April 13th, 2015
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: April 13th
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include the TOTAL trial and surgical ablation of AF during mitral-valve surgery.
December 15th, 2014
The Latest on Culprit-Vessel vs. Multivessel Primary PCI for STEMI
Bilal Iqbal, MBBS MRCP PhD and CardioExchange Editors, Staff
We interview Bilal Iqbal about his real-world observational analysis of culprit-vessel vs. multivessel intervention at the time of primary PCI for STEMI.
December 1st, 2014
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: December 1st
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include atenolol vs. losartan in children and young adults with Marfan’s syndrome, the Japanese Primary Prevention Project, and more.
November 26th, 2014
Resolving the Questions About Door-to-Balloon Times
Brahmajee Kartik Nallamothu, MD, MPH
Brahmajee K. Nallamothu discusses his research group’s retrospective study of changes, over time, in the relation between door-to-balloon times and mortality after primary PCI.
September 22nd, 2014
ACC Withdraws ‘Choosing Wisely’ Recommendation Against Revascularization of Nonculprit Lesions
Larry Husten, PHD
The American College of Cardiology said today that it was withdrawing one of its five recommendations in the “Choosing Wisely” campaign. In 2012 the ACC recommended that heart attack patients should have only their culprit artery unblocked. It said that patients and caregivers should question whether complete revascularization of all nonculprit lesions in heart attack […]
September 1st, 2014
New Support For Complete Revascularization During Primary PCI
Larry Husten, PHD
Until recently, MI patients receiving emergency PCI would only have the culprit artery opened. Complete revascularization of non-infarct-related arteries was performed later. The conventional wisdom was that revascularization of non-infarct-related arteries could be dangerous. That wisdom began to change last year with the PRAMI trial, which found no evidence of harm and a suggestion of benefit in […]
July 14th, 2014
Can Bivalirudin Stand the HEAT?
Eric Jose Velazquez, MD
Harlan Krumholz interviews Peter Berger, an editorialist for the HEAT-PPCI study, about the paper’s findings.
July 7th, 2014
HEAT-PPCI: Heparin Beats Bivalirudin in Primary PCI
Larry Husten, PHD
Although there is broad consensus in the medical community that primary PCI is the best treatment for MI patients when it can be delivered promptly, there is no agreement about the best accompanying drug regimen, which usually entails a combination of antiplatelet and antithrombotic drugs. The role of one antithrombotic, bivalirudin (Angiomax, The Medicines Company) has […]
June 30th, 2014
Registry Study Offers Reassurance About Newer Drug-Eluting Stents
Larry Husten, PHD
Findings from a large ongoing registry study provide some reassurance about the long-term safety of new-generation drug-eluting stents (DES) in patients with STEMI who undergo primary PCI. The results are published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. SCAAR (Swedish Coronary Angiography and Angioplasty Registry) investigators analyzed data from 34,000 primary PCI patients who […]
April 22nd, 2014
Large French Registry Lends Support To Pharmaco-Invasive Strategy For STEMI
Larry Husten, PHD
It is generally agreed that the best treatment for STEMI patients is immediate reperfusion with PCI. But for many patients primary PCI is not available within the time frame leading to the greatest benefit. Previous studies have found good short-term outcomes in patients who receive a pharmaco-invasive strategy, in which patients first receive fibrinolytic therapy and […]
