Barcelona, Spain, 30 August: Diabetes mellitus-associated coronary artery disease (CAD) is assuming epidemic proportions, especially in western countries. Both coronary revascularization and medical management have improved tremendously over the last decade and the respective role in the diabetic population is not well defined. This aspect was investigated in the BARI 2D study*.
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Barcelona, Spain, 30 August: Important new evidence about revascularization in patients with severe coronary artery disease can be found in the recently published interim analyses of the SYNTAX Trial of 1,800 patients with left main and/or three vessel coronary artery disease randomised to PCI or CABG.
Barcelona, Spain, 30 August: Several large observational data sets have convincingly shown that there is no overall safety issue with drug eluting stents (DES) vs. bare metal stents (BMS). In fact, most registry studies suggest a lower risk of death or myocardial infarction with drug eluting stents. However, late occurring stent thrombosis still remains higher and seems to be uniquely associated with these stents.
Barcelona, Spain, 30 August: Western societies are struggling to pay for their ever increasing medical budgets. In the US up to 393 billion US-$ were spent in 2005 for cardiovascular diseases alone. Based on epidemiologic studies in primary prevention it is reasonable to estimate that 30% of coronary heart disease and stroke could be prevented by 2.5 hours of brisk walking per week and approximately 284,886 cardiovascular deaths could be prevented per year in the US alone.
Barcelona, Spain, 31 August: Launched in 1999, the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) is the world's largest international database tracking outcomes of patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes (ACS),including myocardial infarction or unstable angina. GRACE data are derived from 247 hospitals in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and from more than 100,000 patients with ACS.
Barcelona, Spain, 31 August: The outcome of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) complicated by cardiogenic shock* is generally very poor. Although early mechanical revascularisation by primary PCI has been shown as superior to medical treatment, the mortality range remains high (at about 45-60%). Registries have shown further therapeutic benefit from the administration of glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitors** during PCI in AMI patients with cardiogenic shock. However, there are no randomised data to support this approach in these high risk patients.
Primary angioplasty may be more effective than thrombolysis in very elderly patients with AMI: results from the TRIANA trial
Barcelona, Spain, 31 August 2009: Primary angioplasty is superior to thrombolysis in the treatment of very old patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), according to results from the TRIANA (TRatamiento del Infarto Agudo de miocardio eN Ancianos*) study, a randomised trial sponsored by the Spanish Society of Cardiology.**
Barcelona, Spain, 31 August: Drug-eluting stents (DES), which slowly release medication to inhibit the build-up of scar tissue, have proved very successful in preventing restenosis (renarrowing) of stented coronary arteries. However, several studies have shown persistent risk of blood clot formation inside DES over a longer time period after implantation than observed with bare metal stents. Additionally, recent serial angiographic studies have reported that scar tissue accumulation can be seen up for up to two years after implantation of DES.
Barcelona, Spain, 30 August: The presentation of the PLATO (A Study of Platelet Inhibition and Patient Outcomes), showed that ticagrelor (Brilinta®) reduced the rate of cardiovascular (CV) events (CV death, myocardial infarction or stroke) from 11.7% to 9.8% compared clopidogrel (Plavix®) XX% (p<0.001, RRR = 16%), without an increase in major bleeding. This efficacy endpoint was driven by a statistically significant reduction in both CV death and myocardial infarction (MI) with no difference in stroke.
Barcelona, Spain, August 30: The routine use of aspirin for the primary prevention of vascular events in people with asymptomatic disease cannot be supported, according to results from the Aspirin for Asymptomatic Atherosclerosis (AAA) study. The study is the first placebo-controlled randomised trial designed to determine the effect of aspirin in asymptomatic atherosclerosis as reflected by a low ankle brachial index (ABI). Results found no statistically significant difference in primary endpoint events between those subjects allocated to aspirin or placebo (HR 1•03, 95% CI 0•84-1•27).
Barcelona, Spain, 31 August: Obesity is one of the most important health problems in industrialized countries irrespective of socio-economic status, age, sex or ethnicity. The prevalence of childhood obesity in children has reached alarming levels, even in developing countries. It is estimated that about 1 billion people worldwide are overweight, with 22 millions being under the age of 5 years and 300 million people are obese. By 2010 it is estimated that 26 million children in E.U. countries will be overweight, including 6.4 million who will be obese.
Barcelona, Spain, 31 August: Infective endocarditis (IE) is a severe form of valve disease characterized by infection located in the valves of the heart. It is still associated with a high mortality (10-26% in-hospital mortality). IE is a rare disease, with reported incidences ranging from 3 to 10 episodes/100,000 people per year.
CSIRO and a consortium of Australian Opal miners (Opal Producers Australia Limited) have unveiled the world's first automated device to grade opals using image analysis, at the 2009 National Council of Jewellery Valuers forum in Sydney.
CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences image analyst Leanne Bischof helped develop the Gemmological Digital Analyser (GDA).
Ms Bischof said that opals have a unique range of colour characteristics that makes them by far the most difficult gemstone to appraise.
Autism can build a wall of poor communication between those struggling with the condition and their families. While a personal computer can help bridge the divide, the distraction and complexity of a keyboard can be an insurmountable obstacle.
Using a unique keyboard with only two "keys" and a novel curriculum, teachers with Project Blue Skies are giving children with autism the ability to both communicate and to explore the online world.
Berkeley -- Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have reached a new milestone in laser physics by creating the world's smallest semiconductor laser, capable of generating visible light in a space smaller than a single protein molecule.