CardioExchange Archive

January 14th, 2011

Combination Therapy Beats Single Therapy As Initial Antihypertensive Therapy

Larry Husten, PHD

In the ACCELERATE (Aliskiren and the calcium channel blocker amlopdipine combination as an initial treatment strategy for hypertension control) trial, more than 1200 patients with early essential hypertension were randomized to either aliskiren, amlodipine, or the combination of the two drugs for 4 months. The results, which have been published online in the Lancet, showed […]

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January 13th, 2011

Merck’s Thrombin Receptor Antagonist Suffers Major Setback

Larry Husten, PHD

Merck’s thrombin receptor antagonist, vorapaxar, has suffered a major setback in its clinical trial program. In one trial, TRACER, the study drug is being discontinued and the trial will be closed out. The second trial, TRA-2P TIMI 50, is being curtailed but not stopped. The actions were based on recommendations from the combined Data and […]

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January 12th, 2011

Researchers Shed New Light on HDL Cholesterol

Larry Husten, PHD

Two papers published in the New England Journal of Medicine shed new light on the important but often mysterious role of HDL cholesterol in cardiovascular disease. In the first paper, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania studied 1,000 healthy volunteers and patients with coronary artery disease and observed a strong inverse relationship between cholesterol efflux from […]

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January 12th, 2011

Clyde Yancy Succeeds Robert Bonow as Chief of Cardiology at Northwestern

Larry Husten, PHD

Clyde Yancy, a former president of the AHA, is leaving Baylor University to succeed Robert Bonow as the chief of the division of cardiology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Yancy will also serve as the associate director of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to a heartwire report.

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January 12th, 2011

Large Meta-Analysis Explores Cardiovascular Safety of NSAIDs

Larry Husten, PHD

A large network meta-analysis has found “little evidence” to suggest that any of the commonly used NSAIDs or COX 2 inhibitors are safe in terms of cardiovascular risk. In a paper published in BMJ, Sven Trelle and colleagues analyzed data from 31 trials in which patients receiving an NSAID were compared to another NSAID or placebo. Rofecoxib […]

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January 11th, 2011

Candesartan Beats Losartan in Swedish HF Registry

Larry Husten, PHD

The Swedish Heart Failure Registry followed more than 5,000 patients treated with the angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) candesartan or losartan between 2000 and 2009. According to a paper published in JAMA, survival at one year was 90% in the candesartan group compared to 83% in the losartan group. Five-year survival was 61% and 44%. […]

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January 10th, 2011

World’s First Drug Eluting Bioresorbable Stent Gains CE Mark Approval

Larry Husten, PHD

Abbott announced today that it had received CE Mark approval for Absorb, its bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) device. The device props a narrowed coronary artery open but then dissolves within 2 years, leaving the patient without a permanent implant. One hope for the device is that it will allow stent patients to safely discontinue dual […]

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January 6th, 2011

Bevacizumab in Breast Cancer Linked to Increase in Heart Failure Risk

Larry Husten, PHD

A meta-analysis in the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggests that bevacizumab (Avastin) significantly raises the risk for heart failure when given to patients with breast cancer. Toni Choueiri and colleagues analyzed data from 3,784 patients and found a significant increase in the incidence of heart failure among those taking bevacizumab compared with those taking placebo […]

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January 5th, 2011

Study Finds Mixed Long-Term Results for AF Catheter Ablation

Larry Husten, PHD

Long-term results after catheter ablation for AF are decidedly mixed, according to the longest study yet to follow patients after the procedure. In a report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Rukshen Weerasooriya and colleagues followed 100 patients treated at a French hospital for 5 years. After a single procedure, the rates of arrhythmia-free survival […]

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January 3rd, 2011

PLATO CABG Substudy Raises Hope and Questions

Larry Husten, PHD

The much-anticipated CABG substudy from the PLATO (Platelet Inhibition and Patient Outcomes) trial comparing ticagrelor to clopidogrel in ACS patients has been published online in JACC. About 10% of the 18,624 patients enrolled in  PLATO underwent CABG. The substudy reports on the 1,261 who received the study drug within 7 days prior to their surgery. […]

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