Everolimus-eluting stent safer, more effective than paclitaxel-eluting stent

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 6 (ANI): Everolimus-eluting stents demonstrate enhanced safety and efficacy in the treatment of de novo native coronary artery lesions when compared to paclitaxel-eluting stents, scientists have discovered.

Results from the SPIRIT IV clinical trial, which were first presented at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2009 scientific symposium, were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The trial, a large-scale multi-center study of nearly 4,000 patients in the U.S., also examined the differences in performance of the two stents in patients with diabetes.

“The data published in today”s New England Journal of Medicine, and first reported at TCT, demonstrate enhanced safety and efficacy of the everolimus-eluting stent compared to the paclitaxel-eluting stent in this large-scale study without routine angiographic follow-up. The study results also suggest that minimal late loss may be achieved with drug-eluting stents without sacrificing safety,” said principal investigator Gregg W. Stone, MD, Professor of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Director of Cardiovascular Research and Education at the Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center and Co-Director of the Medical Research and Education Division at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation. (ANI)

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Oxygen-saturated blood can reduce heart muscle damage after an attack

September 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, September 16 (ANI): An infusion of blood that is “supersaturated” with oxygen (SS02) can reduce the amount of damaged heart muscle immediately following a life-threatening heart attack, say researchers.

This is a finding made during a clinical trial, published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions.

“The benefit of this therapy increased with the scope of the heart attack,” said Dr. Gregg W. Stone, lead author and professor of medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and director of cardiovascular research and education in the Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.

“The data show that heart muscle can be saved even after severe heart attack,” added Dr. Stone, who is also the immediate past chairman of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation in New York.

The AMIHOT-II study focused on patients having the most serious types of heart attacks – those with anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarctions (STEMIs) – and on those treated within 6 hours.

Nearly half of the 733,000 Americans who suffer acute coronary syndromes-heart attack or chest pain-each year have a STEMI, according to the American Heart Association.

When a large area of the heart is damaged, heart failure is more likely, and catheter-based percutaneous coronary intervention is a procedure that can effectively open blocked arteries in STEMI patients, Dr. Stone said.

In the trial, the “supersaturated” oxygen was delivered through catheter directly to the area of the heart muscle affected by the heart attack.

The size of the “infarct zone”-the amount of damaged tissue-was significantly reduced in the patients that received the “supersaturated” oxygen.

Upon analysis of their data from the study, the researchers observed that the median size of the “infarct zone” was 20 percent in the patients that received the “supersaturated” blood, and 26.5 percent in the control group.

Besides that, at 30 days after the treatment a key safety measure-the rates of major adverse cardiac events-were not statistically different between the two groups. (ANI)

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Herbal therapeutic Zyflamend shows promise in treatment of men at prostate cancer risk

May 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 23 (ANI): A novel herb-based therapeutic called Zyflamend has been found to be linked with minimal toxicity and no serious adverse events in men at high-risk for developing prostate cancer in its phase I clinical trial.

The trial was led by researcher from the Center for Holistic Urology at Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia.

Writing in the Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology, the researchers revealed that 23 men aged 40-75 years, who were diagnosed with an increased risk of developing prostate cancer, were admitted into this prospective clinical trial to determine the safety and tolerability of Zyflamend when administered orally for 18-months, either alone or along with various dietary supplements.

“Since we know that men with HGPIN have an increased risk for developing prostate cancer, new strategies formulated to decrease cancer risk, prevent or delay surgery, and improve quality of life, will be greatly beneficial for these men,” said senior author of the study Dr. Aaron E. Katz, an associate professor of Urology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

The researchers say that basic science studies have suggested that Zyflamend may have an anti-inflammatory mechanism of action, and the agent has been found to be effective in decreasing the proliferation of prostate cancer in cell culture.

“Our results confirm that Zyflamend, in a dose of three times daily for up to 18-months, was well tolerated,” said Dr. Jillian L. Capodice, director of the Acupuncture Research and Integrative Clinical Service of the Department of Urology’s Center for Holistic Urology, at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. (ANI)

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New incision-free procedure raises hope for severe acid reflux patients

March 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar 1 (ANI): Patients with severe, chronic acid reflux disease have been offered a new hope – a unique incision-free procedure called TIF, or transoral incisionless fundoplication.

Chronic GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) is a painful heartburn caused when stomach acid breaks through what is supposed to be a one-way valve – the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) – and reverses into the esophagus.

GERD can raise the risk of cancer of the esophagus, and can cause damage due to inhalation of stomach acid.

While most patients are prescribed a daily medication, it is sometimes ineffective. In addition, new research indicates that continued drug therapy might cause calcium depletion, contributing to osteoporosis.

“Drug therapy, when it works, is simply masking an underlying anatomic defect. The TIF procedure corrects the source of the problem by repairing the faulty lower esophageal sphincter in order to keep stomach acid where it belongs,” says Dr. Marc Bessler, director of laparoscopic surgery and director of the Center for Obesity Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, and assistant professor of surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

The procedure is performed under general anesthesia and takes less than an hour.

The clinician inserts a specially-designed device through the patient’s mouth and into the stomach, just below the gastroesophageal junction, where tissue is molded to create a new valve.

“In most cases, the result is an elimination of reflux, with research showing that 80 percent of patients treated no longer need to take daily medications,” says Dr. Peter D. Stevens, director of endoscopy, director of interventional endoscopy and medical director of the scarless surgery program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, and associate professor of medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

“Because there are no incisions, the TIF procedure is more comfortable for the patient than the traditional open or laparoscopic approach, with a shorter hospital stay, improved recovery, and reduced risk of complications compared with open or laparoscopic surgery,” adds Dr. Stevens.

“Unlike prior endoscopic treatments for reflux, the molding of the flap valve that holds back acid is expected to be much more robust and effective,” the expert added. (ANI)

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Black women with uterine cancer at greater death risk than white patients

February 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Feb 9 (ANI): A new study suggests that the risk of mortality among black women with uterine cancer may be higher than that in their white counterparts.

The researchers found that black women were 60 percent more likely to die from their tumours than white women, and relatively little progress has been made over the past two decades to narrow this racial difference.

During the study, the team led by Dr. Jason Wright, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, analysed the clinical data of 80,915 patients.

Seven percent of the patients were black, who were documented to have uterine cancer between 1988 and 2004.

The data was divided into three groups based on when women were diagnosed: 1988-1993, 1994-1998, and 1999-2004.

The findings revealed that black patients were significantly younger and had more advanced and more aggressive tumours than white women.

The advanced cancers occurred in 27 percent of blacks between 1988 and 1993, and in 28 percent from 1999 to 2004.

However, the corresponding figures for white women were 14 percent from 1988 to 1993 and 17 percent from 1999 to 2004.

And for each of the three time periods, survival was worse for blacks than for whites.

The researchers also found that, over time, the incidence of serous tumours and clear cell tumours (two aggressive types of cancer) increased, and the use of radiation decreased for both races.

Lymph node dissection was performed to determine tumour stage more commonly in both races in recent years, and its use was well matched between the two groups (45 percent of blacks and 48 percent of whites).

The investigators note that biological differences might also play a role in the discrepancy in the survival rates of blacks and whites.

The racial differences in risk factors like obesity, medical comorbidities, and oestrogen use have also been proposed as contributing to observed racial disparities in uterine cancer survival. (ANI)

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