title: Interventional cardiology in Israel at 2005 - state of practice.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the current practice of interventional cardiology in Israel.
  
  
  METHODS
  Under the auspices of the 'Working group of interventional cardiology' of the 'Israel Heart Society,' a questionnaire regarding the practice of interventional cardiology sent to directors of interventional cardiology in all public hospitals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty centers received the questionnaires; however, complete data was obtained from 18. Most interventional cardiology units in Israel are merely engaged in percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs). PCIs are executed mostly via the femoral artery, using almost exclusively stents, of which 36% were drug eluting. Noted was an infrequent use of other therapeutic, diagnostic devices, or femoral arteriotomy closure devices. Only 22% of the patients receive glycoprotein IIb/IIIa blockers (GPB). Most centers used conventional unfractionated heparin dosing (70 u/kg) and did not routinely monitor activated clotting time. Abciximab, bivalirudin or enoxaparine were rarely used. All laboratories performed both elective and emergency-PCI, although 12 facilities were not supported by on-site surgical backup.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most cardiovascular intervention programs have restricted their activity to the coronary stenting, and are using a limited array of diagnostic and therapeutic devices, along with patient-tailored adjunctive pharmacotherapy, to sustain cost-effectiveness. Currently, ambulatory angiography and coronary interventions are not widely practiced in Israel.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University of Medicine and Dentistry, Newark, NJ 07103, USA. ekaluski@gmail.com
authors.forename: Edo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kaluski
authors.forename: Nir
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Uriel
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hendler
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kornowski
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Krakover
authors.forename: Morris
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mosseri
mesh_terms: D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002300:Cardiac Care Facilities; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015607:Stents / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000925:Anticoagulants; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors