May 11, 2010 - “Echocardiographic quantification is crucial in the diagnosis and management of patients with acquired and congenital heart disease,” said Leo Lopez, M.D., FASE, of Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, Bronx, N.Y., in a report published in the May issue of the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography (JASE).

May 10, 2010 – Patients treated with the Zilver PTX drug-eluting peripheral stent maintained clinical improvement at two years, according to interim results from the Zilver PTX Global Registry. The results were presented last week as a late-breaking clinical trial at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 33rd Annual Scientific Sessions.

May 10, 2010 – A catheter-based procedure is providing relief to patients who suffer from shortness of breath and fluid overload as the result of a severely leaky heart valve, but who are too sick for open-chest surgery. This was the finding of a study presented last week at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 33rd Annual Scientific Sessions.

May 6, 2010 – Patients who can postpone noncardiac surgery for at least six weeks after receiving a coronary stent are less likely to suffer reduced blood flow to the heart, heart attack and death than those who have surgery sooner. This was the finding of Scottish researchers in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions, an American Heart Association journal.

May 5, 2010 - Emergency department use of 256-slice computed tomography angiography (CTA) can help physicians triage patients with indeterminate chest pain without the need for additional diagnostic testing which can be costly and time consuming, according to a study to be presented at the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) 2010 Annual Meeting in San Diego, Calif.