Topic

Cardiac Catheterization


Feature: Single sestamibi injection may suffice for ischemic detection

Web Exclusives | Wednesday, August 04 2010
Written by Manjula Puthenedam
“By comparing the redistribution results of technetium-99m sestamibi at five minutes and 60 minutes post stress after a single injection, we can come up with an accurate picture of how much heart disease is present, and with a reduced radiation exposure,” said Richard M. Fleming, MD, in an interview.
 

JACC Feature: MPI studies responsible for 74% of cumulative rad dose

Web Exclusives | Monday, July 12 2010
Written by Manjula Puthenedam
Cardiac imaging procedures represent an important source of ionizing radiation in the U.S., and the distribution of cumulative effective doses can lead to sizable radiation exposure for many individuals, according to a study published online July 7 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Better strategies to minimize the radiation exposure from cardiac imaging procedures should be encouraged, said the study's lead author Jersey Chen, MD, in an interview.
 

AHA: Higher MACE rates, costs associated with certain contrast agents

Conference News | Monday, May 24 2010
Major adverse coronary events (MACE) are a complication in cardiac caths and PCI with substantial resource utilization and costs, according to a study presented at American Heart Association’s Quality of Care and Outcomes Research in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke Scientific Sessions in Washington, D.C., last week.
 

AJR: CCTA is cost-effective alternative to cardiact cath for CAD evaluation

Clinical Studies | Wednesday, April 21 2010
Non-invasive coronary CT angiography (CCTA) is a cost-effective alternative to invasive cardiac catheterization in the care of patients who have positive stress test results, but less than a 50 percent chance of having coronary artery disease (CAD), according to a study in the May issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.
 

ECR: Contrast media selection key to reducing nephrotoxicity

Clinical Studies | Friday, March 12 2010
The use of contrast media agent iodixanol (Visipaque, GE Healthcare) may be an appropriate strategy for reducing the risk of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in elderly patients with renal impairment undergoing coronary intervention for suspected coronary artery disease, according to a study presented during the European Congress of Radiology’s (ECR) annual conference in Vienna.
 

NEJM Feature: Are too many angiograms being performed on patients w/o CAD?

Top Stories | Wednesday, March 10 2010
Written by Justine Cadet
Slightly more than one-third of patients without known disease, who underwent elective cardiac catheterization, had obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) out of nearly 400,000 patients at 663 sites, based on study findings published March 11 in the New England Journal of Medicine. However, in an interview, Timothy D. Henry, MD, from Minneapolis Heart Institute, said that when reviewing the study’s data in its entirety, it appears that most practices are performing these procedures properly.
 

Trial launched to assess 320-slice CT ability to detect CAD

Industry News | Saturday, February 06 2010
An international study on CT perfusion imaging at 15 medical centers in eight countries, led by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, have enrolled the first dozen patients to figure out how well various imaging tests can measure the degree of blockage or narrowing in any particular artery and their use in predicting patients who need catheterization or angioplasty, or bypass surgery.
 

Radiology: U.S. collective radiation dose doubles

Top Stories | Wednesday, November 04 2009
The total collective radiation dose to the U.S. population has doubled since 1980 and U.S. per-capita annual effective dose from medical procedures was six times greater in 2006 than it was in 1980, according to an article published in the November issue of Radiology.
 

CMS' physician fee final rule includes ‘enormous’ cuts for cardiology

Top Stories | Saturday, October 31 2009
With the exception of evaluation and management services, nearly all services that cardiologists perform will see cuts ranging from 10 percent to more than 40 percent for individual services phased in over four years, according to the just-released Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule. The cuts will be phased in over a four-year period, which is a slight change from the proposed rule.
 

Carestream unveils new cardiology PACS

New Products | Thursday, October 22 2009
Carestream Health has released a new Web-based cardiology PACS product in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy.
 

Report: U.S. cardiology practices expand adoption of 64-slice CT

Industry News | Wednesday, February 04 2009
The adoption of 64-slice CT scanners by U.S. cardiology practices has more than doubled over the past two years, according to a report released this month by market research firm IMV Medical Information Division.
 

FDA clears Access Scientific safety introducer for vascular procedures

Regulatory News | Wednesday, December 10 2008
Access Scientific has received FDA clearance for its MicroAccess Wand, a safety introducer, which enables clinicians to insert a sheath or catheter into the peripheral vasculature.
 

NEJM: CorE 64 study affirms 64-slice CT as cardiac cath alternative

Top Stories | Wednesday, November 26 2008
 
In a development that researchers say could quell concerns about the value of costly CT scans to diagnose coronary artery blockages, the results from the CorE-64 study were published online Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The results confirm that 64-slice CT scans can correctly identify people with major blood vessel disease and that they are nearly as accurate as invasive coronary angiography. The initial findings from CorE-64 were presented at the 2007 annual American Heart Association’s (AHA) Scientific Sessions last November. The results released this week reflect the study’s updated data.
 

McLaren Health installs ProSolv CardioVascular

Contracts & Installations | Wednesday, October 15 2008
ProSolv Cardiovascular, a Fujifilm company, has signed a new sole source agreement with McLaren Health Care of Flint, Mich., to implement cardiovascular image and information systems (CVIIS) for cardiac catheterization and echocardiography at all McLaren facilities.
 

CVIS Spurs Innovation

Special Section | Monday, October 13 2008
Written by Lisa Fratt
Savvy cardiology departments tap into CVIS to engineer cost-savings, streamline workflow and better patient care.
 
Web Exclusives

Feature: U.S. needs national strategy to curb imaging overutilization

Medical imaging overutilization--a growing concern in the U.S.--exposes patients to unnecessary radiation, while also adding to rising healthcare costs, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in Radiology. In an interview, William R. Hendee, PhD, lead author, reviewed various methods by which medical imaging could be curtailed.

Radiology: Prelim study shows CE breast CT outperforms CT, mammo

Dedicated contrast-enhanced (CE) breast CT delivered significantly improved conspicuity of malignant breast lesions, including ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), compared with unenhanced breast CT and mammography, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology.

Radiology: Rad role may evolve as image-guided biopsies trend up

CT, ultrasound and MRI have helped shift biopsy techniques away from more invasive approaches toward image-guided percutaneous techniques, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology. The trend toward less-invasive approaches translates into enhanced safety and efficiency and could lead to more interaction between patients and radiologists.

CMS Webinar: Incentive payments to offset EHR adoption, not reimburse

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) EHR incentive payments are not considered reimbursement for money expended on EHR technology, but are intended to offset the cost associated with adoption and ongoing meaningful use, according to CMS during an Aug. 12 webinar.

CMS webinar: Eligible professionals can expect EHR incentives in 2011

Funding incentives for EHR use is the main goal of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) meaningful use initiative, and there are incentive programs for both hospitals and eligible professionals, according to Elizabeth Holland, health insurance specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke during a CMS-sponsored webinar Aug. 8.

Webinar: Stage 1 of meaningful use is for quality reporting acclimation

Stage 1 requirements for meaningful use incentives aim to strike a balance between the overall goal of EHR use and widespread adoption, while avoiding added work, said Jonathan Teich, MD, PhD, chief medical informatics officer at Elsevier Health Services, during a HIMSS webinar titled “Meaningful Use: Safety and Quality of Care.”

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