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Immunosuppressant-Releasing Stent And “Stent-Grafts” Tested In Patients With Vascular Disease
One of the most intensely watched areas of cardiology today is the use of coronary stents that elute, or slowly release, minute amounts of certain anti-inflammatory and immunity-suppressing medications. Now, a stent that elutes tacrolimus, a powerful immunosuppressant and anti-inflammatory agent, has been tested for safety and effectiveness in preventing tissue regrowth inside the stent. Such “in-stent restenosis” is a major limitation of conventional stents, the tiny metal scaffolds that can widen heart vessels. more
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Coronary Atherectomy Plus Stenting May Not Improve On Stenting Alone
Coronary stents have dramatically improved cardiologists options for treating their patients, but these tiny scaffolds that widen diseased heart vessels have their limitations. In fact, techniques that may increase the effectiveness of stents remain an intense research area. Now a study has cast doubt on whether cutting away some of the vessel-blocking tissue from inside the artery, a procedure called directional atherectomy, can enhance the results of subsequent stenting. However, the study also hinted that the benefit of atherectomy may depend on how much tissue is removed. more
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Blood-Thinner Coating Fails To Improve Stents For Re-Widening Small Heart Vessels
Researchers have hoped that coating stents with the blood-thinner heparin would improve these metal scaffolds as a treatment for some patients with narrowed heart vessels. But a multicenter trial has shown that such coated stents are no better than conventional ones at keeping open previously widened but renarrowed small heart vessels. more
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Two Atrial Fibrillation Treatments Compared In The Largest-Ever Trial Of Its Kind
One of the largest-ever comparisons of two methods for managing patients with atrial fibrillation, an abnormal rhythm of the heart’s smaller upper chambers, could change the way physicians treat an increasingly common health problem. more
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Repeated Shocks Vs. Rate-Controlling Medications In Patients With Atrial Fibrillation
Patients with atrial fibrillation, a common rhythm abnormality in the heart’s smaller upper chambers, called the atria, can be treated with either shocks or medications to restore normal atrial beats. But physicians may alternatively choose to restore adequate blood flow with drugs that regulate contractions of the heart’s lower chambers, the ventricles. Now a study has directly compared these methods—electrical shocks as needed to restore normal heart rhythm or drug therapy to control the rate of ventricular beats—to determine whether one or the other might serve patients better. more
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