CardioExchange Archive

Whether you were in Orlando for AHA.11 or not, you’ll want to check out our coverage of late-breaking clinical trials, interviews with the authors of the most important research, and blogs from our fellows on the most interesting presentations at the meeting.

VIEWS AND ANALYSIS

• ROUNDTABLE: After SATURN, What Role for Rosuvastatin? A CardioExchange Panel: Steven Nissen, JoAnne Foody, and Roger Blumenthal answer this question: Reading the results of SATURN in light of the impending arrival of generic atorvastatin, what is the appropriate role of rosuvastatin at this point?

• ROUNDTABLE: PALLAS Intrigue: What Role Remains for Dronedarone? John Mandrola, Eric Prystowsky, and Sanjay Kaul weigh in on PALLAS and the present and future of Multaq.

• At AHA, the Title Says It All: Susan Cheng lists some of the creative abstract and session titles that have caught her eye — and interest — thus far at AHA.11.

• Not Just Pomp and Circumstance: According to Susan Cheng, humanity and substance — not just ceremony — were to be found at the AHA Opening Session.

• AHA’s Best-Kept Secrets: Susan Cheng looks beyond late-breakers and plenary sessions to clue you in on the hidden gems at the AHA conference — events you shouldn’t miss, such as the Laennec session.

• ISAR-REACT 4: Bivalirudin Works Great, Less Bleeding: Rick Lange offers perspective on the randomized comparison of abciximab plus heparin versus bivalirudin in NSTEMI patients.

• Transapical TAVR on the Ropes: Is It Down for the Count? Citing lackluster data on transapical TAVR from the PARTNER substudy and negative results from STACCATO, Rick Lange and David Hillis ask, “What is the problem? Is it the procedure, the equipment, or the training? Should we stop the fight and throw transapical TAVR out of the ring?”

NEWS

• ELEVATE-TIMI 56: One New Piece of the Clopidogrel Puzzle

• Experts Clash Over AIM-HIGH

• Hype Aside, Hope for Stem Cell Therapy May Be Emerging from Hibernation

• SATURN Regression Trial: Gorilla Statin and Statin King Battle to a Draw

• AIM-HIGH: No Benefit for Niacin on Top of Statins

• PALLAS: Poor Results for Dronedarone in Permanent AF

• MI FREEE: How Much Do Free Medications Really Cost?

• ADOPT Fails to Support Extended Oral Apixaban in High-Risk Post-Discharge Patients

• ATLAS ACS 2-TIMI 51: Rivaroxaban Benefits Low-Risk ACS Patients

• TRACER: Novel Antiplatelet Vorapaxar Runs Into Trouble in ACS

• Controversy Over Cholesterol Testing for Children 

• TAVI at TCT: Enthusiasm Tempered by Poor Transapical Outcomes

THE FELLOWS’ PERSPECTIVE

Four of our fellows — Revathi Balakrishnan, Eiman Jahangir, John Ryan, and Amit Shah — shared their learning from and experiences of AHA.11:

• Evacetrapib – The New Wonder Drug? Drugs that increase HDL have failed to prove utility above statins alone. The pressure is now on evacetrapib to hit the game winning home run.

• Was AIM HIGH a Hit or a Miss? One of the best parts of AHA was the opportunity to hear experts on the panels dissect and interpret the data from a controversial trial.

• AHA Lessons on Emotions and Heart Disease: Depressing Data but Hopeful Trends: The many AHA sessions devoted to depression and heart disease gave renewed focus and drive to this researcher into the psychosocial factors of cardiovascular disease.

• POWER to the People: Two key lessons derived from this weight-loss study.

• An Event, Not a Conference: AHA requires both mental energy — science to be learned, posters to be read, and a program book the size of an encyclopedia to maneuver through — and physical energy — to hike to the various sessions spread all over this large conference center.

• MI FREE: A Free Lunch for Patients and Insurers Alike? Removing copays increased adherence, decreased events, and saved the sponsoring insurance company a tidy sum. So are the issues with insurance-sponsored studies different from those with pharmaceutical-sponsored ones?

• Go Red: Highlights from the Women and Heart Disease Session: Fascinating data on clinical and psychosocial aspects of heart disease in women.

• My First Oral Presentation: Life on the Other Side of the Podium: Not having to drag around a poster container was refreshing, but instead, this oral presenter was dragging around his dread.

• Finding Wisdom in Unfamiliar Ways in a Familiar Place: The Scientific Sessions are not the only way to learn at AHA.

• What’s Up, Interventionally? The latest in coronary intervention, including angiography for erectile dysfunction.

• Global CV Health Concerns: Macro and Micro: Now I know how to approach a potential mentor. But will it really take at least 10 years to train in research?

• Stenosis vs. Stroke: Is Treatment Worth the Risk? As a future interventional cardiologist and the grandson of someone who has suffered a debilitating stroke, a discussion of the PARTNER B trial results and TAVI really hit home for Jahangir.

• “The Center Where It All Happens”: This is the first AHA meeting for this participant who is deep in the trenches of her first year of fellowship.

• What Will Keep Me Coming Back to AHA?  AHA attendance is on the decline, however, Ryan keeps coming back because of special seminars that delve into the heart of what he’s researching.

• Epcot for Foodie Cardiologists: Epcot’s survey of food from around the world sure beats this fellow’s memories of astronaut ice cream at Disney theme parks.

• An Unexpected Preconference Overload: Anyone else surprised by the volume of ad-driven snail mail and email – most of it junk – we all got in the run up to the conference?

• Part of the System: From AHA novice to conference veteran.

• AHA.11: How Does One Choose What to Do? How I’ll make choices among the dizzying array of options for how to spend time at the AHA conference.

• AHA.11: An Orlando Eating Tour: A guide to restaurants while you’re in Orlando.

PREVIEWS

• The AHA in Orlando: A Preview: AHA Scientific Sessions Program Chair Elliott Antman provides CardioExchange with a preview of the many expected highlights of the meeting.

• What’s This Fellow Looking Forward to at AHA? John Ryan discusses the studies he’s most looking forward to checking out at AHA this year.

• How to Prep for AHA: An Expert’s Advice for Fellows: Dr. Thomas Ryan explains how fellows can get the most from the AHA Scientific Sessions, both as attendees and as presenters.