Study questions angioplasty use in some patients
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Rating
Study questions angioplasty use in some patients
Our Review Summary
This is a well written story about a study that raises concerns about the use of angioplasty and stenting for the treatment of patients who have had a heart attack more than 12 hours before and are no longer experiencing chest pain (angina). It lays out current medical practice and the rational for this practice; it then explains the nature of the data demonstrating that for this particular group of patients, the more invasive intervention is no better in preventing future heart attacks, heart failure, or death than treating these patient only with the medication they would receive after the intervention.
The story provides useful insight into the importance of clinical trials, even for treatments that the experts 'believe' to be best.
Criteria
Satisfactory
The estimated cost for having a stent placed in a coronary artery was mentioned.
Satisfactory
The benefits of the two treatments in terms of reducing the risk of heart attack, heart failure, or death in this particular patient group (individuals who had had a heart attack more than 12 hours before and were no longer experiencing angina) were found not to differ as reported in the story.
Satisfactory
The harms associated with the use of drug coated stents were presented in this story. The reader needed to infer that a harm associated with stents was the propensity of the artery to "close again". Ideally, a story should mention both the frequency and severity of adverse effects. But since the focus of this story was on a study showing that the rates of heart attack and death were comparable for different approaches ("either heart medicines only or balloon treatment and stents with heart medicines"), we consider this as satisfactory.
Satisfactory
The story described the design of the study, presented the results of the study and explained the significance of the observations.
Satisfactory
No obvious elements of disease-mongering.
Satisfactory
The first author of the study discussed, the director of the NIH institute funding the study, and an expert in the field not associated with the study all appeared to be sources of information for this story.
Satisfactory
The story presented the treatment options following a heart attack as a balloon treatment (angioplasty) and stent along with optimal medical management OR optimal medical management alone that were discussed in the study outlined.
Satisfactory
It's clear from the story that this is a widely used procedure.
Satisfactory
The treatment discussed in the story is not a novel treatment nor was it portrayed as such.
Satisfactory
This story does not appear to rely exclusively on a press release
Total Score: 10 of 10 Satisfactory
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