FT Quick Take

Angioplasty costs are higher at non-surgery hospitals

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Angioplasty to clear blocked arteries costs more at hospitals not equipped for emergency heart surgery, according to a study presented on Sunday at the American Heart Association scientific meeting. Elective angioplasty is becoming increasingly common at hospitals that do not conduct more complicated heart procedures. During angioplasty, doctors insert a balloon-tipped catheter into an artery and inflate a balloon to open the narrowed blood vessel.

Saudi confirms third case of newly discovered SARS-like virus

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - A Saudi citizen in the capital Riyadh is the world’s third confirmed case of a newly discovered SARS-related virus but he has now recovered from his illness, the official Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday. The potentially deadly novel coronavirus is from the same family as SARS but had only been confirmed in two previous cases: a 60-year-old Saudi man who died earlier this year, and a man from Qatar who was treated in a London hospital.

Bypass tops stents in diabetics with diseased arteries

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Diabetics with more than one diseased artery fared significantly better if they underwent bypass surgery than those who received drug coated stents following artery clearing procedures to improve blood flow to the heart, according to data from a five-year study presented on Sunday. After five years, the bypass group had a lower combined rate of heart attacks, strokes and deaths of 18.7 percent versus 26.6 percent for the stent group in the 1,900-patient study funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Metal-removing therapy may help some heart patients-study

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A controversial therapy to remove heavy metals from the bloodstream was shown in a large trial to cut the risk of another major heart problem in patients who have already suffered a heart attack, but researchers cautioned that the benefit was small and more study is needed. Chelation therapy, an alternative treatment dismissed by many medical professionals as quackery, has its origins in unproven 50-year-old theories about the cause of arterial plaques, the fatty deposits that can cause heart attacks.

Scientists say heartbeat, not battery, could power pacemakers

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Your own beating heart may generate enough electricity to power a heart-regulating pacemaker, ending the need for expensive surgeries to replace expiring batteries, according to an early study of an experimental energy-converting device. Researchers at the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor tested an energy-harvesting device that runs on piezoelectricity - the electrical charge generated from motion, according to the study which was released at the annual American Heart Association scientific conference on Sunday.