ACC.11 April 2-5, 2011 New Orleans, LA
ACC.11 Apr 2-5 New Orleans, LAAmerican College of Cardiology (ACC) Annual Conference
Tens of thousands of cardiologists gathered in New Orleans last week for the American College of Cardiology meeting to discuss the latest advances in drugs, medical devices and procedures.
Here are the top eight studies we learned about:
All eyes were on a study that showed patients who had their aortic heart valves replaced using a revolutionary approach that uses a catheter to implant the valve, sparing them need for open-heart surgery, fared as well as those who endured conventional open-heart surgery. However, about 5 percent of those who got the less-invasive procedure had a stroke, double the rate of those who underwent open-heart surgery. Still, cardiologists attending the meeting said the benefit of the so-called transcatheter approach outweigh the risks. Edwards Lifesciences, the California-based company that pioneered the technique, has said it expects the device to be approved in the United States next year. It currently is available in Europe.
Another study showed a minimally invasive approach to repair mitral regurgitation, the most common type of heart valve problem, demonstrated durability after 2 years, with similar long-term safety to surgery. The device, called MitraClip, is manufactured by Abbott Laboratories.
Medtronic’s drug-eluting coronary stent met its safety goals in a large study of U.S. patients, and Boston Scientific’s competing device proved it is as good as the leading drug-eluting stent manufactured by Abbott. Abbott also presented data on the newest type of stent -- one that eventually dissolves after restoring blood flow through the coronary artery.
Blood clot preventer rivaroxaban from Johnson & Johnson and Bayer caused a surprisingly high rate of bleeding in a trial of patients with acute illnesses. The study found the drug to be as good as a common anticoagulant Lovenox, manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis, in preventing of clots in hospitalized patients for the first 10 days, and superior to Lovenox plus a placebo for up to 35 days, but those on rivaroxaban experienced bleeding at more than double the rate of those in the comparison group.
Another study showed middle-age men who use antidepressants are more likely to have a narrowing of blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke than those who do not use the drugs.
A small U.S. study said yoga can lower hypertension and cut in half the risk of atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart beat that is a leading cause of stroke.
Consistent lifelong exercise preserves heart muscle in the elderly to levels that match or even exceed that of healthy young sedentary people, a surprising finding that underscores the value of regular exercise training, according to a new study.
An experimental pacemaker-like device that delivers jolts of electricity to the neck arteries reduced blood pressure in people for whom drugs did not work -- although not as much as developers had hoped.
On The Road
Recent Cardiology Events
We attended these conferences... ...see what we learned.
Heart Rhythm Society '12
Heart Rhythm Society's 33rd Annual Scientific Sessions
Boston, MA April 9-12, 2012
Acc.12
American College of Cardiology (ACC) Annual Conference
Chicago, IL March 24-27, 2012
See the top 4 studies we learned about.
Acc.11
American College of Cardiology (ACC) Annual Conference
New Orleans, LA April 2-5, 2011
