Emory angioplasty vs. surgery trial: five-year outcome
Emory interventional cardiologist Spencer B. King III presented the most recent findings of the landmark Emory Angioplasty vs. Surgery Trial (EAST), a five-year study comparing patients undergoing coronary angioplasty with those undergoing coronary surgery. The study found no siginificant difference in the five-year survival rate between the two groups. However, the study did find that freedom from subsequent surgery was 99.5 percent in the surgery group vs. 74.9 percent in the angioplasty group, while freedom from subsequent angioplasty was 84.5 percent in the surgery group and 51.4 percent in the angioplasty group.
Using Radiation for restenosis
Physician-scientists at the Rich Research Laboratory of the Andreas Gruentzig Cardiovascular Center and the Department of Radiation Oncology at Emory have investigated for the past three years the application of endovascular, low-dose radiation to arteries that have undergone angioplasty. Currently, the researchers are testing that gamma emitter in kidney disease and peripheral vascular disease. Kidney disease patients whose dialysis shunts have narrowed are undergoing radiation after angioplasty to maintain the patency of these shunts. Radiation also has been applied to the leg arteries of patients with peripheral vascular disease who underwent angioplasty.