AATS 2011 - Cardiology Conference Coverage

Heartwire

Interventional/Surgery

Patients aren't healthier, but bypass is safer than in 1999

2 COMMENTS - May 13, 2011 09:45 EDT

The predicted mortality of CABG patients stayed about the same from 2000 through 2008 as their actual mortality, and stroke rates declined dramatically, indicating that it's time to set new benchmarks.

Interventional/Surgery

Pulmonary hypertension curbs MV repair results

3 COMMENTS - May 12, 2011 16:30 EDT

Preoperative pulmonary hypertension is an independent predictor of worse short- and long- term survival after surgery for mitral regurgitation.

Interventional/Surgery

Attention to quality more important than surgeon's volume for CABG outcomes

2 COMMENTS - May 11, 2011 10:30 EDT

Two studies put the well-established relationship between surgeon volume and outcomes into perspective.

Interventional/Surgery

High-risk transplant patients have best survival odds at high-volume transplant centers

May 11, 2011 08:45 EDT

A large registry analysis shows that high-risk patients have very high mortality rate when transplanted at low-volume centers, but that the center's volume does not matter much in relatively low-risk patients.

Interventional/Surgery

Surgeons caution against overenthusiasm for TAVI in light of PARTNER A stroke data

May 10, 2011 09:30 EDT

Surgeons in the US say they don't want to see transcatheter aortic-valve implants substituted for as many valve-replacement surgeries as they have in Europe, because the PARTNER A neurological events data show that the traditional surgical approach has a lower risk of neurological events and the durability of TAVI is not yet proven.

Interventional/Surgery

PARTNER A: Stroke with TAVI speaks to arteriosclerotic burden, baseline risk

May 9, 2011 08:30 EDT

UPDATED // More analysis of the neurological events in patients treated with a transcatheter valve in the PARTNER cohort A trial should help flesh out the risk/benefit profile with the new, less invasive aortic-valve technology.