June 2012

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Volume 20 Issue 6

Editorial Staff

Clinical Editor
Morton Kern, MD
Executive Editor
Laurie Gustafson
Managing Editor
Rebecca Kapur
Production Manager
Elizabeth Vasil

Editorial Correspondence

Rebecca Kapur, Managing Editor, Cath Lab Digest
HMP Communications, 70 E. Swedesford Rd
Suite 100, Malvern PA 19355
Telephone: (440) 717-0418

Fax: (866) 896-8762
Email: rkapur@hmpglobal.com
News from the Society of Invasive Cardiovascular Professionals (SICP)
SICP Central California Valley Chapter (CCVC) Holds Series of Successful Monthly MeetingsBy Leslie Pollard, RN, BS, SICP CCVC SecretaryThe SICP Central California Valley Chapter (CVCC) has held a series of successful meetings in 2012. Twenty-five peo…
Variant Angina: A 53-Year-Old Male With Recurrent ST-Segment Elevation
Typical anginal symptoms are characterized by recurrent attacks of retrosternal chest pain brought on by effort and emotion, and relieved by rest or by the administration of nitroglycerine. In 1960, Dr. Prinzmetal and his colleagues described symptom…
Ask the Clinical Instructor
We have diagnostic cardiologists who perform the angiograms and find a blockage. Their partners often cannot come back and perform the intervention for several hours. When they come to perform the angioplasty, we have debates about the best way to ex…
Recruitment in the Cath Lab Setting: Optimizing Social Networking Opportunities
Social media. We hear about its growth and see its impact on businesses every day. While many organizations in a variety of industries have been successful in leveraging social media, healthcare has been slower to adopt this tool.
Bioabsorbable Stents – Where Are We Now?
The perfect human prosthetic implant is one that is easily put in, does its job, and then disappears with no residual effects. That would be ideal for a coronary or other vascular stent. When I think about bioabsorbable stents, this is the image that…
The SAFARI Technique, With a Twist
The “SAFARI” technique1, or subintimal arterial flossing with antegrade-retrograde intervention, is a method for recanalization of chronic total occlusions (CTOs) when subintimal angioplasty fails. Retrograde access is usually obtained via the poplit…
Percutaneous Transcatheter Closure of a Mitral Paravalvular Leak
AbstractParavalvular leak (PVL) is a relatively uncommon but potentially serious complication of surgical mitral valve replacement (MVR). In the presence of symptoms, surgical repair of PVL is recommended to prevent consequences such as heart failure…
Preventing Sudden Cardiac Death Following Percutaneous Revascularization
Case ReportA 68-year-old male with a known history of tobacco abuse, coronary artery disease, and previous myocardial infarction presented to the emergency room after experiencing chest pressure. He had multiple stents placed 10 years prior and addit…
The PLATO Trial (Ticagrelor vs Clopidogrel) and the Influence of Genetic Non-Responders
For acute coronary syndrome patients, the PLATO trial showed that ticagrelor was superior to clopidogrel in the reduction of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction and stroke. Dr. Wallentin discusses ticagrelor and the discovery that genetic non…
Acute Anterior Wall Myocardial Infarction in a Young Patient with Thrombotic Occlusion of the Left Anterior Descending Coronary Artery
A 49-year-old gentleman with histThe patient is a 46-year-old gentleman with no prior history of coronary artery disease who presented to the emergency room with six hours of chest pain and an electrocardiogram (EKG) consistent with acute anterior wa…