TCTMD’s Top 10 Most Popular Stories for March 2016

An FDA advisory panel meeting reviewing the Absorb bioresorbable scaffold; the death of a “giant of interventional cardiology”; and hopes and fears for new appropriate use criteria (AUC) for coronary revascularizations were the most popular news stories on TCTMD this month. Beyond those, readers were hooked by a range of PCI studies, an in-depth look at percutaneous mitral valve repair, and new information on dual antiplatelet therapy with current generation stents. 

In case you missed them, here are the top stories on TCTMD for March 2016. 
 

FDA Panel Overwhelmingly Supports Absorb Bioresorbable Stent

The advisory panel gave a ringing endorsement of the Absorb everolimus-eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffold during a day-long session devoted to the investigational “dissolving” stent.

Patrick Whitlow, ‘Giant of Interventional Cardiology,’ Dies at 65

Beloved as a leader, a teacher, and an innovator, the long-time director of interventional cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic died in late March. Tributes poured in.

Hopes and Hype Await New Coronary Revascularization Appropriate Use Criteria in 2016

A new version of these AUC is expected within months, but whether this latest update will address concerns that have dogged the documents since their inception remains an open question.

High Rate of Obstructive CAD Seen in Patients With Typical Angina Symptoms but Negative Stress Test

Patients who present with typical symptoms of angina but who have a negative precardiac catheterization stress-test result have the highest rate of obstructive coronary artery disease, according to a new analysis of patients undergoing elective coronary angiography.

Public Reporting of PCI Mortality: Debate Swirls Around What’s Fair, What’s Ethical

Debate continues about how best to implement public reporting of PCI mortality without creating an environment in which physicians may be reluctant to treat the highest-risk patients for fear of skewing their mortality stats upward.

New Analysis Fails to Find Link Between Successful CTO PCI and Lower Mortality

Adding to an already inconsistent body of evidence, a new analysis shows that successful recanalization of a chronic total occlusion using DES is not associated with a reduction in long-term mortality, but critics point to several caveats.

Does New Dual-Modality Imaging Come Closer to Uncovering Vulnerable Plaques?

A new intravascular imaging technology combining optical coherence tomography and near-infrared autofluorescence in a single catheter has joined the search for a way to reliably identify vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques, a first-in-human study shows.

Registry Behind TASTE Reopens Thrombus Aspiration Question With New Analysis of Stent Thrombosis

Thrombus aspiration during primary PCI for STEMI may have no impact on mortality, but new data from SCAAR hint that it may, in fact, reduce the risk of stent thrombosis within the first 30 days.

Will the MitraClip and Other Gadgets Make Headway in Functional MR?

Amid increasing signs that full mitral valve replacement using a percutaneous approach may not be as close to prime time as first hoped, all eyes are turning to a series of transcatheter mitral valve repair studies edging towards completion.

Newer-Generation DES With Abbreviated DAPT Bests BMS in Patients at High Risk for Bleeding

As evidence mounts that bare-metal stents may be going the way of the horse and buggy, an analysis of patients at high risk for bleeding suggests that even in this challenging group, a drug-eluting stent that releases its drug rapidly and requires only a 1-month course of dual antiplatelet therapy may result in fewer adverse events.

You may also want to take a look at these TCTMD exclusives:

• Where Theory Meets Practice: Getting to the Heart of the Heart Team 
• ACC 2016: HOPE for Primary Prevention, TAVR in Moderate-Risk Patients, Deferred Stenting in STEMI, and More 

Last but not least, if you don’t have time to read the top news, consider listening to it instead. Our new Heart Sounds podcast recaps our biggest stories each month. You can stream Heart Sounds along with two other podcasts from our Pulse of Cardiology network on TCTMD, or download from iTunes, and SoundCloud.