Catheterization News and Research

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Hypnosis helps kids undergoing difficult procedure called voiding cystourethography

Elaine Miller desperately wanted to find a way to help her daughter, Hannah, endure an awkward and painful medical examination in which doctors insert a catheter into her bladder, inject a dye and ask her to urinate while being X-rayed.

4 Jan 2005

Angioplasty may replace bypass for more patients who are also receiving a new heart valve

The death rate during combination surgery to bypass clogged coronary arteries and simultaneously replace a heart valve in very sick patients can be as high as one in five, but a review of records of very sick patients who underwent balloon angioplasty, followed by heart valve replacement surgery, found only one death among 26 patients.

4 Jan 2005

Study evaluates new stroke prevention treatment

Doctors at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center are evaluating a new treatment designed to prevent strokes caused by a small heart defect.

21 Dec 2004

Cardiovascular experts issue blueprint for safer X-Ray imaging

Millions of invasive cardiovascular procedures that involve the use of potentially hazardous X-rays are done in the United States each year.

8 Dec 2004

Carbon coatings to prevent bacteria collecting on indwelling catheters

This team of physicists have coated catheters and ureter stents with an extremely thin layer of diamond-like carbon. DLC-coated surfaces do not react chemically with their environment; they are hardwearing, can be sterilised and reduce friction.

18 Nov 2004

A new magnetic navigation system shows promise for use during percutaneous coronary interventions

The magnetic-assisted intervention is being introduced in the United States and Europe, with fewer than 15 systems installed at institutions worldwide. Developed by Stereotaxis, Inc., a St. Louis firm, the system was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2003.

9 Nov 2004

Scientists have developed a fast and safe method for collecting heart stem cells from small amounts of biopsied heart tissue

In human and animal studies, scientists at Johns Hopkins have developed a fast and safe method for collecting heart stem cells from remarkably small amounts of biopsied heart tissue (15 mg or less), and growing the cells in the lab to get more.

9 Nov 2004

New valve repair device that could replace major heart surgery

The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) is participating in a nationwide clinical trial of a new valve repair device that could replace major heart surgery in some patients.

8 Nov 2004

Coronary stents have no impact on mortality over the long term

While the placement of stents in newly reopened coronary arteries has been shown to reduce the need for repeat angioplasty procedures, researchers from the Duke Clinical Research Institute have found that stents have no impact on mortality over the long term.

8 Nov 2004

Rosiglitazone helps boost the effectiveness of a treatment for opening clogged arteries

Rosiglitazone, a drug taken to help improve blood sugar levels, also helps boost the effectiveness of a treatment for opening clogged arteries, according to a study in the November issue of Diabetes Care.

25 Oct 2004

Gene variations explain why people with type 2 diabetes are at much greater risk for coronary artery disease

New studies by an international team of scientists led by Joslin Diabetes Center have found variations in a gene that help explain why people with type 2 diabetes are at much greater risk for coronary artery disease, the leading cause of death for this group.

21 Oct 2004

Coronary angioplasty within 24 hours of medical therapy could improve the outcome for heart-attack patients

Results of a randomised trial in this week’s issue of THE LANCET suggest that a more aggressive approach involving coronary angioplasty soon after anticlotting medical therapy is safe and could offer a better prognosis than more conservative treatment for patients who have had heart attack.

17 Sep 2004

Surgery for angina in the elderly provides long-term mortality

Elderly people who undergo surgery or angioplasty to treat chest pain fare just as well long-term as those treated with medication, researchers report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

30 Aug 2004

FDA clears device to remove blood clots from the brain in patients experiencing an ischemic stroke

An ischemic stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked by a blood clot which can impair brain function and cause severe disability or death. Of the 700,000 annual strokes in the US, approximately 83 percent (or 581,000) are ischemic. The Merci Retriever is a novel therapy that removes clots, restores blood flow and offers hope for ischemic stroke patients with no other options.

16 Aug 2004

New guidelines for pulmonary arterial hypertension caution the use of calcium channel blockers

A new evidence-based guideline for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) cautions the use of calcium channel blockers, a commonly used treatment for high blood pressure, in unstable patients due to the potentially fatal side effects associated with the medication.

13 Jul 2004

New guidelines for treating heart attacks

If your chest pain worsens and lasts more than five minutes, especially if you’re short of breath, feel weak, nauseated or lightheaded, call 9-1-1—you could be having a heart attack.

8 Jul 2004

Aggressive treatment of brain blood clots can produce a good outcome for many stroke patients

In the study, published in a recent issue of the journal Neurosurgery, 50 percent of stroke patients had little or no neurological disability one to three months after clot-dissolving medication was delivered directly to the site of the blockages, compared to 39 percent of patients with similarly good outcomes documented in a large national trial of intravenous (IV) drug treatment for stroke.

21 Jun 2004

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy identifies women with chest pain at high risk

Women with chest pain who have a normal coronary angiogram can benefit from a test that detects abnormal metabolism in their heart muscle, according to a study reported in today’s rapid access issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

16 Jun 2004

Arrhythmias are more commonly associated with adults, they can affect children as well

Doctors prescribed different medications to control the cardiac arrhythmia, or abnormal heartbeat. But the medications slowed his heart rate too much, at times to as low as 40 beats per minute.

27 May 2004

Minimal information available on the likelihood of side effects from prostate cancer treatment

When a man is diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer, he must decide among four different treatment methods, each of which carries its own set of benefits and risks.

3 May 2004