The BARI 2D Study Group. A randomized trial of therapies for type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease In this study, the authors report the findings of the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes (BARI 2D) trial, involving 2368 patients with both diabetes and coronary disease. Patients with type 2 diabetes and stable ischemic heart disease were randomly assigned to …
Unnecessary procedures
In a study, published on-line in the journal Circulation on April 13, 2010, cardiologists were asked under what circumstances they would order a cardiac catheterization. 29% of physicians ordered the test for other than clinical reasons, foremost amongst them malpractice concerns. About 25% of the doctors ordered more tests than were necessary, driving up costs. Others did it because of …
Healthcare Costs
The following link from The Kaiser Family Foundation calculates the costs for persons aged 19-64 who have to buy their own health insurance. As a drawback of this calculator it doesn’t compare with costs under the previous system: Calculate the cost of your Healthcare under the new Healthcare Reform Bill
Copy of a letter to the Editor, Wall Street Journal
In regards to your February 11, 2010 article in The Wall Street Journal “A Simple Health-Care Fix Fizzles Out” by Keith Winstein, I would like to add a few comments and perhaps an explanation why, in my opinion, studies such as the COURAGE trial have had little or no effect on the way Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is treated: COURAGE …
Survival of patients with diabetes and multivessel coronary artery disease
… Published the results of survival of patients with diabetes and MVD after surgical or percutaneous coronary revascularization. Their results showed that in 2766 risk matched diabetics PCI increased five-year mortality by 1.5–3.9 times… In 2,766 patients with diabetes undergoing their first coronary revascularization procedure, improved survival with CABG was the initial revascularization demonstrated. The analysis supported that bypass surgery …
The BARI-2D Trial
The Impact of Different Treatment Strategies on Cardiac Death and MI Rates in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and Stable Coronary Disease, N Engl J Med2009; 360:2503- 2515. In patients with type 2 diabetes and stable ischemic heart disease … prompt revascularization significantly reduced major cardiovascular events, as compared with intensive medical therapy, among patients who were selected to undergo CABG …