Prolonged Dual Antiplatelet Therapy May Not Be Necessary For Second-Generation Drug-Eluting Stents

The precise duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) following implantation of a drug-eluting stent (DES) has been the subject of considerable controversy. On the one hand, prolonged therapy may help prevent late stent thrombosis, which was particularly evident in first generation DESs. On the other hand, the risk of stent thrombosis may have diminished in…

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Study Supports Loosening Guidelines for Surgery After Stent Implantation

According to current guidelines, noncardiac surgery should be delayed for six weeks after bare-metal stent (BMS) implantation and for one year after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation, though there is little good evidence to support these recommendations. Stent thrombosis caused by discontinuation of antiplatelet therapy in order to lower the risk of bleeding during surgery is the…

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Ohio Hospital And Cardiology Group Pay $4.4 Million To Settle Charges Over Unnecessary PCIs

In 2006, Reed Abelson in the New York Times reported that the PCI rate in Elyria, Ohio was four times the national average. Now, six-and-a-half years later, the local hospital and cardiology group have agreed to pay $4.4 million to settle US allegations “that the hospital and the physicians “performed angioplasty and stent placement procedures on patients who had heart disease…

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CABG Highly Cost Effective In Diabetics With Multivessel Disease

In November the main results of the FREEDOM trial showed that diabetics with multivessel disease do better with CABG than PCI. Now the findings of the trial’s cost-effectiveness study, published online in Circulation, demonstrate that CABG is also highly cost-effective when compared with PCI. Elizabeth Magnuson and colleagues  found that although CABG initially cost nearly $9,000 more…

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