Journal of the American College of Cardiology
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Aug 2011
Transapical transcatheter aortic valve implantation in the presence of a mitral prosthesis.
We review our experience with transapical transcatheter aortic valve implantation (AVI) in patients with functioning mitral prostheses, and describe the technical considerations. ⋯ This report details the technical lessons learned thus far from our first 10 patients. Excellent procedural success and early outcomes in patients with functioning mitral prosthesis can be achieved.
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Aug 2011
Multicenter StudyThe importance of consistent, high-quality acute myocardial infarction and heart failure care results from the American Heart Association's Get with the Guidelines Program.
This study examined the degree to which hospital performance for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and heart failure (HF) care processes are correlated. ⋯ Hospitals that had consistent, superior performance for both AMI and HF care had significantly lower risk-adjusted mortality than those with superior performance either alone or for neither measure. Whether a single scoring system to assess global, rather than condition-specific, quality of cardiovascular care would facilitate care quality improvement more consistently and would optimize patient outcomes merits further investigation.