Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. a fourth-quarter loss of $51.3 million (U.S.) as the company took in less revenue and booked a one-time charge on acquisitions and a licensing agreement.

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The flexibility of the Multi-Link (ML) PENTA stent with platform 0.09 to 0.12-mm-thick struts and 12% to 16% metal/artery coverage was improved to facilitate safe delivery in complex coronary lesions. The present study was designed to evaluate the clinical (9-month) and angiographic (6-month) results of the ML PENTA stent in complex coronary lesions (modified American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association lesion type B2 or C) and to determine independent factors correlated with target lesion revascularization.

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Coronary angiography is often inadequate for estimating the severity of ambiguous left main coronary artery (LMCA) stenoses. Authors assessment of these lesions can be improved by the techniques of intravascular ultrasound and fractional flow reserve which provide indices of stenosis severity to enable the prediction of future events and planning of treatment.

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Clinical trials have begun to assess the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of administering progenitor cells to the heart in order to repair or perhaps reverse the effects of myocardial ischemia and injury. In contrast to surgical-based injections, which are often coupled with coronary bypass surgery, catheter-based injections are less invasive and make it possible to evaluate cell products used as sole interventions.

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Randomized clinical trials have shown that sirolimus-eluting stents (SESs) decrease restenosis rates compared with bare metal stents (BMSs), but their efficacy among patients who have diabetes mellitus remains to be established. This study investigated the effect of SES implantation in a high-risk population (i.e., patients who had diabetes and small coronary vessel disease).

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In patients who develop in-stent restenosis, successful revascularization can be difficult to achieve using percutaneous methods. This study was designed to verify the surgical results in this setting and to evaluate the potential beneficial role of arterial bypass conduits.

Abstract

The nine month clinical follow up results of the HEALING II study were presented on February 27, 2006 at the 15th Annual Singapore Live congress by Robbert de Winter, MD, PhD, Director of the Catheterization Laboratory, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The objective of the 10 center, 63 patient HEALING II study is to demonstrate the safety and stent related healing response to the Genous(TM) Bio-engineered R stent, which received CE mark in August 2005.

The Achilles’ heal of stenting, restenosis, has been significantly reduced with drug eluting stents (DES); however, the Achilles’ heal of DES seems to be stent thrombosis due to purposely delayed healing. DES require long term dual antiplatelet therapy, which if discontinued prematurely may result in stent thrombosis with its inherent high mortality rate. Genous is the world’s first stent designed to accelerate the natural healing response by capturing a patient’s own endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) from the blood stream. Once captured, EPCs rapidly form a protective endothelial layer over the stent, providing protection against thrombus and minimizing restenosis.

Dr. de Winter presented an analysis of the nine month results which demonstrated a clinically driven target lesion revascularization (TLR) rate of 6.3% and a major adverse cardiac events (MACE) rate of 7.9%. There was no subacute or late thrombosis reported despite the protocol recommendation of only one month dual antiplatelet therapy.

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After coronary stenting, inflammatory mechanisms play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of neointimal proliferation and in-stent restenosis. Drug-eluting stents (DESs) have been shown to decrease in-stent restenosis in different studies. We compared plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) levels after DES implantation with levels after bare metal stent (BMS) implantation.

Abstract

Randomized trials comparing coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) with percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) for patients with multivessel coronary disease (MVD) report similar long-term survival for CABG and PCI. These studies used a highly selected population of patients and providers, and their results may not be generalizable to actual care. Our goal in this study was to compare long-term survival of MVD patients treated with CABG vs PCI in contemporary practice.

Abstract