(March 28, 2008)--A new study suggests it may be safe to let small hospitals perform heart stent procedures even if they don't have heart surgeons who can operate if something goes wrong.
Many states ban this except in emergencies, but a new study suggests this may not be as risky as has been feared.
If confirmed by other ongoing studies, it could change policies in many states.
That would mean money for community hospitals struggling to stay profitable and options for patients who must travel to big cities for care.
Researchers compared the results of thousands of patients who had angioplasty at centers without on-site cardiac surgery to patients at centers with heart surgeons.
The study's leader says complications and success rates were similar.
Results were reported at a joint meeting of several cardiology groups in Chicago.
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