Bracco Diagnostics has sent its customers an update regarding its voluntary recall of the CardioGen-82 rubidium generator. The company indicated that user error, a higher than expected strontium breakthrough, or a combination of both factors likely accounted for the triggering of gamma ray emission sensors by two patients crossing the U.S. border in July.
Written by Brian Dunham
Independent nuclear laboratories are under a mandate to achieve accreditation by Jan. 1, 2012, to continue receiving Medicare reimbursement. While maneuvering the varied accreditation processes requires practice management savvy—causing some practices to prolong the process—the impending deadline is approaching fast.
A study published in the Sept. 27 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that, in emergency department (ED) patients experiencing low-risk, acute chest pain, the use of early coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) is a more rapid and cost-efficient test than rest-stress myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). An editorial in the same issue of the journal, while acknowledging the study’s conclusions in some cases, stressed that there are many factors that could make other tests besides CCTA more beneficial.
Written by Kaitlyn Dmyterko
DENVER—With the “explosive growth” of cardiovascular imaging, the focus must now center on improving quality and reducing radiation exposure, and appropriate use criteria (AUC) can help, Robert C. Hendel, MD, director of cardiac imaging and outpatient services at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, said during a presentation Sept. 10 at the 16th annual American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) scientific sessions.
In addition to avoiding exposure to ionizing radiation, stress cardiac MR (CMR) myocardial perfusion imaging is an effective and robust risk-stratifying tool for patients of either sex presenting with possible ischemia, according to a study in the August issue of JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging.
Myocardial flow reserve quantified using rubidium-82 (82Rb) PET predicts hard cardiac events and major adverse cardiac events independent of the summed stress score and other parameters, according to research published Aug. 9 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Therefore, the researchers recommended that routine assessment of 82Rb PET-quantified myocardial flow reserve could improve risk stratification for patients being investigated for ischemia.
Data from the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Nuclear Medicine Laboratories suggest that while non-compliance with reporting standards is found in the majority of U.S. nuclear cardiology laboratories, facilities that participate in the accreditation process demonstrate an increase in compliance over time. The retrospective study was published online June 19 in the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology.
Vital, part of the Toshiba Medical Systems Group, has released Vitrea Enterprise Suite Version 6.1.
Noninvasive cardiovascular (CV) imaging showed no benefit of improving primary prevention measures for patients; however, the authors wrote that future studies will be necessary to provide hard evidence on how these imaging tests impact prevention efforts, according to a meta-analysis published June 13 in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Despite the fact that appropriate use criteria have been developed to help guide myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI), women remain undertested. A study published this week in the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology showed that the vast majority of inappropriate MPI studies were ordered in women by primary care physicians, alluding to the fact that more education for physicians will be crucial.
Flurpiridaz F 18 injection, a myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) PET agent, appears to be safe and superior to SPECT with respect to image quality, diagnostic certainty and sensitivity for detection of coronary artery disease (CAD), according to a Phase II late-breaking clinical trial presented May 17 at the International Conference of Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Imaging (ICNC) in Amsterdam.
Written by Justine Cadet
The private practice of cardiology has been “under assault” since well before the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) due to greater reimbursement cuts in this setting, causing a push toward hospital employment, according to a May 24 editorial in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. However, author Alexander A. Stratienko, MD, told Cardiovascular Business that the current model of integration should not have to equate to hospital employment.
In clinical cardiac Rubidium-82 PET studies, globally impaired flow reserve is a relevant marker for predicting short-term cardiovascular events, and it may be used for integration with currently established functional and morphologic test results and for guidance of preventive measures, especially in the absence of regional flow-limiting disease, according to a study in the May issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
Written by C.P. Kaiser
Last year, the SNM received a $48,000 grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to develop comparative-effectiveness research (CER) of PET and other molecular imaging techniques. The primary emphasis is on the diagnosis and management of cancer patients, but both cardiology and neurology questions are being addressed. Far beyond the dollars, too, is a significant increase in intellectual capital being expended across the globe on the role of CER in molecular imaging.
Myocardial perfusion SPECT with prone and half-time imaging, which nearly halves acquisition time, is feasible and associated with good image quality in most studies, according to research published in the May issue of Nuclear Medicine Communications.
Royalty Pharma has acquired the rights to certain royalties payable on sales of the pharmacologic stress agent Lexiscan and the antibiotic Cubicin from an undisclosed seller for a cash payment of $487 million.
NEW ORLEANS—The presence of calcium obtained during PET perfusion imaging enhances risk stratification for future cardiovascular events in patients with abnormal perfusion studies irrespective of the degree of ischemia, according to a scientific poster presented April 3 at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific sessions.
Although coronary CT angiography (CTA) can be employed to stratify risk and expedite the work-up of chest pain patients, its utilization dropped in 2008, and the exam may be severely underutilized, according to a study published in the April issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology. The authors reported that SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging was used 44 times as often as coronary CTA.
Lantheus Medical Imaging has reached an agreement with the FDA regarding a special protocol assessment (SPA) on the design and planned analysis of a phase III clinical trial for the assessment of myocardial perfusion using PET imaging of flurpiridaz F-18 in patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease.
Written by C.P. Kaiser
SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is a well-validated noninvasive test to determine if coronary artery disease (CAD) is the cause of a patient’s chest pain. While SPECT will continue to play a role in this patient population, other tests are helping to fill in the gaps in identifying those at risk of cardiac events.
|
RSS 
