Cardiology Today's Intervention top 5 stories in June

Cardiology Today’s Intervention compiled a list of the top 5 stories posted in June.

This month, our readers were most interested in the FDA clearance of a sheathless access system, CABG for treatment in multivessel disease, an FDA panel hearing on an AAA stent graft system, replacing medication with music as stress reliever in invasive cardiac catheterization, the results of the BIO-RESORT study presented at EuroPCR and much more.

Sheathless access system for radial procedures garners FDA clearance

Cordis, a Cardinal Health company, told Cardiology Today’s Intervention that the FDA cleared for marketing in the U.S. a sheathless access system for use in radial arterial procedures that require percutaneous introduction of intravascular devices.

The system (Railway) eliminates the need for an introducer sheath because it allows direct access to the radial artery with a guiding catheter and reduces the arterial puncture site up to 2F compared with conventional radial-access systems, according to the company.

CABG confers better mortality rate than PCI in multivessel disease

Among patients with multivessel disease, CABG mortality rates were lower vs. those who had PCI with stenting, according to a meta-analysis.

The difference was most pronounced in patients with diabetes and high coronary complexity, and was not significant in patients with left main CAD, researchers reported in The Lancet.

FDA panel favors approval of new AAA stent graft system

The FDA Circulatory System Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee voted 11-4 that the benefits of a device designed for the endovascular treatment of infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm outweigh the potential risks.

Although the panel also voted 14-0 with one abstention that the Incraft AAA Stent Graft System (Cordis) is reasonably effective in the population for which the device would be indicated, it remained split 11-4 on the question of safety.

Music could replace medication as stress reliever in invasive cardiac catheterization

Music may relieve anxiety and stress for patients undergoing elective invasive cardiac catheterization and serve as an alternative to pharmacotherapy, according to new data published in The American Journal of Cardiology.

“Patients undergoing invasive cardiac catheterization experience stress and pain during the procedure,” Ramin Ebrahimi, MD, and Weiyi Tan, MD, both from the department of medicine, cardiology section at VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, wrote in the study background. “To relieve anxiety and provide analgesia, most operators use medications such as benzodiazepines and opioids for conscious sedation.”

BIO-RESORT: SES appears to outperform ZES between 1 and 2 years

The rate of target vessel failure did not differ significantly among patients treated with a biodegradable polymer everolimus-eluting stent or sirolimus-eluting stent compared with a durable polymer zotarolimus-eluting stent at 2-year follow-up, according to data from the BIO-RESORT trial.

However, the SES may be associated with a lower risk for repeat revascularization after 1 year, Marlies M. Kok, MD, from the department of cardiology, Thoraxcentrum Twente, Medisch Spectrum Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands, and colleagues reported at EuroPCR.