TCTMD’s Top 10 Most Popular Stories for May 2019

On-the-ground meeting coverage from EuroPCR and HRS dominated TCTMD’s most-read stories of May 2019. That said, the two top slots had nothing to do with the cardio conference circuit. Up first is a story on a US Food and Drug Administration alert about pacemaker battery depletion. Next comes TCTMD’s first-ever investigative feature—with office-based interventions on the rise, how can we align the interests of healthcare systems, physicians, and patients? Also on the list: another feature, which asks whether stents are always a must in MI patients, as well as news on cardiac-arrest warning signs.

1. FDA Warns of Premature Battery Depletion With Certain Medtronic Pacemakers

So far, the batteries of three devices have drained prematurely, leading to the death of one pacemaker-dependent patient.

2. Peripheral Vision: As Office-Based Practices Proliferate, Who Is Watching Out for Patients?

Doctors, payers, patients: all stand to gain as endovascular procedures shift to outpatient offices. Debate about oversight is just beginning.

3. Long-term Ticagrelor Monotherapy May Have an Edge in Complex PCI Patients: GLOBAL LEADERS

This post hoc analysis of what was a negative trial should be considered hypothesis-generating, experts agreed.

4. Warning Signs: Many Cardiac-Arrest Victims Visited Doctors, Emergency Rooms Prior to Events

Future studies should look at unexpected, noncardiac symptoms in an effort to target patients before it’s too late, an author says.

5. Off to EuroPCR 2019? Expect Mitral and Tricuspid Updates, Thin-Strut Stent Surprises, and ‘Strong’ Statements

It’s been 30 years since the humble beginnings of this now flashy meeting, but the future is forward, not back, says William Wijns.

6. Clip-Based Tricuspid Repair Improves Regurgitation, Function, and Quality of Life: TRILUMINATE

The transcatheter approach offers promise for the valve long neglected by interventional cardiologists due to a lack of options.

7. EFFPAC: Novel Paclitaxel DCB for PAD Demonstrates Efficacy With No Mortality Signal

Experts caution that a mortality difference, if it exists, must be borne out in adequately powered trials.

8. Twitter Takes on the Times of India, but the Question Persists: Is Foregoing a Stent an Option?

A news headline sparked a Twitter outcry, but some say the best tactic for plaque erosion seen on OCT needs sober consideration.

9. Ultrathin Struts Show Strength in Small Vessels: BIO-RESORT at 3 Years

Data from the RCT are bolstered by SCAAR registry findings that hint at a real-world ultrathin advantage.

10. Vagus Nerve Stimulation Lightens Arrhythmia Burden in Patients With Paroxysmal A-fib

The findings from the small, sham-controlled TREAT AF trial represent “a pretty exciting proof of concept,” one expert says.