CardioExchange Archive

ENDEAVOR IV: One-year results of the ENDEAVOR IV trial comparing zotarolimus-eluting stents (ZES) and paclitaxel-eluting stents (PES) have been published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Martin Leon et al conclude that ZES “has improved periprocedural safety, similar 12-month clinical safety and efficacy outcomes, and despite more frequent angiographic restenosis, similar clinical repeat revascularization events.” But in an accompanying editorial comment E Magnus Ohman and Robert Califf write about the difficulties of applying the results of comparative trials of drug-eluting stents to clinical practice. They go on to explore the weaknesses of different trial designs and note that “rational and intelligent people often will value different parts of a composite end point in different ways.”

Stent Patent Dispute Settled: Boston Scientific announced today that it had settled three patent disputes with stent rival Johnson & Johnson for $1.72 billion.

Herbal Products: Millions of Americans with cardiovascular disease use herbal products in addition to (or instead of) prescription medications, often without telling their physicians. Arshad Jahangir and colleagues review the use of herbal products in patients with cardiovascular disease in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, noting the “clear need for better public and physician understanding of herbal products through health education, early detection and management of herbal toxicities, scientific scrutiny of their use, and research on their safety and effectiveness.”

Prostate Cancer Therapy: Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer may increase cardiovascular risk. The relationship has not been definitively established, but physicians are not sufficiently aware of the association, according to a scientific advisory published in Circulation from the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, the American Urological Association and the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.