Interventional/Surgery
7 COMMENTS - Feb 1, 2010 13:45 EST
In a study of 4586 patients with severe degenerative mitral regurgitation, even mild heart-failure symptoms are associated with decline in cardiac function, suggesting that early valve surgery will yield better long-term outcomes than surgery after symptoms become manifest.

Fort Lauderdale, FL - The authors of a large study of mitral-valve repair in asymptomatic patients argue in favor of early surgery, when the chances of procedural success are highest, instead of waiting for heart-failure symptoms to appear [1].

Current American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) guidelines suggest that surgery is acceptable in mitral-regurgitation patients with no symptoms or changes in the left ventricle, if the chances of surgery success are at least 90%. However, the majority of patients in the US meeting these criteria do not have early surgery, lead author Dr A Marc Gillinov (Cleveland Clinic, OH) explained to heartwire. "The problem with this strategy is that delay, in some patients, results in damage to the left ventricle."  Read full article »

Inside: Interventional/Surgery
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Interventional/Surgery
Feb 9, 2010 10:30 EST
The overall rate of target lesion revascularization after sirolimus-eluting-stent implantation was 11% at four years, with an overall incidence of stent thrombosis of less than 1% annually, report investigators.
Prevention
Feb 8, 2010 17:00 EST
Providing patients with their global coronary heart disease risk appears to improve the accuracy of their risk perception, and repeating risk information improves outcomes slightly, according to a review of 20 studies.
Imaging
2 COMMENTS - Feb 8, 2010 17:00 EST
Zero coronary calcification does not exclude obstructive stenosis or the need for revascularization in patients referred for coronary angiography, according to a new substudy of the CORE 64 study.
Arrhythmia/EP
Feb 5, 2010 09:30 EST
Non-procedure-related clinical issues, such as diabetes or device-related infection, are a major cause of poor procedural and clinical outcomes; still, the overall success rate is high, and complication rate is very low, suggests a multicenter experience of >1400 cases.
heartbriefs
2 COMMENTS - Feb 4, 2010 15:45 EST
The negative results, according to researchers, highlight the need for more research to develop medications targeted specifically at reducing abdominal aortic aneurysm growth.
News
1 COMMENT - Feb 3, 2010 14:30 EST
A study comparing cardiovascular outcomes at the "best hospitals," according to two popular hospital ranking systems, shows that the systems do identify high-quality hospitals, but not all of them.
Clinical cardiology
Feb 1, 2010 17:00 EST
More than 15 million people in the US alone take herbal remedies and/or vitamins at doses that may be interacting with their cardiovascular medications, potentially putting them at risk.
Thrombosis
Feb 1, 2010 17:00 EST
Tapering off clopidogrel treatment after the implantation of a drug-eluting stent does not result in lower platelet-aggregation values than those seen after the antiplatelet medication is abruptly stopped.
Interventional/Surgery
1 COMMENT - Feb 1, 2010 17:00 EST
Diclofenac does not reduce pericardial effusions, according to the POPE study. This should signal the end of routine use of NSAIDs in this indication, comments an expert.
Interventional/Surgery
2 COMMENTS - Feb 1, 2010 11:30 EST
A small study suggests supports the safety of early surgery for mitral regurgitation in the setting of endocarditis, instead of waiting for the usual six weeks for antibiotics to work.
Imaging
4 COMMENTS - Jan 29, 2010 13:45 EST
The study is one of the first to compare rates of thin-cap, or vulnerable, plaques in AMI survivors and stable-angina patients, identifying important differences.
Editorial Programs
Editorial series
Feb 4, 2010 15:00 EST
Dr Eric Topol talks to heartwire's Shelley Wood about remote monitoring, individualized medicine, and the changing face of cardiovascular care.
Editorial series
Jan 29, 2010 10:30 EST
Watch Drs Bob Harrington, Sanjay Kaul, and Gregg Stone as they debate the future of ticagrelor in a discussion moderated by heartwire's Lisa Nainggolan.
Editorial series
Dec 2, 2009 11:15 EST
AHA president Dr Clyde Yancy and CEO Nancy Brown share insights from the recent sessions and discuss ongoing initiatives with heartwire's Shelley Wood.
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