Angioplasty News and Research

RSS

In angioplasty procedures, a balloon is fed through a catheter and used to prop open an artery that has become narrowed or blocked. In cases where stenting is appropriate, a stent mounted on a balloon is inserted and inflation of the balloon expands the stent against the blocked artery wall to hold the vessel open. The balloon is then deflated and the catheter is withdrawn. Stent treatment of arteries holds them open and improves blood flow to the heart. In cases where post-dilatation is needed, a high-pressure balloon is inflated inside a stent to help better place the stent against the vessel wall.

Riverside Methodist Hospital treats first PAD patient with Cook Medical's Zilver PTX device

Just weeks after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Cook Medical's Zilver PTX Drug-Eluting Peripheral Stent, Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, has treated the first patient with the device as part of Cook's U.S. commercial launch.

19 Dec 2012

Some stroke patients may benefit from cerebral angioplasty and stent placement

Some stroke patients may benefit from cerebral angioplasty and stent placement, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.

11 Dec 2012

Boston Medical Center recognized among Leapfrog Group's Top Hospitals

The Leapfrog Group's annual list of Top Hospitals was announced on December 4th in Baltimore, Maryland and included Boston Medical Center in Boston, MA for the first time. The announcement came at Leapfrog's Annual Meeting, focusing on transparency as the key to improved hospital safety, and Top Hospital Awards.

6 Dec 2012

Pipeline embolization device shows promise in treating brain aneurysms

A new technology called the Pipeline embolization device (PED) shows encouraging results in patients with certain types of difficult-to-treat brain aneurysms, reports the December issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

4 Dec 2012

Heart attack centres: an interview with Dr Sayan Sen

Heart attack networks are designed to facilitate the rapid transfer of heart attack patients to centres with facilities that allow the manual unblocking of the coronary artery with angioplasty.

3 Dec 2012

Coronary artery bypass grafting safe for dialysis patients

Among the two available procedures for opening blocked arteries surrounding the heart, one appears to be safer than the other for dialysis patients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

30 Nov 2012

FDA approves Velomedix’s IDE to expand design of VELOCITY trial for heart attack

Velomedix, Inc., a venture-backed medical device company advancing the field of therapeutic hypothermia, announced it has received Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expand the design of its VELOCITY pilot clinical trial.

29 Nov 2012

Enrollment complete in Tryton's Pivotal IDE Side Branch Stent trial to treat bifurcation lesions

Tryton Medical, Inc., the leading developer of stents designed to definitively treat bifurcation lesions, today announced the completion of enrollment in the TRYTON Pivotal IDE trial evaluating the Tryton Side Branch Stent.

26 Nov 2012

FDA approves Cook's Zilver PTX drug-eluting peripheral stent

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that its partner Cook Medical, Inc. received approval on November 15, 2012 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market and sell the proprietary Zilver PTX drug-eluting peripheral stent, adding the United States to the list of over 50 markets, including the European Union and Japan, where Zilver PTX is approved for sale.

16 Nov 2012

Cook receives FDA approval for Zilver PTX Drug-Eluting Peripheral Stent to treat PAD

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Zilver PTX Drug-Eluting Peripheral Stent (Zilver PTX Stent), the first drug-eluting stent indicated to re-open a particular artery in the thigh (femoropopliteal artery) when narrowed or blocked as a result of peripheral artery disease (PAD).

15 Nov 2012

Heart attack centres play a vital role in saving patients’ lives

Recent studies questioning the role of specialist heart attack centres produced misleading results because doctors tend to send the sickest patients to have the best care, according to new research.

14 Nov 2012

FREEDOM results announced

Results from the FREEDOM trial show that coronary artery bypass graft surgery significantly reduces the risk for adverse outcomes compared with percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with diabetes and coronary artery disease.

8 Nov 2012

Cause of heart attacks or strokes may be different in some patients treated with anti-platelet drugs

The cause of heart attacks or strokes among some patients treated with anti-platelet drugs may be different than for patients who have undergone surgical procedures to restore blood flow, according to researchers at Duke Medicine.

7 Nov 2012

Positive results from BioCardia's Helical Infusion System Phase 1/2 trial on ischemic cardiomyopathy

BioCardia, Inc., focused on regenerative biologic therapies for cardiovascular disease, today announced positive results from a Phase 1/2 heart failure trial using the Company's Helical Infusion System, comprising the Helical Infusion System Catheter and Morph Vascular Access Catheter, to deliver allogeneic, or "off-the-shelf," and autologous, or from the treated patient, mesenchymal (adult) stem cells (MSCs) via transendocardial injection.

7 Nov 2012

Patients with diabetes, multi-vessel coronary artery disease can benefit from bypass surgery

An international, clinical research trial has shown that patients with diabetes whose multi-vessel coronary artery disease is treated with bypass surgery live longer and are less likely to suffer severe complications like heart attacks than those who undergo angioplasty.

6 Nov 2012

Bypass surgery offers people with diabetes better long-term survival than stents

People with diabetes mellitus who undergo heart bypass surgery for multiple blocked arteries have a significantly better 5-year-survival rate than diabetic patients who undergo angioplasty with drug-eluting stents (DES), according to a study published in the November 2012 issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

3 Nov 2012

Cilostazol reduces restenosis after angioplasty in critical limb ischemia

The quinolinone derivative cilostazol may be associated with reduced restenosis, reocclusion, and clinically driven target lesion revascularization 3 months after infrapopliteal angioplasty, researchers say.

30 Oct 2012

St. Luke's cardiologist wins TCT 2012 Geoffrey O. Hartzler Master Clinical Operator Award

Barry D. Rutherford, MD, a world renowned interventional cardiologist, was presented the TCT 2012 Geoffrey O. Hartzler Master Clinical Operator Award in a ceremony held today during the 24th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium, sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF).

29 Oct 2012

Trial finds benefits in using radial approach for primary angioplasty in heart attack patients

A study found several benefits in using the radial artery in the arm as the entry point for angioplasty or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) compared to the femoral artery in the leg. Results of the STEMI-RADIAL trial were presented today at the 24th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium.