Cardiology News /Recent Literature Review / First Quarter 2012

Abstract

The Athens Cardiology Update 2012 is slated for April 5-7, 2012

 The HRS 33^rd Meeting will be held in Boston, 9-12/5/12

 The ESC Congress will be held in Munich, 25-29/8/2012

 TCT Meeting will take place in Miami, 22-26/10/12

 HCS Meeting to be held in Athens, 1-3/11/12

 AHA 2012 is scheduled for Los Angeles, 3-7/11/12

 PARTNER Trial (Cohort B): TAVI Remains Cost-Effective for Patients with Severe Aortic Stenosis who are not Candidates for Surgery

 The PARTNER trial randomized patients with symptomatic, severe aortic stenosis who were not candidates for surgery to transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) (n=179) or standard therapy (n=179). Mean costs for the initial TAVI procedure and hospitalization were $42,806 and $78,542, respectively. Follow-up costs through 12 months were lower with TAVI ($29,289 vs $53,621) because of reduced hospitalization rates, but cumulative 1-year costs remained higher ($106,076 vs $53,621). Projection was that over a patient’s lifetime, TAVI would increase discounted life expectancy by 1.6 years (1.3 quality-adjusted life-years-QALY) at an incremental cost of $79,837. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for TAVI was thus estimated at $50,200 per year of life gained or $61,889 per QALY gained. The authors concluded that TAVI increases life expectancy at an incremental cost per life-year gained well within accepted values for commonly used cardiovascular technologies. (Reynolds MR et al, Circulation 2012;125:1102-1109).

 SCAAR Registry: Lower Risk of Stent Thrombosis & Restenosis with Unrestricted Use of ‘New-Generation’ Drug-Eluting Stents

 A total of 94,384 consecutive stent implantations, including bare metal (BMS, n=64,631), older generation drug-eluting stents (o-DES, n=19,202), and new generation DES (n-DES, n = 10 551) were evaluated in Sweden. Older generation DES comprised Cypher and Cypher Select, Taxus Express and Taxus Liberte, and Endeavor Sprint, while n-DES included Endeavor Resolute, XienceV, Xience Prime, Promus, and Promus Element. A statistically significant lower risk of restenosis was shown for n-DES compared with BMS [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 0.29] and o-DES (HR 0.62). A lower risk of definite ST was found in n-DES compared with BMS (HR 0.38) and o-DES (HR, 0.57). The risk of death was significantly lower in n-DES compared with o-DES (adjusted HR: 0.77) and BMS (adjusted HR: 0.55). The authors concluded that PCI with n-DES is associated with a 38% lower risk of clinical restenosis, a 43% lower risk of definite ST, and a 23% lower risk of death compared with o-DES (Sarno G et al, Eur Heart J 2012;33:606-613)... (excerpt)