on behalf of the CHS Collaborative Research GroupCarotid sonography is being performed on more than 5,000 participants in the Cardiovascular Health Study, a prospective, multicenter study of cardiovascular disease in men and women aged 65 years and older. The sonographic methods used to examine and measure the extracranial carotid arteries are described. Initial validation studies were performed on 61 subjects with a mean age of 68.6 years. Analysis of within-and between-sonographer differences and between-reader differences were performed for selected variables. In general, the mean absolute differences for within-and between-sonographer comparisons were small, with even less variability between readers. Variability was less for the common carotid artery than for the internal carotid artery. These data suggest that carotid sonography is a reliable and reproducible method for use in the study of carotid atherosclerosis in population studies.
The prevalence of state public reporting initiatives focused on hospital quality is not known. We systematically reviewed state-sponsored publicly reporting programs focused on clinical aspects of hospital quality and performance for adults, surveying the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. We found that while identifying information about programs was frequently a challenge, programs were present in 25 states (49%) and provided hospital quality information that varied considerably from state to state both by condition and by process and outcome measures reported. We examine the implications of these findings for future state initiatives.
The introduction of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the late 1970s revolutionized the management of stable and unstable coronary artery disease, providing an effective, quick, safe, and increasingly widely available method for coronary revascularization for many patients. Rapid development in this field led to the introduction of a number of new technologies, including intracoronary stents that have resulted in improved efficacy and long-term safety. In this manuscript we review the experience with the 2 major available classes of stents (bare metal [BMS], drug-eluting [DES]) and describe the delivery systems for these stents. An evidence review of the large trial data comparing balloon angioplasty, BMS, and DES demonstrates the incremental advances over time, with the latest generation of DES achieving the lowest rates of restenosis, stent thrombosis, and recurrent myocardial infarction. In addition, we provide an overview of the latest developments in stent technology, including the introduction of bioresorbable stents and new stent delivery systems. These latest advances are hoped to further improve outcomes while reducing costs due to a reduction in the need for future procedures and hospitalizations due to recurrent coronary disease.
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