CardioExchange Archive

June 10th, 2011

TAVR: A Stroke of Genius or Bad Luck?

Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA and L. David Hillis, MD

After presentations at the ACC and American Association for Thoracic Surgery 2011 meetings, the PARTNER A results are finally published. PARTNER A compared  transaortic valve replacement (TAVR, also known as TAVI) with surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR) in patients with aortic stenosis who were eligible for AVR but considered to be at high surgical risk . At 1-year […]

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June 5th, 2011

PARTNER A Results Published in NEJM

Larry Husten, PHD

Following its initial presentation at the ACC meeting in March, the results of PARTNER A have now been published online in the New England Journal of Medicine, in conjunction with a presentation at the Transcatheter Valve Therapies meeting in Vancouver. As reported previously, 699 high-risk older patients with severe aortic stenosis were randomized to either transcatheter aortic […]

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May 16th, 2011

Sleep Deprivation Not as Bad as We Think for Cardiac Surgeons

Larry Husten, PHD

Sleep deprivation in cardiac surgeons does not lead to worse surgical outcomes, according to a study published in the Archives of Surgery. Michael Chu and colleagues collected sleep information from six consultant surgeons working at a large hospital in Ontario, Canada and outcome data from their 4,047 patients who underwent cardiac surgery from 2004 through 2009. […]

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May 12th, 2011

TAVI & Stroke: More Details Surface About PARTNER A

Larry Husten, PHD

In the past year transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has emerged as a possible new treatment for patients with aortic valve disease who are not surgical candidates (the PARTNER B study) and for some patients as a viable alternative to surgery (the PARTNER A study). TAVI was found to be noninferior to surgery in the […]

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May 9th, 2011

Higher Periprocedural Risk for Stroke Found in Women Undergoing Carotid Stenting

Larry Husten, PHD

The periprocedural risk for stroke is higher among women undergoing carotid artery stenting than among those undergoing carotid endarterectomy, according to new results from the Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy versus Stenting Trial (CREST) published online in the Lancet Neurology. The same pattern was not found in men. Last year, the main results from CREST showed no overall […]

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May 3rd, 2011

CABG Takes the Brunt of Decline in Revascularization Procedures

Larry Husten, PHD

In recent years, the overall revascularization rate in the U.S. has declined only slightly, but CABG rates have taken the brunt of the change, while PCI rates have remained relatively stable, according to a new study by Andrew Epstein and colleagues published in JAMA. The researchers found that from 2001-2002 to 2007-2008: The annual rate of revascularization […]

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April 11th, 2011

PARTNER A: An Investigator’s View

Michael Mack, M.D.

CardioExchange welcomes Dr. Michael Mack to discuss the results of the PARTNER study of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) versus surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR) in patients with aortic stenosis, which were just released at the ACC meetings in New Orleans. Dr. Mack was one of the principal investigators in this and the recently published […]

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April 8th, 2011

Who Might Merit the MitraClip?

Ted Feldman, MD

CardioExchange welcomes Ted Feldman, lead investigator for the EVEREST II study published earlier this week in the NEJM and presented at the ACC Scientific Sessions in New Orleans. Drs. Richard A. Lange and L. David Hillis, of CardioExchange, asked Dr. Feldman about the nuances of this randomized trial, in which percutaneous repair was compared with […]

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April 7th, 2011

STICH: What’s the Value of CABG in Patients with LV Dysfunction?

Eric Jose Velazquez, MD

CardioExchange welcomes Eric J. Velazquez, an investigator for the STICH (Surgical Treatment for Ischemic Heart Failure) trial, results of which were recently published in two articles in the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Velazquez is the lead author of the STICH article that focuses on the clinical value of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) […]

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April 4th, 2011

PRECOMBAT Explores PCI Versus CABG for Left Main Disease

Larry Husten, PHD

In the PRECOMBAT trial, Korean investigators randomized 600 patients with unprotected left main disease to either PCI with a sirolimus-eluting stent or CABG. The results were presented at the ACC and published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine. At 1 year, the incidence of the primary composite endpoint – death from any cause, MI, […]

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