theheart.org: Imaging news and education

heartbriefs

Sen Grassley questions top medical schools about ghostwriting

Nov 20, 2009 13:15 EST

As part of his mission to see more financial transparency in medicine, Sen Grassley has asked eight top US medical schools about their policies on ghostwriting.

News

EFFECT: Public reporting of hospital performance improves quality of care?

Nov 19, 2009 10:00 EST

Publicly released report cards based on hospital performance did not result in a measurably greater systemwide improvement in two composite AMI or CHF process-of-care indicators in a Canadian study. But they did appear to stimulate some important changes in delivery of care that could have led to some better outcomes.

Imaging

CT-STAT: CT angiography rules out CAD faster and cheaper than standard care

6 COMMENTS - Nov 18, 2009 13:45 EST

The use of coronary CT angiography in the emergency room can successfully triage at-risk chest-pain patients and can do so faster and less expensively than standard diagnostic testing.

Interventional/Surgery

PEPCAD-3: Paclitaxel-coated-balloon/stent system misses mark in de novo coronary lesions

Nov 15, 2009 10:30 EST

Inflation of the paclitaxel-delivering balloon followed by a bare-metal stent failed a randomized noninferiority test against the Cypher sirolimus-eluting stent in previously untreated coronary lesions.

Prevention

Canadian confusion: Primary-care docs lack knowledge of CVD risk factors, prevention

8 COMMENTS - Nov 15, 2009 09:00 EST

Family doctors and general practitioners in Canada are confused about cardiovascular risk assessment in primary prevention, a new survey reveals.

Medscape Medical News

SGR repair bill failure could cool physician support for healthcare reform

Nov 12, 2009 15:00 EST

Now that the US House of Representatives has passed a healthcare reform bill, organized medicine anticipates another vote—possibly next week—on a second bill that would rewrite Medicare's controversial sustainable-growth-rate formula for physician reimbursement.

Interventional/Surgery

DES fractures occur more often than thought

4 COMMENTS - Nov 12, 2009 13:15 EST

A new postmortem study using high-resolution imaging has found that fractures in drug-eluting stents may be more common than thought. However, the majority of such fractures appear to be low-grade and silent, with likely few clinical implications, say the researchers.

News

What's going to be hot at AHA 2009?

2 COMMENTS - Nov 11, 2009 09:00 EST

Anticipation is building for full trial results from ARBITER 6-HALTS, plus a better understanding of what went wrong with cangrelor in the CHAMPION trials. Also in the lineup are updates from PLATO, RE-LY, ALLHAT, BARI 2D, STICH, CASCADE, POPULAR, HEARTMATE II, and many more. Indeed, this year's "late-breaking" sessions include more than 30 trials over five days.

heartbriefs

CT angiography shows coronary plaque progression

Nov 9, 2009 17:00 EST

Coronary plaque burden in patients with acute chest pain increases significantly over two years. A new Harvard study evaluates CTA as a tool to follow the progression.

Arrhythmia/EP

Obesity may top hypertension as risk factor for LA enlargement

Nov 9, 2009 17:00 EST

Obesity and hypertension were major independent risk factors for left atrial enlargement (itself a risk factor for atrial fibrillation) in an observational, population-based study, but obesity was the strongest predictor.

Imaging

DE-MRI shows which myocardial injury is irreversible

Nov 9, 2009 16:00 EST

Distinguishing myocardial scarring with MRI may help predict LV functional recovery.

heartbriefs

Serum phosphorous, kidney function predict CAC

Nov 5, 2009 17:00 EST

The Spokane Heart Study finds a connection between kidney function, serum phosphorus, and the risk of coronary artery calcification.

Imaging

CAC scoring plus SPECT provide long and short view of cardiac risk

7 COMMENTS - Nov 3, 2009 17:00 EST

UPDATED // An 1126-patient trial shows that SPECT and CAC scoring imaging tests are independent and complementary predictors of short- and long-term cardiac risk, respectively.

Imaging

CMS set to cut Medicare physician fees for cardiovascular imaging

19 COMMENTS - Nov 3, 2009 11:45 EST

The 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule released by the CMS makes major cuts to several cardiovascular imaging services.

Imaging

Imaging study shows plaque regression with niacin vs placebo

19 COMMENTS - Oct 30, 2009 16:00 EDT

Just weeks before ARBITER-HALTS 6 results come out at AHA 2009, an MRI study suggests that niacin is better than placebo in statin-treated patients with low HDL, at least for reducing carotid wall area. Experts say they'd also like to see insights into niacin effects on lipid-rich plaque volumes—the more commonly seen end point with MRI.

Heart failure

Benefits of targeted lead placement with CRT devices supported by long-term mortality data

Oct 29, 2009 15:00 EDT

An additional year of data from the INCREMENTAL study showed that echo-targeted LV lead positioning increased the likelihood of a response to device therapy by about 40% over standard lead placement. But does that difference translate into better long-term outcomes for the patient?

Lipid/Metabolic

New MESA data: Pericardial fat a better predictor of CHD than BMI

9 COMMENTS - Oct 23, 2009 17:00 EDT

Pericardial fat, which is found around the heart, predicts future CHD events and may even be a better predictor of these than conventional obesity measures, such as BMI and waist circumference, a new study of MESA participants shows.

heartbriefs

New model connects low-dose radiation to CVD risk

Oct 23, 2009 15:30 EDT

Data from Japanese atomic-bomb survivors and people exposed to radiation in their jobs show that even low doses of ionizing radiation may contribute to cardiovascular disease risk. British researchers have created a complex mathematical model to better understand the relationship between radiation exposure and heart disease.

Brain/Kidney/Peripheral

Iloprost prevents contrast-induced nephropathy in high-risk patients undergoing coronary intervention

Oct 21, 2009 13:00 EDT

Intravenously administered iloprost, a prostacyclin analog, may help prevent contrast-induced nephropathy in patients with renal dysfunction undergoing coronary procedures, a new pilot study suggests.

Imaging

Zero CAC score not 100% reassuring in those presenting to ER with chest pain

14 COMMENTS - Oct 16, 2009 12:45 EDT

In those presenting to the ER with chest pain, a prior zero calcium score cannot completely rule out a coronary obstruction, a new analysis of the MESA study has shown. This is likely due to the presence of soft plaques not detected by calcium screening, the researchers say.

Acute Coronary Syndromes

Racial background woefully underreported in CV trials

1 COMMENT - Oct 15, 2009 13:15 EDT

Two-thirds of the 156 trials considered by the AHA in preparing a recent guideline failed to even record the ethnic backgrounds of participants, a new study has found. The researchers call for the reporting of race/ethnicity to be mandatory in all clinical trials, and they suggest medical journals should enforce this policy.

Imaging

Incidental findings on cardiac CT costly and rarely clinically significant

Oct 6, 2009 15:15 EDT

Among nearly 1000 consecutive patients who underwent cardiac CT, 41% had noncardiac incidental findings, but just 1.2% of these were clinically significant. While another 7% were "indeterminate," none of these inconclusive findings became clinically significant during follow-up.

Clinical cardiology

New "principles" on authorship and COI from PhRMA get mixed response

3 COMMENTS - Oct 2, 2009 12:00 EDT

The "Principles on Conduct of Clinical Trials and Communication of Clinical Trial Results" echo recent standards set by medical journal editors, but some observers say the document, which has no penalty component, lacks real teeth.

Interventional/Surgery

FAUST: Ultrasound guidance improves femoral access in cases of high bifurcation, reduces risk of complication

3 COMMENTS - Sep 29, 2009 09:45 EDT

CORRECTED // A study has found that although ultrasound imaging doesn't seem to improve upon the overall success rate of fluoroscopy-assisted femoral-access PCI, it does seem to facilitate the procedure, reducing the risk of access complications by 59% and doubling the first-pass success rate.

Interventional/Surgery

PROSPECT: Vulnerable lesions lead to unstable angina rather than MI or death

4 COMMENTS - Sep 25, 2009 14:15 EDT

After successful PCI, 20% of patients go on to have a MACE at three years and 12% of patients develop events from nonculprit lesions. PROSPECT investigators say, however, that events from these nonculprit lesions are more likely to be unstable angina or progressive angina, rather than harder events such as MI or cardiac death.