July 20, 2012 — Ticagrelor, a blood-thinning drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2011, should be considered along with older blood thinners clopidogrel and prasugrel for treating patients who are experiencing chest pain or some heart attacks, according to joint updated guidelines issued by the American Heart Association (AHA) Task Force on Practice Guidelines and the American College of Cardiology (ACCF) Foundation.

Each year, I find it interesting that some “new” technology being introduced by a vendor is actually an old, recycled idea.

The electrocardiogram (ECG) stress test remains one of the most widely used diagnostic tools for detecting coronary heart disease. While the basics of stress test systems have changed little since their adoption, technologies continue to evolve to improve waveform analysis as well as connectivity to electronic medical records (EMRs) and wireless data acquisition capabilities.

Atherectomy devices are used in the cath lab to debulk lesions by cutting or laser ablating plaque, calcium and tissue hyperplasia from vessel walls, allowing recanalization of the vessel lumen as an end in itself, or in preparation for stenting. While some devices have an indication for the coronaries, the primary use of these devices is forperipheral artery disease (PAD) in the legs.

There is much discussion about the possibility of using transradial artery access to help reduce door-to-balloon times in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. Northside Hospital, Tampa Bay Heart Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., tested this theory and found transradial helped lower door-to-balloon times and hospital length-of-stay.