September 26, 2014 — The American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) has released new evidence-based guidelines for the prevention and treatment of perioperative and postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) and flutter for thoracic surgical procedures. The guidelines are published in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

September 26, 2014 — In response to new science showing that complete revascularization of all significantly blocked arteries leads to better outcomes in some heart attack patients, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) has withdrawn its Choosing Wisely recommendation that patients and caregivers examine whether this practice is truly necessary.

The first randomized trial to examine serial optical coherence tomography (OCT) in primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was reported at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium last week. The trial showed similar outcomes in to a control group that did not use OCT. The nine-month follow up data showed significantly smaller area stenosis and a trend toward fewer uncovered struts in the OCT guided group.

A new study found that intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-guided intervention in patients with chronic total occlusion (CTO) could improve outcomes compared to a conventional angiography-guided approach during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The IVUS-CTO study is the first randomized trial to examine the clinical impact of IVUS guidance for CTO intervention.