GE Healthcare has paid the U.S. $30 million, plus interest, to settle allegations that a company it acquired in 2004, Amersham Health, had violated the False Claims Act by causing Medicare to overpay for Myoview, a radiopharmaceutical used in certain cardiac diagnostic imaging procedures, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Dalcetrapib (Roche) modulates cholesteryl ester transfer protein activity; however, the dal-PLAQUE study published online Sept. 12 in the Lancet, showed no evidence of a pathological effect related to the arterial wall over 24 months duration. While the trial found that dalcetrapib may have long standing vascular effects, including a reduction in vessel enlargement over 24 months, researchers said that more data are necessary to understand the long-term safety of the molecule.
Written by Kaitlyn Dmyterko
DENVER—As the future model of healthcare reform is not yet set in stone, those working in nuclear cardiology must first get a grip on how to modify the current system to charge less per service rather than compromising care with less volume, William A. Van Decker, MD, professor of Medicine at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, said during a presentation Sept. 9 at this year’s American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) scientific sessions.
Positron, a molecular imaging company specializing in nuclear cardiology, has relocated its PosiRx manufacturing, product research and development facility. The new office is approximately three miles from its current Fishers, Ind., location.
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.
The FDA has notified the public and the medical imaging community about the potential for inadvertent, increased radiation exposure in patients who underwent or will be undergoing cardiac PET scans with rubidium-82 (Rb-82) chloride injection from CardioGen-82 (Bracco Diagnostics).
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.
SAN ANTONIO—According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), all non-hospital providers of advanced diagnostic imaging, inclusive of nuclear medicine, MR, CT and PET, must obtain accreditation as a condition for reimbursement by Jan. 1, 2012. Just who is authorized to offer such accreditation was the subject of a June 26 afternoon presentation at the 2011 Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) conference & expo.
Positron, a nuclear cardiology company, has executed a memorandum of understanding with the City of Noblesville, Ind., to relocate its corporate headquarters, research & development and product manufacturing facilities to Noblesville.
In diabetic patients, fatty acid metabolism or perfusion mismatch obtained from dual SPECT using I-123 beta-methyl iodophenyl pentadecanoic acid (BMIPP)-TL, a medical isotope bound with an agent that is metabolized by the heart to image the fatty acid uptake of heart muscle cells, is a useful prognostic tool for adverse cardiac events, according to a study presented this week at the SNM’s annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas.
Saturday, June 4 | 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Ballroom C2
The intergovernmental Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) has called for fundamental changes in government policy and cooperation with industry to reform what the agency identified as an “unsustainable economic structure” for the supply of isotopes for nuclear medicine.
The American Society of Nuclear Cardiology has appointed Kathleen B. Flood as its Chief Executive Officer, effective June 1, 2011.
NEW ORLEANS—With the risks of radiogenic cancer sparking concerns among patients and cardiologists, Andrew Einstein, MD, PhD, of Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, suggested that stakeholders consider radiation risks in balance with the benefits of the proposed imaging study. Einstein and a panel of presenters shared a list of strategies for reducing radiation dose across the spectrum of cardiovascular imaging modalities during a presentation at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology.
Positron will be introducing PosiRx, a radiopharmaceutical system that automates the elution, preparation and dispensing processes for molecular imaging radiopharmaceuticals.
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.
The FDA has cleared UltraSPECT’s Xpress.PET product, a whole-body PET application, which will be offered for sale immediately in the U.S. market.
Written by Kaitlyn Dmyterko
To achieve the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology’s (ASNC) 2014 goal of having the total radiation exposure for patients referred for SPECT/PET myocardial perfusion imaging to be equal to or lower than 9 mSv in 50 percent of studies, nuclear cardiologists must focus on appropriate patient selection and assessing protocols, radiotracers and imaging systems, said Manuel D. Cerqueira, MD, chairman of the department of nuclear medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, during a webinar Feb. 17 sponsored by the ASNC.
FDG-PET measurements of metabolic activity within periodontal tissue correlate with macrophage infiltration within carotid plaques, which researchers said provides “direct evidence for an association between periodontal disease and atherosclerotic inflammation.” The study was published in the Feb. 22 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Nevada Heart and Vascular Center in Las Vegas is now offering PET for patients who require cardiac stress testing.
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