Ultrasound-guided deployment of ProGlide™ device in transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve implantation and risk reduction of vascular complications: A propensity-matched cohort study.

Background: ProGlide is a percutaneous suture-mediated closure device used in arterial and venous closure following percutaneous intervention. Risk of vascular complications from use, particularly related to failure in hemostasis, or acute vessel closure, remains significant and often related to improper suture deployment. We describe a technique of ultrasound-guided ProGlide deployment in transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TF-TAVI).

The two-faced angel: do phase I clinical trials have a place in modern hospice?

Increasingly, bioethicists have been exploring the possibility of making phase I clinical trials available to hospice patients. Phase I clinical trials are designed to test a drug's safety and dosage, not its effectiveness. Participants in these studies generally do not understand that the purpose of the investigation is not to benefit them, thus challenging the notion of informed consent.