MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Coronary artery bypass surgery beat out percutaneous stenting for mortality rates after 4 years in a large observational study of nearly 200,000 patients aged 65 and older, according to a new study unveiled at this week’s American College of Cardiology conference in Chicago.

The analysis was adjusted to control for factors such as age, sex, diabetes, renal function and lung disease, and researchers concluded that CABG patients lived longer, "even among patients whose propensity scores were most consistent with selection for PCI."

Adjusted 4-year all-cause mortality was 20% lower among CABG patients than for those who underwent PCI for coronary disease in 2 or 3 vessels, TheHeart.org reported.

Among the PCI group, more than ¾ received drug-eluting stents, about 16% received bare-metal stents and 6% had PCI without stenting.

Docs laud Obamacare at 2 years

The American College of Physicians called President Barack Obama’s signature health care reform a measure that "has resulted in major improvements in access and coverage for tens of millions of Americans seen by internal medicine physicians," calling the mandate for individual carriage of insurance "necessary to help protect and ensure the health of the American people," according to a press release.

Docs use electric pulse therapy on inoperable pancreatic cancer

A small study of patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer found promise in using electrical pulse therapy to target inoperable pancreatic tumors, according to a press release.

Stenting OK for the elderly, docs say

Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University deemed carotid artery stenting safe and effective in patients over the age of 70, according to a press release.

TAVI beats open-heart surgery among heart patients

Patients diagnosed with aortic stenosis who were too sick for major surgery fared better when treated with catheter-based heart valve replacement than with standard open-heart surgery, according to a press release.