Live from the annual scientific session of the American College of Cardiology in New Orleans, Internal Medicine News brings you a video wrap-up and links to the top news from April 2 and 3. Watch the video here.
PARTNER: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement was associated with the same survival rates at 1 year as was conventional surgery in older, high-risk patients with severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis.
All-cause mortality at 30 days favored transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) at 3.4%, compared with 6.5% for open surgery, and was similar at 1 year (24% and 27%, respectively). "This new set of patients may very well benefit as much with TAVR as with the gold standard surgery," said coprincipal investigator Dr. Craig B. Smith chief of cardiothoracic surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. [READ MORE]
Ambulance transport linked to faster door-to-balloon times: Patients with suspected ST-elevation myocardial infarction who called an ambulance received lifesaving care in half the time as patients who got to the hospital by other means. The difference, according to lead investigator Dr. James M. McCabe of the University of California, San Francisco, is a prehospital ECG. Patients move through the emergency room and get to the cath lab much faster. [READ MORE]
Yoga can reduce episodes of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: Practicing yoga significantly reduced irregular heart beat episodes and improved symptoms of anxiety and depression in a study of 49 patients.
Yoga used as a complement to existing therapies could make a difference in the quality of life for patients with paroxysmal AF, by limiting anxiety and bringing down arrhythmia burden in a cumulative fashion, according to Dr. Dhanunjaya Lakkireddy, lead author and associate professor of medicine at University of Kansas Hospital, Kansas City. [READ MORE]