A review of radiation exposures associated with radial cardiac catheterisation.

Transradial (TR) cardiac catheterisation is thought to be associated with an increased exposure to radiation compared with the traditional transfemoral (TF) access. This paper provides a review of current literature describing these reported associations. Although several studies have reported an increase in radiation exposure to both operator and patient with TR compared with TF access, others have reported findings suggesting no significant difference, even reporting decreased exposure with TR access.

Ambulatory discharge after transradial coronary intervention: Preliminary US single-center experience (Same-day TransRadial Intervention and Discharge Evaluation, the STRIDE Study).

Background: Although the safety and cost-effectiveness of same-day discharge after uncomplicated transradial percutaneous coronary intervention (TR-PCI) is well established in Europe and Asia, such data are not available for US patients.

Methods: All patients who underwent TR-PCI at our high-volume US medical center between 2004 and 2007 were included in this study. The primary end point was in-hospital adverse clinical outcomes between 6 and 24 hours postprocedure.

Late angiographic stent thrombosis: the LAST straw for drug-eluting stents?

The long-term patency advantage of drug-eluting stents represents a quantum leap in the percutaneous treatment of ischemic heart disease. Although initial landmark trials demonstrated equivalent safety to bare-metal stents, subsequent follow-up analyses have suggested a slight late thrombotic risk. This widely publicized issue poses major public health implications for the medical and lay communities.

Twenty-year survival after coronary artery surgery: an institutional perspective from Emory University.

Background: Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery has been performed frequently for symptomatic coronary atherosclerotic heart disease for more than 30 years. However, uncertainty exists regarding the relationship between long-term survival after CABG and readily available clinical correlates of mortality.

Methods And Results: We studied outcome at 20 years by age, sex, and other variables in 3939 patients who had CABG surgery from 1973 to 1979 in the Emory University System of Healthcare.