Coronary Artery Disease News and Research

Latest Coronary Artery Disease News and Research

More aggressive hospital care does not lead to improved patient outcomes in all cases, study finds

More aggressive hospital care -- such as higher numbers of tests and procedures and longer stays -- does not lead to improved patient outcomes in all cases, according to a study released on Thursday, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.

30 May 2008

Bypass not to blame for heart patients' mental decline

Heart patients often experience lasting problems with memory, language, and other cognitive skills after bypass surgery. However, these problems aren't caused by the surgery itself or the pump used to replace heart function during surgery, a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests. The findings may lead to better approaches to prevent cognitive decline regardless of which treatment heart disease patients receive.

19 May 2008

The gender gap is alive and well in heart disease

... a new international study finds, with women differing from men on everything from symptoms to treatment in both heart attack and severe chest pain.

6 May 2008

Women lag in heart attack care, study finds

The gender gap is alive and unwell in heart disease, a new international study finds, with women differing from men on everything from symptoms to treatment in both heart attack and severe chest pain.

6 May 2008

FDA approves coronary artery plaque imaging device

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared for marketing a device that a doctor can use to see inside a blood vessel to assess the fat content of the plaque which builds up on the wall of the coronary arteries.

29 Apr 2008

Drug-releasing stent shows promise for improving outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease

For patients who underwent angioplasty to open narrowed coronary arteries, the use of stents releasing the drug everolimus reduced the rate of renarrowing of the arteries and significantly reduced the risk of major cardiac events, compared to the widely-used paclitaxel-releasing stents, according to a study in the April 23/30 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

22 Apr 2008

Rates of death following coronary artery bypass graft surgery decline since 1997

Rates of death following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery have declined since 1997 while the number of procedures performed has decreased, according to a report in the April issue of Archives of Surgery.

21 Apr 2008

Patients arriving at hospitals in daytime hours get faster, better care compared to off hours

Patients hospitalized with heart attacks tend to get faster and more comprehensive care if they arrive during daytime hours, according to a report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

21 Apr 2008

Best use for popular CAD assessment procedure is misunderstood

What is the best way to determine if you are developing the nation's most deadly condition, coronary artery disease (CAD)?

15 Apr 2008

Carotid stenting shows long-term benefit as alternative to surgery

Carotid artery stenting is an effective option for high risk patients who are not eligible for surgery, according to a long-term study published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine.

11 Apr 2008

Carotid endarterectomy versus carotid stenting for clogged neck arteries

Like horses running down the long stretch of a race track, two different artery-opening treatments appear to be running neck-and-neck when it comes to preventing stroke among people with clogged neck arteries and other health problems.

10 Apr 2008

Angina drug ranolazine potentially useful against heart rhythm disorders

A recently approved angina drug may also represent a powerful new treatment for a rare hereditary syndrome that places teens at risk for sudden cardiac death, according to research presented on April 1st at the 57th Annual Scientific Sessions of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) in Chicago.

9 Apr 2008

Minimally invasive, robotically-assisted coronary artery bypass graft surgery

Dr. Robert Poston is a pioneer in the use of robotics for minimally invasive cardiac surgery.

8 Apr 2008

Angioplasty and stenting for renal artery lesions

The largest-ever randomized study to evaluate the effectiveness of catheter-based interventions in patients with narrowing of the renal artery has shown that angioplasty and stenting offer no benefit over medical therapy.

2 Apr 2008

Rimonabant shows mixed results for slowing progression of coronary disease

The anti-obesity medication rimonabant showed mixed results in slowing progression of coronary artery disease in patients with abdominal obesity and pre-existing coronary disease, according to a new study in the April 2 issue of JAMA.

2 Apr 2008

Drug does not appear to reduce risk of heart attack or death following CABG surgery

Use of MC-1 (a naturally occurring metabolite of vitamin B6) before and for 30 days after coronary artery bypass graft surgery did not reduce the risk of heart attack or cardiovascular death, according to a JAMA study being released early online April 1 to coincide with its presentation at the annual conference of the American College of Cardiology.

2 Apr 2008

Matrix registry probes adherence to clopidogrel at 1 year

A large community-based registry of patients treated with drug-eluting stents is providing important insight into how long patients with complex coronary artery disease typically stick to their doctors' orders to take clopidogrel, a drug that prevents unwanted blood clots; why they stop taking the drug; and the long-term consequences of that decision.

1 Apr 2008

Angina drug ranolazine shows promise for heart rhythm disorders

A recently approved angina drug may also represent a powerful new treatment for a rare hereditary syndrome that places teens at risk for sudden cardiac death, according to research presented at the 57th Annual Scientific Sessions of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) in Chicago.

1 Apr 2008

Study gives nod to drug-eluting stents in heart attack

Although drug-eluting stents have become widely used for the treatment of stable coronary artery disease, many cardiologists choose bare-metal stents for patients with heart attack, or myocardial infarction (MI), citing conflicting data about the safety and effectiveness of drug-eluting stents in this patient group.

31 Mar 2008

Drug-eluting stents outperform bare-metal stents

New evidence from a large randomized study is answering important questions about the best approach to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with a type of heart attack known as ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

31 Mar 2008