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Stents, Angioplasty and PCI: The Uncertainty Principle (MEDICARE Style)
The question of the day, regarding whether or not to stent a coronary artery, is now being brought to the forefront by the U.S. government in the form of a Medicare “Demonstration Project”. And by...
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A Stent By Any Other Name
Forgive the perverse Shakespearean pun in the title but, as the Bard wrote: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” My topic is pretty much the polar...
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Stents vs. Pills — Summer Re-run in February
I’m looking at this morning’s news and I’m seeing headlines like these: “Stents Overused in Stable Heart Patients” (WebMD), “Pills as good as stents for stable heart patients” (Reuters), “No Extra...
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What We Can Learn from Tommy Lasorda’s “Mild” Heart Attack
Tommy Lasorda, photo by Phil Konstantin Before he was Hall of Fame manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tommy Lasorda was a scout and coach for the team. And part of his duties was to teach the rookies....
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Lasorda Released from Hospital
Tommy Lasorda, photo by Phil Konstantin So here we are in 2012! It’s been almost 35 years since the first coronary angioplasty was performed in Zurich, Switzerland, and now we have an 84-year-old...
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Jerry “The King” Lawler Has Heart Attack (on the air) and Stents (not on the...
Jerry Lawler, announcing during a match in 2007 (courtesy Mshake3) Jerry “The King’ Lawler, semi-retired professional wrestler, holder of 168 championships (reportedly) and commentator for WWE’s...
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A Stent By Any Other Name Now Has Other Names!
Is this stent necessary? Is this angioplasty inappropriate? Is this cardiologist uncertain if the procedure will help? Ever since the Appropriate Use Criteria for Coronary Revascularization were...
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Stents, Trials and Studies: What’s in a Word?
Today the editors of the HEART Group Journals, comprising the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and other participating cardiovascular publications, issued a “Statement on Matching Language...
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Unclogging Blocked Information About Angioplasty From the Wrist
Cleveland Clinic A new article about transradial angioplasty (the placement of a stent using the radial artery in the wrist) appeared today in the Cleveland Clinic’s Heart & Vascular Health Blog,...
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Dr. Oz Features Transradial Angioplasty and Stents
Dr. Oz interviews Dr. Jennifer Tremmel about Transradial Angioplasty Today, Dr. Oz featured cardiac catheterization, angioplasty, and stents from the wrist on his afternoon TV show. Billed as part of...
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USA Today Claims Stents and Angioplasty “Often Unnecessary”
Yesterday’s edition of USA Today carried an article by Peter Eisler titled, “Six common surgeries often done unnecessarily” — and, you guessed it, angioplasty and stents were at the top of the list of...
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Recycling Health News for Google Dollars, Robot Style
“Writing Robot” by Mirko Tobias Schaefer [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia CommonsI don’t know a health reporter named Geoff Michaels. I guess I should because in less than 3 months, Geoff has authored almost...
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George W. Bush Gets Angioplasty and Stent – Was It Necessary?
Former President George W. Bush received an angioplasty and stent this morning at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. The stent was recommended by Bush’s doctors to open a blockage in one of his...
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R.I.P. Angioplasty 1977-2013 – Really?
Nortin M. Hadler, MD, MACP, MACR, FACOEM I’m in shock. Dr. Nortin Hadler of the University of North Carolina has proclaimed that the era of coronary angioplasty is over. Poor, poor angioplasty…you were...
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Surgery, Stents and Sports: “Let’s Go to the Videotape!”
A recent New York Times article delves into a topic not often discussed: the fact that some surgeons are more skilled than others. “A Vital Measure: Your Surgeon’s Skill” by Dr. Pauline W. Chen is a...
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Another Viewpoint on Renal Denervation and SYMPLICITY HTN-3 from Dr. Darrel...
Symplicity Renal Denervation System Is the failure of the SYMPLICITY HTN-3 trial to meet its efficacy endpoint the “end of the road” for renal denervation? Will renal denervation now land on the heap...
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Ask George W. Bush a Question About His Stent…or Anything Else
Want to ask George W. Bush a question about his stent…or anything else? Click here! Six months ago, former President Bush received an angioplasty and stent. The stent was recommended by Bush’s doctors...
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Angioplasty Arrives in the Outback: First Stent Placed in Northern Territory
It’s been over 35 years since the first angioplasty was performed in Zurich by Dr. Andreas Gruentzig, but it was just yesterday that this minimally invasive procedure arrived in Australia’s Northern...
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Will a Denial of Service DOS Attack Hit New York State Medicaid Patients? Or...
What does a Denial of Service Attack have to do with stents, angioplasty and PCI? In the world of computing, a DOS attack is defined as “an attempt to make a machine or network resource unavailable to...
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Fractional Flow Reserve and Ebola: Thresholds and Decision-Making
This week started off with me watching a demonstration of fractional flow reserve (FFR) during multivessel PCI. This very instructive case was transmitted live from Hammersmith Hospital in London and...
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