CardioExchange Archive

January 4th, 2013

Missouri Board Issues Emergency Suspension of Cardiologist Accused of Implanting Unnecessary Stents

Larry Husten, PHD

A Missouri cardiologist who has been accused of unnecessarily implanting stents in six patients has been temporarily barred from seeing patients. The Missouri State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts, which licenses physicians and investigates and disciplines physicians in cases of accused misconduct, issued an emergency suspension of the cardiologist’s license to practice, according to a […]

---

June 12th, 2012

ACC Releases Appropriate Use Criteria for Noninvasive Peripheral Vascular Tests

Larry Husten, PHD

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) has published appropriate use criteria (AUC) for peripheral vascular ultrasound and physiological testing. The criteria were developed in coordination with 10 other medical societies. “This is the first systematic and comprehensive evaluation looking at appropriate indications for vascular testing, such as ultrasound or functional testing,” said Emile Mohler III, the chair […]

---

May 14th, 2012

Revascularization in New York State: High Questionable Rates for PCI but Not CABG

Larry Husten, PHD

A large study looking at real-world use of elective coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) and stenting (PCI) in New  York State finds that nearly two thirds of PCI procedures have inappropriate or uncertain indications. By contrast, 90% of CABG procedures were deemed appropriate and 1.1% inappropriate. In a paper published in the Journal of the American College […]

---

February 22nd, 2012

Part 5: Clashing Views of Appropriate Use Criteria for PCI

Paul S. Chan, MD, MS, Steve Marso, MD, John Spertus, MD, MPH and J Aaron Grantham, MD, FACC

In a recent Viewpoint in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, Marso and colleagues expressed grave reservations about the application of appropriate use criteria for PCI in a controversial study published last year in JAMA by Chan and colleagues, which found that only half of PCIs performed for nonacute indications were classified as appropriate. Interventional cardiology editors Rick Lange and David Hillis asked CardioExchange members for their […]

---

February 17th, 2012

Part 3: Clashing Views of Appropriate Use Criteria for PCI

John Spertus, MD, MPH, Steve Marso, MD, J Aaron Grantham, MD, FACC and Paul S. Chan, MD, MS

In a recent Viewpoint in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, Marso and colleagues expressed grave reservations about the application of appropriate use criteria for PCI in a controversial study published last year in JAMA by Chan and colleagues, which found that only half of PCIs performed for nonacute indications were classified as appropriate. Interventional cardiology editors Rick Lange and David Hillis asked CardioExchange members for their […]

---

February 16th, 2012

Part 2: Clashing Views of Appropriate Use Criteria for PCI

J Aaron Grantham, MD, FACC, John Spertus, MD, MPH, Steve Marso, MD and Paul S. Chan, MD, MS

In a recent Viewpoint in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, Marso and colleagues expressed grave reservations about the application of appropriate use criteria for PCI in a controversial study published last year in JAMA by Chan and colleagues, which found that only half of PCIs performed for nonacute indications were classified as appropriate. Interventional cardiology editors Rick Lange and David Hillis asked CardioExchange members for their […]

---

February 15th, 2012

Part 1: Clashing Views of Appropriate Use Criteria for PCI

Paul S. Chan, MD, MS, J Aaron Grantham, MD, FACC, Steve Marso, MD and John Spertus, MD, MPH

In a recent Viewpoint in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, Marso and colleagues expressed grave reservations about the application of appropriate use criteria for PCI in a controversial study published last year in JAMA by Chan and colleagues, which found that only half of PCIs performed for nonacute indications were classified as appropriate. Interventional cardiology editors Rick Lange and David Hillis asked CardioExchange […]

---

February 8th, 2012

Prominent Interventionalists Attack Appropriate Use Criteria for PCI

Larry Husten, PHD

A group of leading interventional cardiologists has launched an attack on the growing role of appropriate use criteria (AUC) for PCI in the U.S. They argue that severe flaws in current guidelines render unreliable attempts to assess the rate of appropriate procedures. In a paper published in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, Steven Marso and colleagues (Paul Teirstein, Dean […]

---

February 8th, 2012

(In)Appropriate PCI: An (In)Appropriate Critique?

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

According to a recently published study by Chan and colleagues, only 50% of the PCIs performed for nonacute indications were classified as appropriate, according to appropriate use criteria (AUC); 38% were “uncertain,” and 12% were inappropriate. In a new expedited publication, Marso and colleagues  retort by expressing concerns with the “current” PCI AUC (see also our CardioExchange news coverage here). […]

---

January 31st, 2012

Appropriate Use Criteria for Revascularization Updated

Larry Husten, PHD

The ACC, AHA, and other organizations have released updated appropriate use criteria for coronary revascularization. The 2012 Appropriate Use Criteria for Coronary Revascularization Focused Update incorporates data from the SYNTAX trial on the indications for PCI and CABG in patients with symptomatic, multivessel disease, as well as data from the CathPCI registry. Here are some of the key ratings: […]

---