MASSDEVICE ON CALL — New York researchers unveiled in a recent report that as many as 25% of recent diagnostic catheterizations performed in state hospitals were conducted in patients who didn’t meet criteria for the procedure, as rated by newly published standards.
More than half of treated patients had no chest pain, no stress test prior to catheterization and low scores for coronary artery disease evaluations, researchers said. The standards used to determine the validity of the procedures weren’t published until after the report was released, authors noted, but the variation among hospitals – some 9% rates of inappropriate procedures and others as much as 49% – suggest that something can be done to improve patient assessments.
"It appears that there are a lot of patients who are getting this procedure who don’t really need it, and [physicians] need to look over the appropriateness criteria carefully before making a decision as to whether or not to use [it]," Dr Edward L Hannan told HeartWire. "It is an expensive procedure, and it sometimes can lead to complications [or] adverse outcomes; so . . . you shouldn’t be doing it when it doesn’t need to be done."
MRIs can identify optimal cardiac ablation patients
Researchers say that a new method of contrast MRI may be able to determine which atrial fibrillation patients are most likely to benefit from catheter ablation, helping to clear up some of the uncertainty surrounding the procedure.
Read more
Hospitals sue over missing Medicare pay
A group of hospitals filed a joint lawsuit against the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, claiming the agency inappropriately reduced reimbursements slated for low-income patients because some of them live in nursing homes.
Read more
Sponge syringe aims to heal gunshot wounds
Oregon startup RevMedx is working on a syringe-like device that would inject drug-coated sponges into a gunshot wound to apply pressure and prevent bleeding out.
Read more
Cook Medical teams up with Purdue Research on $12M startup project
Medtech maker Cook Medical joined forces with Purdue Research Foundation to establish a $12 million investment fund to sponsor emerging life sciences companies at Purdue.
Read more
