Thu, 25 Oct 2012 15:19:09 EST news270397123 A clinical trial found that the use of a next generation, micronet, mesh-covered stent demonstrated improved restoration of blood flow to heart tissue, compared to the use of either bare-metal or drug-eluting stents in heart attack patients undergoing angioplasty. Results of the MASTER trial were presented today at the 24th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium and will appear in the November 6th issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, TCT is the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-mesh-covered-stent-blood-heart-patients.html Cardiology Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:30:06 EST news270305812 A strategy of up-front percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for lesions confirmed to be obstructive by fractional flow reserve (FFR) was shown to be cost-effective in terms of quality-adjusted life years when compared to medical therapy alone. Results of the Cost-Effectiveness sub study of the FAME 2 trial were presented today at the 24th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium. Sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), TCT is the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-ffr-guided-pci-cost-effectiveness-medical-therapy.html Cardiology Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:10:03 EST news270304574 Prasugrel, a novel anti-platelet therapy, is used to prevent recurrent cardiovascular events in patients who have had a prior heart attack, suffer severe chest pain and have been treated with coronary artery procedures (revascularization). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-id-potential-patient-population-benefit.html Cardiology Wed, 24 Oct 2012 13:44:45 EST news270305070 Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital have shown that combining distal protection devices with the prophylactic use of the drug nicardipine is more effective at preventing life-threatening complications following a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (angioplasty, stenting) on patients who have undergone previous bypass surgery than distal protection devices alone. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-safety-angioplasty-patients-coronary-bypass.html Cardiology Mon, 22 Oct 2012 09:09:31 EST news270115762 The Acute Cardiac Care Congress 2012 is the first annual meeting of the newly launched Acute Cardiovascular Care Association (ACCA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). It takes place from 20 to 22 October in Istanbul, Turkey, at the Istanbul Lufti Kirdar Convention and Exhibition Centre (ICEC). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-ambulance-heart-survival.html Cardiology Sat, 20 Oct 2012 04:45:09 EST news269927096 In an analysis that included nearly 100,000 Medicare patients who had experienced a heart attack, the use of a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stent placement used to open narrowed coronary arteries) was lower for patients treated in states with public reporting of PCI outcomes compared with patients treated in states without public reporting, with these differences being particularly large in the highest-risk patients, according to a study in the October 10 issue of JAMA. However, the researchers found that there was no difference in overall heart attack survival rates between states with and without public reporting. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-procedures-angioplasty-states-outcomes.html Cardiology Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:25:07 EST news269018695 Data from four French nationwide registries of STEMI (ST-elevation myocardial infarction) patients initiated five years apart and covering more than 15 years show that mortality rate decreased by 68% over this period, from 13.7% to 4.4%. Around one quarter of this mortality reduction could be attributed to a change in patient characteristics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-decrease-early-mortality-stemi-attributed.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Aug 2012 12:00:57 EST news265287649 The overall rate of death in patients hospitalized with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI; a certain pattern on an electrocardiogram following a heart attack) decreased from 1995 to 2010 in France, with possible factors associated with this decline including an increase in the proportion of STEMI patients who were women younger than age 60, and an increase in the use of reperfusion therapy and recommended therapeutic measures following a heart attack, according to a study being published online by JAMA. The study is being released early to coincide with its presentation at the European Society of Cardiology Congress. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-factors-survival-heart-france.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Aug 2012 02:00:01 EST news265186863 Compared with a bare-metal stent, the use of a stent with a biodegradable polymer that releases the drug biolimus resulted in a lower rate of major adverse cardiac events at 1 year among patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI; a certain pattern on an electrocardiogram following a heart attack) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stent placement used to open narrowed coronary arteries), according to a study in the August 22/29 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-newer-generation-drug-releasing-stent-results-adverse.html Cardiology Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:00:01 EST news264782719 A new program that trains emergency medical service technicians (EMS) to read electrocardiograms so that they can evaluate patients with chest pain, and expedite treatment for the severe heart condition known as ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), a serious form of heart attack, has excellent results and should become the standard of care, according to two studies published in the current issue of the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-ecgs-paramedics-treatment-severe-heart.html Cardiology Fri, 20 Jul 2012 10:03:44 EST news261997366 Life saving primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) treatment is increasing in countries participating in the Stent for Life Initiative. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-life-saving-primary-pci-stent-life.html Cardiology Wed, 16 May 2012 12:27:53 EST news256390065 Asymptomatic patients who undergo treadmill exercise echocardiography (ExE) after coronary revascularization may be identified as being at high risk but those patients do not appear to have more favorable outcomes with repeated revascularization, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. The article is part of the journal's Less is More series. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-asymptomatic-patients-coronary-revascularization.html Cardiology Mon, 14 May 2012 11:00:02 EST news256208973 (HealthDay) -- Meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) suggests that drug-eluting stents (DESs) significantly reduce repeat revascularizations, with no increase in stent thrombosis (ST), mortality, or recurrent myocardial infarction, but data from observational studies indicate an increased risk of ST with DES use, according to research published in the April 1 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-good-long-term-outcomes-drug-eluting-stents.html Cardiology Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:46:11 EST news252762346 Administration of a bolus dose of the anticoagulant drug abciximab into the coronary artery involved in causing a certain type of heart attack among patients who were undergoing a percutaneous coronary intervention and also receiving another anticoagulant resulted in reduction in the size of damage to the heart muscle at 30 days, while a procedure that involved use of a catheter to remove the blood clot blocking that coronary artery did not produce these results, according to a study appearing in JAMA. The study is being published early online to coincide with its presentation at the American College of Cardiology's annual scientific sessions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-infusion-drug-coronary-artery-size.html Cardiology Sun, 25 Mar 2012 16:30:01 EST news251904424 There is an imbalance between the rapid growth of cardiac catheterization laboratories, which provide percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures, relative to the growth in the overall U.S. population, as well as patients who experience an acute heart attack, or ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), according to a study presented March 25 at the 61st annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific session. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-significant-mismatch-pci-capable-hospitals.html Cardiology Sun, 25 Mar 2012 14:21:15 EST news251904052 Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), also known as coronary angioplasty or angioplasty, is a procedure used to treat acute coronary syndromes. PCI involves opening a blocked blood vessel by threading and inflating a balloon-tipped tube into the vessel. Sometimes a stent is also inserted to keep the blood vessel open. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-complications-patients-percutaneous-coronary-intervention.html Cardiology Sat, 24 Mar 2012 19:01:40 EST news251834480 In a new study, researchers have found a 44 percent increase since 2001 in the number of hospitals that offer definitive emergency care to patients with heart attack, but only a 1 percent increase in access to that care. The study, led by Thomas W. Concannon, PhD, Assistant Professor Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine, will be published January 1, 2012 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, a journal of the American Heart Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-hospitals-invest-heavily-heart-access.html Cardiology Mon, 19 Dec 2011 12:31:28 EST news243520275 The size of a heart attack and subsequent left-ventricular function are significantly different based on the time of day onset of ischemia, according to a first of its kind study in humans, published online Nov. 17 in Circulation Research. The greatest amount of injury to the heart occurs when individuals have a heart attack between 1:00am and 5:00am. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-severity-heart-day.html Cardiology Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:19:50 EST news241093141 The Canadian Journal of Cardiology has published a paper on the timing of coronary stenting, a thought-provoking paper that challenges one of the dogmas of acute heart attack management today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-canadian-journal-cardiology-publishes-coronary.html Cardiology Wed, 19 Oct 2011 09:36:43 EST news238235797 Inserting intra-aortic balloon pumps prior to angioplasty in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) does not reduce the scope of heart muscle damage, a condition referred to as infarct size, according to a new study conducted by Duke University Medical Center researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-balloon-prior-angioplasty-heart-muscle.html Cardiology Tue, 30 Aug 2011 03:31:37 EST news233893878 Only about 10 percent of patients with a certain type of heart attack who need to be transferred to another hospital for a PCI (procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stent placement used to open narrowed coronary arteries) are transferred within the recommended time of 30 minutes, according to a study in the June 22/29 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-heart-attack-patients-procedure-hospital.html Cardiology Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:33:22 EST news227892792