PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 14-May-2014 Contact: Kathy Boyd David kbdavid@scai.org 717-422-1181 American College of Cardiology WASHINGTON, D.C., BEVERLY, MA, and CHICAGO (May 15, 2014) As minimally invasive therapies are increasingly used to treat diseased heart valves, newly published recommendations provide guidance on best practices for providing optimal care for patients. The document released today offers first-time guidance from four professional medical associations on developing and maintaining a transcatheter mitral valve therapy program, emphasizing collaboration between interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons. The document is an important step toward achieving consistent, effective care, particularly as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) prepare to issue a national coverage decision for transcatheter valve repair and replacement procedures. The consensus paper, by the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), American College of Cardiology (ACC) and The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), outlines criteria for healthcare providers and institutions to offer consistent and appropriate care to patients in the new and rapidly developing field of transcatheter valve therapy. The treatment uses a catheter to place a clip on the mitral valve to reduce the leakage, offering the only alternative treatment option to open heart surgery. The minimally invasive … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise After two decades of arduous research, a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded investigator at the Childrens Hospital of Michigan (CHM) at the Detroit Medical Center (DMC) and the Wayne State University School of Medicine has published a new study showing that many children with an often fatal type of heart disease can recover normal size and function of damaged sections of their hearts. The finding by Childrens Hospital of Michigans Pediatrician-in-Chief and Wayne State University Chair of Pediatrics Steven E. Lipshultz, M.D., F.A.A.P., F.A.H.A., clearly demonstrates that nearly one-fourth of children treated for idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, or DCM (also known as congestive cardiomyopathy, when these children with DCM become symptomatic by developing congestive heart failure) can be expected to fully recover normal size and function of left-ventricular (LV) heart muscle fibers within about two years of diagnosis. (LV muscle chamber size is dilated and LV function is reduced and weakened; these two abnormalities are the findings of DCM in children.) The breakthrough from Dr. Lipshultz team of pediatric cardiology researchers, published in the April 15 issue of the authoritative Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), also represents a major step … Continue reading →