News Tips for Monday, Nov. 9
From the American Heart Association's 71st Scientific Sessions Nov. 8-11, 1998, Dallas County Convention Center, Dallas, Texas
To complement our news releases, here are additional news tips reported by News Media Relations from more than 4,000 abstracts. Note: Stories are embargoed until papers are presented or poster sessions begin. For more information, Nov. 8-11, call Cathy Yarbrough, Carole Bullock, Brian Henry, Bruce Lewis (broadcast), Darcy Spitz or Berna Creel in Room A215-217 of the Dallas County Convention Center: (214) 853-8056. Before or after those dates, call News Media Relations in Dallas: (214) 706-1279 or 706-1135.
8:45 a.m. -- #507 -- Filtering out stray fatty particles during heart surgery. German researchers report that a new technique can block tiny bits of fatty material that break off from the walls of the main trunk artery, the aorta, during coronary artery bypass surgery. Unchecked, these particles can travel to the brain and form clots that cause stroke. The promising solution: a tiny filter, in a tube placed inside the part of the aorta leading to the brain, to "catch" the floating debris before damage is done. Aortic filtration was safe and successful in 17 patients, meriting larger-scale trials of the therapy, the scientists say. Herman Reichenspurner, University Hospital Munich-Grosshadern, Munich, Germany: phone 49-89-7095-3455; fax 49-89-7095-3465; e-mail [email protected].
9:00 a.m. -- #695 (poster) --When to perform heart catheterization? A model points the way. North Carolina researchers have developed a way to help doctors identify individuals who have had a heart attack and can benefit from angioplasty -- a "revascularization" procedure to open blocked blood vessels. The model was tested for its ability to detect severe coronary heart disease (CHD) -- blockages in three blood vessels or the left main coronary artery -- in 25,920 individuals in the U.S. and Canada. The study found U.S. physicians make excessive use of catheters -- devices used to open narrowed vessels -- in many individuals who, it turns out, were at low risk of severe CHD, while the Canadian doctors in this study failed to use catheters often enough. Using their model, say the researchers, could optimize treatment -- reducing unnecessary surgery in the U.S. while improving severe CHD detection in Canada. Wayne B. Batchelor, Duke University, Durham, N.C.: phone (919) 49! 0-2059; fax (919)286-0355; e-mail: [email protected].
9:15 a.m. -- #223 -- Hospital intervention sharply increases cholesterol-lowering therapy. Despite the known benefits of cholesterol-lowering therapy, many people with heart disease still go untreated. New Jersey doctors initiated a program in 511 individuals with heart disease, systematically assessing blood cholesterol levels and ordering therapy in those with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or LDL (the "bad" cholesterol), above 130 milligrams/deciliter. Compared to 300 earlier patients discharged prior to the intervention, the percentage of individuals tested increased from 27 to 89 percent, and the number getting proper treatment rose from 19 to 83 percent. If implemented nationally, researchers say, such programs "can produce significant positive impact on cardiovascular outcomes." Clifton R. Lacy, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, N.J.: phone (732) 937-8897; fax (732) 937-8930.
10:00 a.m. -- #225 -- Extending heart disease prevention to women. Researchers with the Air Force/Texas Coronary Atherosclerosis Prevention Study find that a cholesterol-lowering drug can reduce coronary events -- heart attacks, chest pain or sudden cardiac death -- in female participants (ages 55-73) by 46 percent. John R. Downs, Merck Research Laboratories, West Point, Pa.: phone, fax and e-mail same as above.
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