Guidelines on using artery-closing devices: devices are ok, but more research needed
2010-10-05
(Press-News.org) Re-opening a blocked heart artery isn't the only procedure that concerns doctors when they thread instruments through an opening in a thigh artery and into a heart artery. Closing up the thigh artery is also a concern.
Arteriotomy — the process of creating a hole in an "access artery" through which instruments are inserted — is the first step in procedures like angiography (to visualize blockage in the heart or neck arteries) or percutaneous coronary intervention (to re-open blocked heart arteries).
A new statement from the American Heart Association addresses the use of arteriotomy closure devices. Arteriotomy closure is typically done manually, but more devices are entering the market to offer potential improvements over manual closure. The statement is published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
The statement authors conclude that the devices are reasonable to use — and they offer recommendations for their use based on available evidence — but their benefits should be weighed against the risk of complications in patients. Patient-specific factors like age, gender, and disease severity should be considered before using an arteriotomy closure device.
The statement also includes recommendations for future trials and end points needed to inform clinical practice.
###
Co-authors are: Hani Jneid, M.D.; Colin P. Derdeyn, M.D.; Lloyd W. Klein, M.D.; Glenn N. Levine, M.D.; Robert Lookstein, MD, FAHA; Christopher J. White, M.D.; Yerem Yeghiazarians, M.D.; and Kenneth Rosenfield, M.D. Author disclosures are on the manuscript.
Related statistics:
In the Unites States in 2006, the most recent year for which data is available:
1,313,000 percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures were performed
Average hospital charges for catheter procedures:
PCI - $51,445
diagnostic cardiac catheterization (no stent implantation) – $31,181
The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association receives funding mostly from individuals. Foundations and corporations donate as well, and fund specific programs and events. Strict policies are enforced to prevent these relationships from influencing the association's science content. Financial information for the American Heart Association, including a list of contributions from pharmaceutical companies and device manufacturers, is available at www.heart.org/corporatefunding.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2010-10-05
According to a consensus statement by the International Society on Hypertension in Blacks (ISHIB), high blood pressure in African-Americans is such a serious health problem that treatment should start sooner and be more aggressive. The ISHIB statement is published in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Complications related to high blood pressure such as stroke, heart failure and kidney damage occur much more frequently in African-Americans compared with whites.
"Evidence from several recently completed studies converged to convince our committee ...
2010-10-05
San Diego, CA, October 5, 2010 – Influenza pandemics often come in multiple waves. As the one wave subsides, public health officials have to decide whether continuing vaccination programs is warranted to prevent or reduce a subsequent wave. In a new study published in the November issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers report on a new computer model that can be used to predict both subsequent-wave mechanisms and vaccination effectiveness. They conclude that additional waves in an epidemic can be mitigated by vaccination even when an epidemic appears ...
2010-10-05
DURHAM, N.C. -- A new vaccine added to standard therapy appears to offer a survival advantage for patients suffering from glioblastoma (GBM), the most deadly form of brain cancer, according to a study from researchers at Duke University Medical Center and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
The vaccine also knocks out a troublesome growth factor that characterizes the most aggressive form of the disease.
"About a third of all glioblastomas are fueled by a very aggressive cancer gene, called EGFRvIII; these tumors are the 'worst of the worst,'" said John ...
2010-10-05
Headed by the Kiel zoologist Professor Thomas Bosch, a team of scientists from Germany and Russia succeeded in deciphering the mechanisms, for the first time, with which embryos of the freshwater polyp Hydra protect themselves against bacterial colonization. The paper will be published this coming Monday (4 October 2010, press embargo 3pm US Eastern Time) in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).
The researchers from Kiel University found a completely different composition of bacterial colonization ...
2010-10-05
Children diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at ages 4 to 6 are more likely to suffer from depression as adolescents than those who did not have ADHD at that age, according to a long-term study published in the October issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. Although it was an uncommon occurrence, the children with ADHD also were somewhat more likely to think about or attempt suicide as adolescents.
"This study is important in demonstrating that, even during early childhood, ADHD in is seldom transient or unimportant" said study director ...
2010-10-05
EDITOR'S NOTE: An image is available at http://www.news.wisc.edu/newsphotos/bird-biodiversity.html
— David Tenenbaum, 608-265-8549, djtenenb@wisc.edu
END ...
2010-10-05
Babies whose mothers who receive influenza vaccines while pregnant appear less likely to be infected with flu or hospitalized for respiratory illnesses in their first six months of life, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the February 2011 print issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Young children are consistently at higher risk of complications from infection with the influenza virus, according to background information in the article. However, they are ineligible to be vaccinated until age ...
2010-10-05
Household investigations for suspected child maltreatment by Child Protective Services may not be associated with improvements in common, modifiable risk factors including social support, family functioning, poverty and others, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
"A Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation, regardless of outcome, signals a household at risk," the authors write as background information in the article. "In the years following CPS investigation, households ...
2010-10-05
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Using ice cream, candy bars and energy drinks to help volunteers gain weight, Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered the mechanisms of how body fat grows. Increased abdominal fat seems to heighten risk for metabolic disease, while fat expansion in the lower body -- as in the thighs -- seems to lower the risk. The findings, appearing in today's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), help explain why.
"The cellular mechanisms are different," explains Michael Jensen, M.D., Mayo Clinic endocrinologist and lead author of the study. "The ...
2010-10-05
In the past decade, cultural and gender-based differences in the frequency of drunkenness among adolescents have declined, as drunkenness has become more common in Eastern Europe and among girls and less common in Western countries and among boys, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the February 2011 print issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Alcohol use is a major risk factor for illness, injury and death worldwide, especially in adolescence and young adulthood, according to background information ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Guidelines on using artery-closing devices: devices are ok, but more research needed
