Cath Lab Digest - October 2007 - (Page 60)

60 CLINICAL AND INDUSTRY NEWS OCTOBER 2007 Young Women Less Attentive to Heart Risks Than Men Y oung women with a family history of heart disease may be less careful about following a healthy lifestyle than their male counterparts, a study has found. It's well known that people with a parent or sibling who suffered a heart attack at a relatively young age are themselves at higherthan-average risk, so it is especially important for them to maintain a heart-healthy lifestyle. The new study, published in the American Heart Journal, found that younger women may be less likely than men to heed this advice. “Some of them are getting the message,” senior study author Dr. Amit Khera said, “but not nearly as much as men.” Heart disease was once widely thought of as a “man’s” disease. Although this is changing, some women — even those with a family history of early heart problems — still underestimate their risk, according to Khera, an assistant professor of inter- nal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. For their study, Khera and his colleagues looked at more than 2,400 men and women between the ages of 30 and 50, of whom 265 had a family history of premature heart disease. This was defined as having a father or brother who suffered a heart attack before the age of 50, or a mother or sister who suffered one before age 55. Among women, the researchers found, those with a family history were more likely than other women to have multiple other risk factors for heart disease — such as smoking, excess weight and high blood pressure. Just about half (49 percent) had at least two heart risk factors, versus 39 percent of women with no family history of early heart disease. Much narrower differences were seen among men, however. What’s more, men with a family history tended to be more physically active than other men their age. In contrast, their female counterparts were just as likely to sedentary as women without a family history of heart problems. Part of the problem, Khera noted, may be that health providers are not as likely to ask women about their family history of heart disease, or to counsel them on ways to cut heart disease risk. It's important for all women to be aware of their family history, and to know that premature heart disease — whether in a male or female relative — is relevant to them, according to Khera. No matter how young they are, he said, women with a family history should be taking steps to protect their hearts, through diet, exercise and not smoking. They should also see their doctors for routine medical screenings, including blood pressure and cholesterol measurements, he advised. ■ Abbott Initiates Clinical Study to Evaluate Use of RX Herculink® Elite™ Renal Stent System for the Treatment of Renal Artery Stenosis HERCULES Trial Aims to Treat Renal Artery Obstructions and Lower Blood Pressure in Patients Not Responding to Medication A bbott today announced enrollment of the first patient in HERCULES (Herculink Elite Cobalt Chromium Renal Stent Trial to Demonstrate Efficacy and Safety), a U.S. clinical trial designed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the investigational RX Herculink® Elite™ Renal Stent System to treat patients with renal artery stenosis (RAS), a condition characterized by fatty plaque buildup in the kidney arteries that can lead to high blood pressure. The first implant was performed by Joaquin Martinez de Arraras, MD, FACC, president of Amarillo Heart Clinical Research Institute, Inc. in Amarillo, Texas. “Many patients with high blood pressure and renal artery stenosis do not respond as well to medication alone as they may to medication plus stent- ing,” said Dr. Martinez de Arraras. “The goal of the HERCULES trial is to evaluate whether renal artery stenting may reduce vessel renarrowing, thereby potentially reducing other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure.” To qualify for the HERCULES study, patients must have uncontrolled hypertension that is not responding to treatment with at least two blood pressure medications, and must have at least 60 percent stenosis or blockage in a renal artery as measured by visual X-ray angiography. About the HERCULES Trial. Abbott is conducting the HERCULES trial to seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for use of the RX Herculink Elite Renal Stent System in the treatment of renal artery stenosis. The HERCULES trial will enroll up to 202 patients at approximately 50 sites across the United States. The primary endpoint of the study is binary restenosis at nine months, a measure of vessel renarrowing. Secondary endpoints in the trial will measure changes in blood pressure and the use of hypertensive medication at nine months. Additional analyses in patient follow-up visits out to 36 months will measure major adverse events in patients such as death, surgical removal of the kidney, or embolic events resulting in kidney damage, as well as target lesion revascularization (TLR). The RX Herculink Elite Renal Stent System is an .014-inch rapid-exchange (single-operator) renal stent system made of cobalt chromium. ■ First-In-Man Reported for the Stentys Bifurcated DES S tentys’ bifurcated stent was successfully implanted into a 56-year-old male patient at the HELIOS Klinikum Siegburg in Siegburg, Germany. Stentys has developed a next-generation dedicated drug-eluting stent (DES) for treatment of blocked coronary artery bifurcations. The stent-opening for the side branch can be created anywhere in the stent after implantation in the vessel. This first-in-man medical milestone took routine interventional time to complete; the patient was released from the ICU within hours of the Stentys implantation and was discharged from the hospital shortly after the procedure. “The Stentys platform offers great promise in treating blocked coronary artery bifurcations as simply and effectively as a conventional stenting procedure,” said Eberhard Grube, MD, Chief of Cardiology and Angiology at HELIOS Klinikum Siegburg and a consulting professor of medicine at Stanford University. ■

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cath Lab Digest - October 2007

Saints Medical Center Fibromuscular Dysplasia in Children and Adolescents Cerebral Vascular Accident Following a Pulmonary Embolism: Search for the Hidden Patent Foramen Ovale Contents Clinical Editor’s Corner Meetings Calendar CEU Education Center Radiation Tracking in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab Letter to the Editor Carotid Stenting: An update Release from Stent-jail: Beneficial Snow-Plowing? Patient Management Guidelines Searching for a Cardiovascular Position? Tips for Creating a ‘Stand-Out’ Resume Long-Term Implications of Short-Term Closure Decisions – The Evolution to Vascular Access Management and the Boomerang Catalyst System The Ten-Minute Interview with… Angie Bowles, RN, CCRN CMS Issues Final FY 2008 IPPS Rule ACVP• Membership Page Experience with a New Workhorse Guidewire Ask the Clinical Instructor: Q&A for Those New to Cath Lab A Glimpse of the Future of Clinical Education: Boston Scientific’s SimSuite Bus Visits Carnegie Institute 2007 Educational Fair Held at the Washington Hospital Center Research Update: Original Contribution Abstracts from The Journal of Invasive Cardiology What Do You Think? A Virtual Cath Lab Viewer (VCL): The Development of an Online 3D C-arm Simulator and Coronary Anatomy Viewer Clinical & Industry News Cost-Effectiveness of the Radial versus Femoral Artery Approach to Diagnostic Cardiac Catheterization

Cath Lab Digest - October 2007

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