BME Researcher Builds New Sensor To Distinguish Between Stable Plaque And Heart Attack Plaque

Viterbi School biomedical engineer and cardiologist Tzung John Hsiai hopes to develop a new tool to help clinicians distinguish cardiac emergencies requiring immediate surgery from chronic problems manageable with drugs and lifestyle change. Angiograms, images made by catheters inserted into the arteries feeding the heart, offer an inside view of the interior surface ("lumen") of these blood vessels, often revealing deposits of a dangerous fatty substance called plaque. But plaque comes in different forms. Some are metabolically stable and firmly fixed in the lumen and treatable with diet, exercise and medication. Others are less viscous and likely high risks to dislodge and cause heart attacks.

Early Cardiovascular Risk Revealed By Vioxx Trial Data

Evidence of cardiovascular risks associated with taking Vioxx, the popular, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (rofecoxib), could have been identified nearly four years before its manufacturer, Merck & Co. Inc., voluntarily pulled the drug from the market. Led by Joseph Ross, MD, MHS, Assistant Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine and of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, a team of six investigators analyzed 30 randomized, placebo-controlled trials of Vioxx that were made available through litigation and published their findings in the November 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. Under new FDA disclosure requirements, the analysis may also serve as a blueprint for other independent post-market pharmaceutical safety studies.

Comparison Of High Vs. Low Hospital Volume For Angioplasty Finds Little Difference In Mortality Rates

A study based on a contemporary registry of patients with myocardial infarction (heart attack) indicates that even though hospitals that perform a higher number of angioplasties are more likely to follow evidence-based guidelines and have shorter times to the angioplasty procedure, there appears to be no significant difference in outcomes such as length of hospital stay or risk of death, according to a study in the November 25 issue of JAMA. Several studies have shown an inverse relationship between hospital primary angioplasty volume and the risk of death in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI; a certain pattern on an electrocardiogram following a heart attack).

National Survey Of US Hospitals Shows Information Technology Has Yielded Neither Administrative Efficiencies Nor Cost Savings

The increased computerization in U.S. hospitals hasn't made them cheaper or more efficient, Harvard researchers say, although it may have modestly improved the quality of care for heart attacks. The findings, published in the online edition of the American Journal of Medicine, contradict claims by President Obama and many lawmakers that health information technology (health IT), including electronic medical records, will save billions and help make reform affordable. "Our study finds that hospital computerization hasn't saved a dime, nor has it improved administrative efficiency, " said lead author Dr. David Himmelstein, associate professor at Harvard Medical School and former director of clinical computing at Cambridge Hospital in Massachusetts.

Positive Results From Chronic Study With Bayer's Rivaroxaban Will Be Presented As A Late Breaker At ASH 2009

Findings from the Phase III EINSTEIN-Extension study will be presented in the Late Breaking Abstract Session on December 8, 2009, (7:30 am EST, Hall F, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center) at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in New Orleans, Louisiana. The study investigated the long-term benefits of 20 mg rivaroxaban once-daily compared with placebo in the secondary prevention of recurrent symptomatic venous blood clots in approximately 1, 200 patients with symptomatic deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE). These patients had already completed 6 or 12 months of anticoagulant therapy, either as part of their routine care for an acute episode of venous thromboembolism (VTE) or as a participant in the EINSTEIN-DVT or EINSTEIN-PE clinical trials, where patients received either rivaroxaban or a vitamin K antagonist.