Clinical Research

Interview with the late-breaking BEST-CLI trial principal investigators Alik Farber from Boston Medical Center, Matthew Menard from Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Ken Rosenfield at Mass General Hospital, at the 2022 American Heart Association (AHA) meeting. The trial looked at endovascular versus bypass surgery in patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI) to see which is better. #AHA22

VIDEO: Surgery vs. endovascular intervention for critical limb ischemia in the BEST-CLI trial

Watch our exclusive interview, recorded live at the AHA Scientific Sessions 2022 conference, with three investigators from the BEST-CLI trial. 

First-of-its-kind, dedicated lung scanner to be revealed at RSNA

The scans can be completed in less than five seconds and require less radiation than a traditional chest x-ray.  

Cian McCarthy, MD, cardiovascular fellow, Massachusetts General Hospital, and a member of the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) Chest Pain-MI registry steering committee, explains a study of the NCDR data showing only 33% of hospitals are using high-sensitivity troponin. However, he expects that to rise because of high sensitivity troponin (hs-cTn) being included in recent guidelines as a front-line test.

VIDEO: High sensitivity cardiac troponin use based on the NCDR Chest Pain-MI Registry 

Cian McCarthy, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, and a member of the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) Chest Pain-MI registry steering committee, explains a study of the NCDR data showing only 33% of hospitals are using high-sensitivity troponin.

knee x-ray

How AI-generated 'fake' X-rays can further medical research

But how reliable can synthetic radiologic images be in research settings? Are they as good as the real thing? 

Jason Andrade, MD, FRCPC, FHRS, director of electrophysiology, Vancouver General Hospital, clinical associate professor, University of British Columbia, and principal investigator for the PROGRESSIVE AF trial, explains how cryoablation can be used as a front-line treatment for atrial fibrillation (AFib). He presented this late-breaking trial at the American Heart Association (AHA) 2022 meeting, which showed the therapy can be used instead of trying drug therapy first. #AHA22 #EPeeps

VIDEO: Cryoablation can be used as frontline therapy before drugs: PROGRESSIVE AF trial

Jason Andrade, MD, director of electrophysiology, Vancouver General Hospital, and principal investigator of the PROGRESSIVE AF trial, explains how cryoablation can be used as a frontline treatment for atrial fibrillation (AFib) before drugs in this AHA late-breaker. 

Whole body nuc-med imaging a solid contributor to inpatient infection management

PET/CT with the common radiotracer 18F-FDG has been found useful for workups and monitoring of infections in real-world hospitalized patients, according to a study conducted by researchers at Yale and Stanford published Nov. 14. 

Emergency referrers shown to care more about pursuing patient wellbeing than avoiding malpractice action

Contradicting prior research connecting heavy ordering of diagnostic exams with fear of malpractice charges—aka “defensive medicine”—a new survey shows ED referrers more focused on not harming patients than on not getting sued.

Image from the American Heart Association (AHA) annual scientific sessions where a large amount of late-breaking cardiology science is presented. #AHA #AHA22 #AHA2022

Links to the American Heart Association 2022 late-breaking studies

The American Heart Association 2022 Scientific Sessions included 35 late-breaking studies and 39 featured science sessions presented at the meeting in Chicago, Nov. 5-7. Here is the list of all these studies with links to more information on the data.